[whpalmer4]

That sounds like an error from attempting to sync the OmniFocus database, not the file where the calendar alerts are stored (OmniFocus-Reminders.ics).

Probably your best bet is to work on this with the support ninjas, who can talk to the developers to analyze what is happening. They'll probably walk you through getting the console log from the iPhone to get a more detailed picture of what is happening.

[grangej]

Is there a reason that if I subscribe to the calendar in iCal that the reminders do not show up?

I noticed that there was mention of this being added to the desktop version as well, I *always* have omni-focus up on the desktop so syncing to the calendar from there would be more beneficial?

[amelchi]

Hello

are the reminders that appear in Ical supposed to disappear after I mark a task as done in OF (iphone)?
thanks

Alessandro

[whpalmer4]

Yes, but it can take a while depending on your settings. The iPhone needs to do another sync, at which time it will update the OmniFocus reminders calendar file. Then your calendar app needs to fetch the updated calendar file. How quickly that takes place depends on your settings for refreshing the calendar.

[macula]

Let's say I have a task with title "Tune the piano", due date 1/1/2010 and due time 10:00.

Upon syncing via MobileMe, an event titled "Due: Tune the piano" is created in the OmniFocus-Reminders.ics calendar , with the same due day and time. So far so good.

Unfortunately, if I later change the title of the task to "Tune the harp", or if I modify the due date or time, the changes are not reflected to iCal.

As you understand, this is a serious bug—bad things can happen when reminders do not work as expected!

(Unless I am doing something wrong?)

Thank you.

[macula]

Can I ask for an official answer from the Omni guys:

If I add/modify tasks with reminders on the Mac, do I need to run OF on the iPhone for the reminders to be added/updated? Or is a regular iPhone calendar sync sufficient?

Thank you.

[Brian]

Happy to help! The calendar file is updated during OmniFocus' sync process, so launching the app isn't by itself sufficient. (Unless the launch triggers an auto-sync, I suppose.)

The MobileMe calendar sync process doesn't know anything about OmniFocus' database, so a MobileMe calendar sync can't change the actions inside the app. OmniFocus does the work of reading in the calendar file, making any necessary changes to the OF database, and then pushing a new calendar file up to the server.

[macula]

Thank you, Brian.

Allow me also to ask for one more clarification: I presume that, if I create a task with a reminder on the iPhone version of OF, and my Mac is turned off, the reminder will still be created in the iPhone calendar?

I guess my problem is this: I subscribed to the OF .ics calendar on my iPhone (tapping on Mail, Contacts & Calendars>Add an account>Other>Subscribe) as instructed by Omni. However, since iPhone OS 3.1, MobileMe automatically does sync calendars one has subscribed to through the desktop version of iCal. As a result, I got two version of the "OmniFocus Reminders" calendar on my iPhone: One from the direct subscription on the iPhone, and one from the desktop subscription via MobileMe.

Worrying that having duplicate reminder calendars would result to, well, duplicate reminder alarms, I followed Apple's instructions at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3634

Here is the most relevant excerpt:

"Note: If you manually added a subscribed calendar on your iPhone or iPod touch with iPhone OS 3.0 or later, after updating to 3.1, your subscribed calendars may now appear twice if you have that subscribed calendar in iCal and are syncing with MobileMe. You can safely delete the calendar added directly on the iPhone or iPod touch by going to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, tapping on the name of the calendar, and then tapping Delete Account."

After following Apple's advice, however, and waiting for some time, I don't see my OF reminders getting synced to the iPhone.

So, all in all: How does reminder syncing work with iPhone 3.1? Do we get a duplicate OF reminder calendar (and hence duplicate reminders) or do we delete the old-fashioned subscription and receive the reminder calendar on the iPhone via MobileMe, as per Apple?

Thank you for clarifying. This is making me crazy. I wish Omni had come up with a healthier approach to reminders.

[whpalmer4]

Originally Posted by macula

Let's say I have a task with title "Tune the piano", due date 1/1/2010 and due time 10:00.

Upon syncing via MobileMe, an event titled "Due: Tune the piano" is created in the OmniFocus-Reminders.ics calendar , with the same due day and time. So far so good.

Unfortunately, if I later change the title of the task to "Tune the harp", or if I modify the due date or time, the changes are not reflected to iCal.

As you understand, this is a serious bug—bad things can happen when reminders do not work as expected!

There's no bug. If you change that task's title, when OmniFocus does its next sync it will attempt to propagate the change to the reminders calendar. Whether the calendar app on the iPhone/iPod Touch or iCal gets that change in a timely fashion is dependent on factors outside of Omni's control, such as your settings for fetching data in the Mail, Contacts, Calendars settings. Also, if you've turned off auto-sync on the iPhone, you'll have to remember to do a sync if you want the calendar updated.

Allow me also to ask for one more clarification: I presume that, if I create a task with a reminder on the iPhone version of OF, and my Mac is turned off, the reminder will still be created in the iPhone calendar?

Yes, the Mac is not involved in the process with OF 1.7.5 or earlier. The iPhone app modifies the calendar on the MobileMe server directly. One of the features planned for 1.8 is similar code for the Mac application, to get the change out there more expeditiously (and help out those people using only the Mac application, of course). You'll still be dependent on the calendar application on the device you are using fetching the new calendar data in a timely fashion.

I wish Omni had come up with a healthier approach to reminders.

Like what? Apple currently doesn't provide developers the means to put up notifications without relying on an internet connection to a server and/or the application running at the time of the notification. The Omni approach has predictable behavior, and works for both iPhone and iPod Touch users (and Mac users, too!) If Apple gives them the tools needed to implement a better solution, I'm sure the Omni developers will put them to good use.

[macula]

Thanks whpalmer4!

Unfortunately, my reminder sync woes are not over. I think the problem originates in this:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3634

As explained in this document, calendars subscribed to on iCal are actually *pushed* to the cloud (and the iPhone) by MobileMe. So, as of iPhone OS 3.1, there is no need to manually and separately subscribe to the calendar on the iPhone. Actually, manually subscribing will result to duplicate OmniFocus calendars on the iPhone.

In practice, however, this works horribly: It takes hours, literally, for OmniFocus reminders to be pushed to the iPhone, and therefore I cannot trust that my system works.

The alternative is to use the "old" method (manual subscription), and tolerate the duplicate calendar. However, in that case, I risk receiving duplicate reminder alerts on the iPhone, which can be quite confusing.

Perhaps OmniGroup could jump in and update their sync instructions in light of the Apple Support Document above.

Any comments? Thank you very much.