[DerekM]

OmniOutliner 1.2 for iPad sets the stage for document syncing by introducing a new document browser and making a number of behind-the-scenes changes to coordinate access to documents. It also introduces a new app icon, and restores the ability to open attached OmniOutliner 3 files from Mail. (This release requires iOS 5.)

Features

• The document picker has been redesigned to allow quicker access to files and easier file management. Tap on the edit button and select a file(s) to access the sharing, duplicate, and delete options.
• OmniOutliner for iPad now has a new icon.
• Sample documents can now be restored using the 'Restore Sample Document' option in the import menu.
• Previews will now appear in the document picker for any file type that OmniOutliner can open.

Bug Fixes

• OO3 files sent via email can now be imported again.
• Zip files are now accepted and uncompressed by the app to accommodate importing files from Mail. An alert will appear if the uncompressed file is not of a type that can be handled by the app.
• 'Send to App' now only appears as an option when there are apps available to accept one of the file types.
• WebDAV text fields are now easier to tap into.
• Fixed a crash that could occur due to accessing the color palettes through both popovers.
• When scrolling a document horizontally, there is now a bounce animation when the bounds of the view are reached.
• Document titles in the toolbar are now properly centered.
• Activity indicator will change color based on the document's background color to make it more visible.
• Button labels in edit mode can no longer overlap the icon when the language is set to German.
• An alert will appear if you are attempting to rename a file the same as an existing file instead of automatically appending a number to the file name.

We love hearing from you! You can reach us by tapping Contact Omni in the gear menu (found in the document browser), sending email to omnioutliner-ipad@omnigroup.com, tweeting to @OmniOutliner, or calling 1-800-315-OMNI or +1 206-523-4152.

[santra]

New version of OO for iPad, after many, many months.

What's new:

• Document picker redesign. Oooo! Aaaah!
• New icon! Whoa. That was SO important to me I was losing sleep at night.
• Sample documents can be restored! OMG, someone alert the press!
• Previews now...in case you forgot what you work on every day looks like.

Where is sync?

Where are bullets?

Where is the stability and robustness to handle an outline that's 10,000 items long?

Where is an iPhone app?

Where are any major changes, like the ones OG rolls out to OmniFocus every few months?

Gosh, you know—and I've said this a million times—I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE MONEY. Charge me whatever you want!! Just build this out to the mobile platforms with integration back to the Mac app the way EVERYONE else is doing with their apps.

I know you can do it! We ALL know you can do it. Look at OmniFocus!

And in case you think I'm setting the bar too high (unrealistically), given your "limited" resources, has anyone seen how FAST and PERFECT Cultured Code's mere BETA of Things-with-Sync is? Has anyone seen the absolute drop-dead BRILLIANCE of the UI in the new to-do app Clear (which is probably six months ahead of Apple's current gestures portfolio)? The companies developing those apps must have less than half—or less than a quarter—of OmniGroup's staff. And yet look what they're doing.

For a company and CEO that I respect so highly, it pains me to go through so much cognitive dissonance when you release these interim updates to OO for the iPad every year or so. OO is like a burned out warehouse that you strive to renovate on a zero budget, compared with the awesomeness of almost all your other apps.

I'm going back to bed. Wake me up in 28 months when you guys have some something substantial.

Sigh.

[whpalmer4]

Originally Posted by santra

Where are any major changes, like the ones OG rolls out to OmniFocus every few months?

OOi and OFi releases have been pretty much in lockstep, if you look at the dates.

OOi 1.1 was released September 27, 2011, and OFi 1.4 was released October 6, 2011. OOi 1.0.3 was released June 30, 2011, and OFi 1.3 was released May 18, 2011. OFi got an extra minor release or two to fix some bugs.

They both got a double-handful of bug fixes, OOi got the new document picker, OFi got support for looking at some more attachment types. I'd say that was pretty much a wash! I suspect much of the effort over that interval has gone to OmniPlan for iPad.

...when you release these interim updates to OO for the iPad every year or so.

OOi first shipped May 11, 2011 :)

[vegaz]

Even though I do not share the apocalyptic tone of santra, I must confess being somewhat underwhelmed by this update, at least for now.
The first thing I tried was to paste a graphic created in another Omni app (OGS on the iPad) and copied as an image: as before, in OO I do not get the image, but a very sad "PDF" icon. I just hope this will be fixed in the apps that create the graphics (OG & OGS), but if I paste my image, say, in Keynote, everything works.
If I may go on, my main other complaints concern the scarcity of "output" options (no printing, no PDF, no "send-to" HTML: I understand the difficulties, but I think they are needed to make OO really useful n the iPad) and the limited options for sync. iDisk is ok but it's going away, other WebDAV options are fine but they are not as easy to integrate in OSX as iDisk. I'm not very interested in iCloud for now, since it remains too much iOS-centric. I really hope that Omni would think about Dropbox support in their apps: currently, among the mayor iOS player only Apple and Omni, as far as I know, "refuse" to support it. I understand that in the case of Apple, not so much in the case of Omni.

[HappyCatMachine]

The document grid is yet another memory-hogging way to display files. What is the problem with simply showing a list?! You are not serving the iPad 1 user by providing yet another slow, clunky way to navigate files.

Anyone who has used Pages, Keynote and Numbers as extensively as I have knows how lame that grid view is. I've sat for minutes on an iPad 1 waiting for that grid to display. My iPad 2 can almost keep up with it but it has sat on that directory for over a minute on the 2 before.

I do want to thank Omni for the development efforts they are giving the apps but please stop making bad decisions. A lack of dropbox support and solid support for word processing (a simple text file without indents and hypens even!) would go a long way toward answering several of the needs I've seen requested up here.

Instead the number one feature of this new version is yet another slow, clunky, memory-intensive and UN-user friendly experience. Sigh.

Believe it or not I'm a huge cheerleader for Omni products. I love the Mac tools that Omni produces and I love OmniGraffle and Focus for iPad. I want to love OmniOutliner because I am always creating outlines for things (usually from mind maps) but its lack of transportability for its documents leaves me cold. It's the only page 1 app that sits mostly unused.

And no, I don't want to have to go home, turn my mac on, launch Omni Outliner or OmniGraffle just so I can convert an outline to Word or a graffle to Visio. I wouldn't think buying a Mac (for those that don't have) and Omni's Mac products should be a necessity for effective document transport.

[Dan Baril]

I am 100% with Santra.

Let me know when we can sync, not "sync ready."

/Dan.