Alerts/alarms/reminders/Push notification discussion [Also see sticky.]
 

Through the iPhone app is there a way to setup a reminder to be e-mailed, or maybe use an alarm on the iPhone?

I need some way to remind my goofy self to do something.

Nope. Sorry. OmniFocus can't run in the background, so if we put an alarm feature in, you'd have to have your iPhone on and in OmniFocus in order for the alarm to trigger. Not very useful.

Until Apple adds some kind of background notifications to the SDK, you probably need to put your alarm-type reminders in the built-in Clock app on the iPhone (which does give you alarms even if your iPhone is asleep).

[QUOTE=Lizard;42011]Nope. Sorry. OmniFocus can't run in the background, so if we put an alarm feature in, you'd have to have your iPhone on and in OmniFocus in order for the alarm to trigger. Not very useful.

Until Apple adds some kind of background notifications to the SDK, you probably need to put your alarm-type reminders in the built-in Clock app on the iPhone (which does give you alarms even if your iPhone is asleep).[/QUOTE]

Can you do it through the desktop app? A way to set email or SMS reminders?

I think you might be able to if you set up Growl notifications, but I'm not sure...

OmniFocus doesn't support sending out notifications, either on the phone or on the desktop. It's something we might consider on the desktop in the future, but it's not imminent, and currently, at least, there are limitations that prevent support for such notifications on the phone.

Meanwhile, we recommend using iCal or something equivalent for actions with such specific timeframes (the so-called "hard landscape" items).

[QUOTE=Andrew;42183]Meanwhile, we recommend using iCal or something equivalent for actions with such specific timeframes (the so-called "hard landscape" items).[/QUOTE]

aha - this may be a nice reason to implement [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?p=38924"]day-specific next actions[/URL] as discrete events in iCal.

I want to be careful to note it is not just for workaround purposes for the iPhone (although this sure would work well for the foreseeable future - the current SDK may likely have stabilization attempts alongside Snow Leopard) - there are other reasons why such a feature would be useful in general which I will not get into here.

[QUOTE=Lizard;42181]I think you might be able to if you set up Growl notifications, but I'm not sure...[/QUOTE]

Yes, on the desktop side you can install Growl to get Task Available, Task Due Soon, and Task Overdue notifications. You can configure Growl to forward those notifications back to your phone through either SMS or Email.

Hope this helps!

[QUOTE=Andrew;42183]OmniFocus doesn't support sending out notifications, either on the phone or on the desktop. It's something we might consider on the desktop in the future, but it's not imminent, and currently, at least, there are limitations that prevent support for such notifications on the phone.

Meanwhile, we recommend using iCal or something equivalent for actions with such specific timeframes (the so-called "hard landscape" items).[/QUOTE]

@ Andrew. Hi :) Has Omni considered creating the option to set an ical alarm for an action? OF wouldn't need to display the notification but when synced with iCal the alarm could be displayed elsewhere.

I'm not familiar with what all we have considered so far regarding notifications, but if the Growl option that Liz and Ken mentioned above is insufficient for you, I certainly recommend emailing support (best to note your forum name in the subject to help whoever handles the email) to register your desire for that or some other kind of notification.

[QUOTE=Andrew;43926]I'm not familiar with what all we have considered so far regarding notifications, but if the Growl option that Liz and Ken mentioned above is insufficient for you, I certainly recommend emailing support (best to note your forum name in the subject to help whoever handles the email) to register your desire for that or some other kind of notification.[/QUOTE]

Growl is good for my desktop, I'm concerned about when I only have my iPhone though. If OF could set iCal alarms then I would be able to be notified on the iPhone using them. I'll email support though, thanks for your help.