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I want to use OmniFocus on my iPhone but am concerned about not being able to sync my data on my PC using and Outlook or OmniFocus on my PC Desktop. Will ths work? Thank you.
 
I want to use OmniFocus on my iPhone but am concerned about not being able to sync my data on my PC using and Outlook or OmniFocus on my PC Desktop. Will ths work? Thank you.
 
You can use OmniFocus on your iPhone without owning a Mac. You will only be able to view your data on your iPhone. There is no way to sync with any application on Windows.

There are also a few features that are not available (yet?) in OmniFocus on the iPhone, including:
1) configuring repeating actions and projects
2) reorganizing existing projects into folders. (You would have to delete the project and create a new one inside the folder.)
 
Obviously we can use the program on the iphone, otherwise it would be utterly useless. So the only way I can use this, outside of the iphone micro-interface, is by buying a mac, right?
Wish I had read that on the application description...anywhere. I wouldn't have spent the money. A task list manager that will only sync with a MAC - worthless.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cyberian View Post
Wish I had read that on the application description...anywhere. I wouldn't have spent the money. A task list manager that will only sync with a MAC - worthless.
Sorry that OmniFocus is not working out as you expected, but there are PC users posting here that find value using OmniFocus only on the iPhone. Just curious, but did you expect OmniFocus iPhone to sync to any and every task list manager on any and all operating systems? There are a large number of iPhone apps available that have multi-platform companion desktop applications, but one still needs to do a little research to see what does, and does not, work with one's chosen desktop OS.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Jones View Post
did you expect OmniFocus iPhone to sync to any and every task list manager on any and all operating systems?
Not "and and every task list manager on any and all" OSs, but the hyperbole was mildly amusing.

I was expecting an application that contained any of this:
1.) Task list that could be exported to a sync-able format
2.) DB that could be synced with one of the OTHER MAJOR operating systems, namely Window$ or linux.
3.) Recommendations for a 3rd party conduit capable of syncing the data, not the "get a MAC" response.

For an application that runs $19.99 - only to run on an iphone, and only syncs with a MAC. I was expecting more to the application, or less to the price tag.

Even windows developers aren't THAT narrow-minded.
 
Not hyperbole at all, just asking what your expectations were. Technically OmniFocus for the iPhone doesn't sync to any operating system, not even the Mac OS. However, it does sync to OmniFocus on the Mac, and even Mac owners contemplating purchasing an iPhone app should perform the due diligence to determine what other applications or 3rd party conduits might be needed to make the data usable on the desktop.

As to Windows developers not being that narrow minded, now that's hyperbole. I'm pretty confident that the percentage of Windows Mobile developers that also offer a sync solution for Mac users is far, far fewer than the percentage of iPhone developers that offer a Windows solution.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cyberian View Post
Obviously we can use the program on the iphone, otherwise it would be utterly useless. So the only way I can use this, outside of the iphone micro-interface, is by buying a mac, right?
Wish I had read that on the application description...anywhere. I wouldn't have spent the money. A task list manager that will only sync with a MAC - worthless.
If I went to a Microsoft site (or any other vendor that offers products for more than one OS) and contemplated purchasing a piece of software, I'd be reading very carefully to make sure it supported my intended platform before clicking the Spend button. Third paragraph in the description on the iTunes store page includes this text:

...and synchronizes with your Mac via MobileMe or WebDAV servers."
and in the fifth paragraph:

OmniFocus synchronizes wirelessly with OmniFocus for Mac, either locally over Wi-Fi (with pushed updates) or remotely through the cloud (using MobileMe or a WebDAV server).
No, it does not say "will not work on a Windows PC or a Linux PC" anywhere. Feel free to post a picture of a box for a typical piece of Windows software that specifically says "will not work on a Mac" :)
 
No desire to get into the mac/pc debate here and I agree that it's pretty unrealistic to expect omnifocus to sync to all platforms and calendaring/todo products.

That being said... I use mac, windows and iphone and my company is (like many) a PC outfit that makes heavy use of Exchange and Outlook. Because of this, it would make my life tremendously easier if I could at minimum have a method (doesn't even have to be automagic) to sync OmniFocus with my outlook tasks. In our scenario, tasks get assigned to me via outlook and I'd like to get them into omnifocus where I can make them work better for me (I'm sure if you've ever used the tasks area of outlook, you're aware that it's pretty abysmal, lol). I have OmniFocus on my Mac and would purchase the OmniFocus for iphone as well if there was a way to do syncing with outlook tasks.

Given that Outlook/Exchange are so heavily prevalent and many mac and/or iphone users still have to interact with them, any hope of a syncing method just for Outlook tasks?

Thanks.
 
I brought this same issue up on another thread, and it is precisely why I no longer use Omnifocus on my Mac or iPhone (despite all the $$ I paid for both!)

But I do think both sides of this argument have good points.

One one hand, it is a common business strategy for commercial software companies to restrict compatibility and force customers to buy their own stuff, so it's always a good idea to investigate a commercial product's interoperability before purchasing it.

On the other hand, the way we use software and the internet has drastically changed in the past few years. We're evolving into a network-centric world of cloud computing, enterprise architectures, and mobile applications. It's becoming very evident that flexible software with open-source APIs and maximum interoperability (like Google, YouTube, Facebook, etc) are beating out their "stove-piped" competitors. We are approaching a point where one should expect interoperability from a product, or at least expect it to have a "web version".

I think Omnifocus is hands-down the best GTD software application out there. But I use Toodledo now, simply because a) I can access it anywhere, and b) it syncs very well with MS Outlook on my office PC, and c) there are many iPhone to-do apps for Toodledo that I can choose from. Total cost for all this? $0. But if Toodledo did charge a price, I'd have no problem paying because it works everywhere I need it.

Omni Group has publicly stated on these forums that they are Apple-biased, and the fact that they have not responded to our concerns suggests that their lack of interoperability is intentional. After all, how hard is it to publish a simple API or generic XML interface?

I'm really hoping that OmniFocus will one day decide to play nice and publish an API or at least restore that OF-TD script. It would be futile to develop a 3rd-party API unless you had time to maintain it so it doesn't break with each Omnifocus update. So until Omni Group changes their business strategy, I'm working just fine with Toodledo.
 
 


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