Now that OmniOutliner for iPad is out, I have taken another look at my overall note taking workflow needs.
I find that nothing out there meets all of my requirements.
OmniOutliner is great at structured outlines and columns of data, but that doesn't mean its great for taking notes - not everything fits into meet little rows all of the time.
OmniOutliner for iPad is a great app, and I am going to use it for outlining needs, but I can't use it as my "go to" note taking app - I just tried.
I propose that the OmniGroup start developing a new app: OmniNotes.
Built off of application libraries that you have already perfected:
• the structured outlining capabilities of OmniOutliner (and OmniFocus)
• the useful Project management interface sidebar in OmniFocus
• the drawing/tables support in OmniGraffle
but designed and developed right from the start specifically for managing notes...
...And OmniGroup really knows how to design thoughtfully-developed apps, I think you could do a great job at this and it would really round-out your productivity-app offerings.
I also think there is a large pool of people looking for this type of app.
Just take a look at the number of iPad note taking apps out there; None of them are great (in all areas).
You can also see people in your forums looking for this type of capability
Here are some of the features I would see in a Note Taking app:
- A database-type design like OmniFocus, that stores all of my notes in one place
- Syncing between iOS and Mac devices
- A way to structure and organize the storage of individual notebooks (so that I can have a year's worth of admin meetings in a folder for example)
- A "notebook" should be able to have structure to it, such as sections and tabs (look at Circus Ponies Notebook app on the Mac as an example that you could do better); Perhaps tables of contents; And I do like Circus Ponies Auto-Indexing features
- You should be able to create structured text, such as outlines and numbered outlines with auto styling (like OmniOutliner for iPad)
- But you should also be able to create free-form text; You should be able to quickly apply styles to text (like OmniOutliner for iPad)
- You should be able to do a quick finger sketch and simple diagramming
- You should be able to create tables to hold structured data
- Tagging and search, obviously
- Simple To-Do's should be able to be created
- Ability to "highlight" text (like in iBooks)
- Ability to send an item to OmniFocus Inbox would be killer
- I like the ability to record audio and link the text that I type with the audio recording (but this would be lower on my initial needs)
For a more comprehensive look at what I have been struggling with, you can see my wiki of note taking needs and app comparisons:
http://www.ijoel.com/groups/tech/wik...oteTaking.html