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Email action, PDF attachments, Note Search: Missing features? Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
For the past couple of months, I've been using a combination of Toodledo, Evernote, and Appigo's Todo to organize my projects, voice memos, files, etc.

Like others looking for a single GTD app that does it all, I was eagerly awaiting Omnifocus for iPad. I cringed at the price (I already own the Mac AND iphone version) but purchased it the first day out of hope.

All I can say is that, for the price tag, it sure is missing a lot. After so much hype and such a long wait ..... there a quite a few $5 applications out there far more powerful.

So I can live with no longer being able to email an action or a file to my to do list (as I can with ToDo and Evernote). And I can live without tags (as has Evernote, Todo, an a number of other GTD type apps). Omnifocus desktop never had these features either. And I can live without being able to email checklists and action items to others from the application. But the deal breaker for me is the search capability.

The search function can only find text in the main body of a task and can't even find text in a note? (The desktop version CAN). So now I'm supposed to never put anything I would want to search for in a note and move anything important from my notes into the main body of an action item?

Please DON'T give the iPad operating system excuse. ToDo and Evernote both allow you to search everywhere including notes and a less related but excellent application - iAnnotate, even allows you to search through entire libraries of PDF attachments for text.

Please instead tell me I'm doing something wrong and need to change a setting or something. Tell me that the search function can actually search.
 
I ran into the same issue so I sent an email feature request via the gear icon in OmniFocus for iPad. Feel free to do the same, everyone.
 
I agree with you about requesting features.

However, I do feel compelled to complain about basic functionality from the desktop version that's missing from the ipad version, so that others thinking that if they pay $40 they will have Omnifocus will not be as dissapointed as I. Obviously, the Omnigroup could AND SHOULD post a comparison and include what's missing. But since they don't, I will.

So, to keep adding to the list .....

no file attachments such as PDFs, keynote documents or anything else except photos and recordings. Of course, other iPad apps allow these types of attachments as does the desktop version of Omnifocus.

I was sooo looking forward to this attachment capability to help me with my guitar lessons. On the desktop I'm able to keep MP3s and PDF attachments of music notation.

Perhaps I wouldn't be as disappointed if they had called the application something other than Omnifocus. For $40, something like Omnif***us comes to mind. :) At least it would show they had a sense of humor about the application. But that's just my sarcastic sense of humor getting the best of me.

So I feel like I've paid $40 up front for sneak preview of something that's eventually going to turn into something useful - Omnifocus for Ipad. Now that the Omnigroup has the seed money they need, I hope they develop something that works like the desktop. I don't mind the wait as long as it's worth the wait.

Last edited by jack.n; 2010-08-01 at 06:53 AM..
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jack.n View Post
... So I feel like I've paid $40 up front for sneak preview of something that's eventually going to turn into something useful - Omnifocus for Ipad. Now that the Omnigroup has the seed money they need, I hope they develop something that works like the desktop. I don't mind the wait as long as it's worth the wait.
Well, in my relatively brief experience with Omni, they seem to take pride in the care of their customers. I've always had really fast and helpful responses from the support ninjas, and I've never had to pay for any updates.

It's got to be a nightmare for Omni trying to work out which features are must-haves and which can wait, given that we've been clamouring for an iPad version for months now. They had to draw a line in the sand somewhere.

I've never resented the prices for Omni's products because it doesn't ever feel like you're just buying a freeze of the current version - rather, you're buying into an evolving system. Nice.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jack.n View Post
So I can live with no longer being able to email an action or a file to my to do list (as I can with ToDo and Evernote). And I can live without tags (as has Evernote, Todo, an a number of other GTD type apps). Omnifocus desktop never had these features either. And I can live without being able to email checklists and action items to others from the application. But the deal breaker for me is the search capability.
I haven't got the iPad version yet, so I can't talk about that; but you can email a task to OF Mac through the Mail rule. Tags are a different issue, but again as far as "GTD" per se is concerned, you'll notice that David Allen himself is "skeptical" of them (podcast on "doing" if I remember correctly).
 
Jack, there was some stuff we weren't able to get into the app before we shipped - note searching is on that list. Checking the development database, it's something the team has on their radar screen. (As always, folks can mail the support ninjas and let us know they need this, too. That helps us plan our work according to our customers' priorities.)

I wanted to let you know that you can email tasks from the application, though - tap an action, and there's a "Send this" button in the top left of the editor window. It's right next to the Delete button (which looks like a Trash can.) Does that help at all?

PDF attachments should sync over just fine - I have several in my database and I'm able to view them in-app. Bring up the editor for the action, then tap the attachment on the left side of the Attachments tab. Can you give us more detail on what you're seeing?

Edit: support for external attachment viewers (for stuff like Keynote docs) is one of the things I've seen discussed; I think I saw Ken say "yes, we want to do it" but I can't find the post at the moment. I know we have a feature request open on it - email the support ninjas and let them know this is important to you. Thanks!

(I'm going to edit the title of the thread to make it a little easier for folks searching the forums for the issues you posted about to find; I'll try to keep the same spirit as your title.)

Last edited by Brian; 2010-08-01 at 07:46 AM.. Reason: emphasis, additional detail on external attachment viewers
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jack.n View Post
So I can live with no longer being able to email an action or a file to my to do list (as I can with ToDo and Evernote).
Forgot to mention that this is possible if you use the Mac app. It's also one of the things we're considering eventually making available for iPhone/iPad-only customers through our Sync Server.

I'm not sure how ToDo's feature works, but one of the advantage of a web-based service like Evernote is having a back end that can modify your database for you when the app isn't running. We think we can do something similar, but we need to do more investigation and then, you know, build the thing. See also: clone developers.

I hope that doesn't sound dismissive of your concern - you're absolutely correct that we don't have every feature that our competitors have, but we also have features that they don't.

Hopefully, the delta in features from the launch version of OmniFocus for iPhone to the current version helps you feel good about your purchase. Our goal with 1.0 was to ship something that was better than the iPhone app for iPad customers.

The app that came out on Friday wasn't the finish line, though - that was us just coming out of the starter blocks. Plenty of work left to do. :-)
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jack.n View Post
For $40, something like Omnif***us comes to mind. :) At least it would show they had a sense of humor about the application. But that's just my sarcastic sense of humor getting the best of me.

So I feel like I've paid $40 up front for sneak preview of something that's eventually going to turn into something useful - Omnifocus for Ipad. Now that the Omnigroup has the seed money they need, I hope they develop something that works like the desktop. I don't mind the wait as long as it's worth the wait.
Good, fast or cheap - pick two. If $40 isn't cheap for you, I don't know what to tell you.

The ONLY feature I couldn't live without is the "get this sw in my hands now" feature.

So, yeah, make a list of improvements the app needs, but any of that "Omnifocus is not worth the price because xx" stuff literally makes me lol.

Ha-ha- F'n -ha. :D:D
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian View Post
Edit: support for external attachment viewers (for stuff like Keynote docs) is one of the things I've seen discussed; I think I saw Ken say "yes, we want to do it" but I can't find the post at the moment.
Hi Jack,
I think Brian may be talking about a thread on Document Interchange over on the iPhone Board. See this link.
Hope this is helpful.
 
Brian,
Thanks for the help.

As I said, the search feature is the killer for me. I take a lot of notes and clippings from emails and web pages and stuff and I'm lost without being able to search through them.

As far as emailing tasks to others are concerned, yes I'm aware that I can email and INDIVIDUAL action to someone. However, let's say I have a checklist or project containing 10 things to do that I want to email. From what I can see I'm unable to mail the list or project - I have to send 10 separate emails. Other applications such as Taska can handle this beautifully.

As far as PDF attachments are concerned, you say this feature works but I am unable to do it. 1) I add a PDF attachment to a note in Omnifocus on my Macbook Pro (being careful to include the actual file - not just a link to it.). I sync (to Mobile Me). When I sync with my other Mac, the PDF attachment is there. But when I sync with the iPad, there is no PDF attachment. Photos and voice recordings work fine.

Brian, I understand you had to leave out certain things for the iPad version. I'm not even saying it's a "bad" app. But let's face it. This app cost $40 and a couple of months of wait time! For comparision, Todo, by Appigo cost $5, was available within a couple of weeks after the Ipad release, and has been revised 4 times since it's release.

I wish I could say that Omnifocus was 8x better than ToDo and worth the wait. Or even 2x better. But I can't honestly say it's ANY better. In fact, Todo has a LOT going for it. The ONLY thing Omnifocus has over Todo is that it syncs with my existing Omnifocus for desktop data. But not my PDFs. Not my MP3s or presentations. And it can't search my notes. So it "sort of" syncs with my existing Omnifocus desktop data.

And to Steven: I'm glad we make each other laugh. I get a kick out of people that are loyal to a "brand" or a "concept" regardless of functionality. I use Omnioutliner, and Omniproject on the Mac and Omnifocus on the Mac and iphone because they work great for me. They are AWESOME applications! Omnifocus for iPad is not. It's missing a lot of basic features. Like searching through notes.

Steven, price isn't really an issue with me. I don't mind ponying up $4 for a Starbuck's coffee even though it's over priced because it's also the best. But if I buy a cup and find it's been sitting on the burner for half a day and tastes like crap, I feel entitled to complain without someone telling me to stop complaining because it's Starbucks coffee. Get it?

Last edited by jack.n; 2010-08-01 at 08:44 AM..
 
 


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