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Plans for scheduled/automatic iCal sync? [A: not at this time] Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
I'm just wondering if there are any plans to shift the iCal syncing eventually - to make it built into the sync services structure - whereby anything that is added in either place will automatically show up - as opposed to having to manually initiate a sync via a command. In so doing, OmniFocus would also be built directly into the .Mac sync structure - and it would be possible to sync between multiple computers. I know that Midnight Inbox is planning this functionality into it's v. 2 update. And Bento, just released by Filemaker, has this ability for Leopard as well.

Just a thought - but it would be great to have true syncing of the actions in OmniFocus to iCal.
 
I absolutely second that.
OmniFocus is great but at the same time absolutely useless because I need entering and processing information from more than one computer. Sending stuff by email or having OmniFocus server running all the time just doesn't work for me.
 
Is there a way to automatically have OF sync with iCal? As in, set it so it could sync once a day, or once a week, or once a month? If not, is there a chance this might be a feature in the near future?
 
It's manual for now. I have no idea what's in store for the future - Omni hasn't said.
 
Definitely not in the near future.

In general, we have reservations about automatic synch. Assuming no errors in the process, automatic sync is fine. But as we've all discovered, the process of syncing information between various apps is a complicated and (at best) fragile process.

If synch is manual, the user is aware that it's going on and is more likely to notice if something doesn't happen as they expect it to happen. (Because of bad data entry, because some other app involved in the sync did something it shouldn't have, or because we have a bug.)

Am I saying that automatic sync will never happen? No. But we don't have any plans to add it at this time.
 
I have the iPhone version of OF and have downloaded the compatible desktop version. All is working well, but I would like to know why there remains a manual button to sync with iCal. Does this mean that changes I make on my iPod Touch, which are then synced through MobileMe, are not reflected in the desktop version until I remember to press the Sync with iCal button?

Is there now a need for a manual sync and shouldn't the process be automatic?
 
Agreed, OF should just auto sync w/ iCal, and I can't believe this isn't built in, with all the OF hype and the obvious advantage (ie the other apps that sync with iCal).

Last edited by dancingbrook; 2008-07-18 at 06:18 AM..
 
Syncing OmniFocus on a desktop with OmniFocus on an iPhone/iPod Touch has nothing to do with syncing to iCal. Syncing between versions of OmniFocus *does* happen automatically -- once an hour, plus a couple minutes after any change occurs.

iCal syncing is provided primarily as a way of syncing with non-Apple devices that sync with iCal. I can't find it at the moment, but Brian explained why it's not automatic in another thread....
 
Yes, I know OF to OF sync and OF to iPhone sync are both different creatures than OF to iCal sync. And yes, OF to OF on the iPhone is different than OF to iCal anywhere, including iPhone's calendar.

It would be nice to have the option at least to auto sync OF to iCal. Given MobileMe's ability to see and edit iCal on a web page (ie anywhere on most any browser), is all the more reason to have OF auto-sync to iCal.

Couldn't find Brian's "reason" either; without a reason explaining why it couldn't happen, I'd say let it happen. It is obviously something that has been requested a lot. If you can sync manually, why not auto sync?

Last edited by dancingbrook; 2008-07-19 at 02:49 PM..
 
Synchronizing with iCal can take a long time, because it has to compare every task in iCal's database with every action in OmniFocus and see which ones need to be updated. Sometimes iCal's database is completely unresponsive, hanging the application for a minute before giving up with an error. We didn't want that delay (or possible hang) to happen with every edit you make.

But Mixalis' question seemed to be based on the notion that syncing with iCal was necessary to sync between a handheld and the desktop, which is why it's important to note that iPhone and iPod syncing in OmniFocus are completely unrelated to iCal syncing.

Last edited by Ken Case; 2008-07-18 at 06:14 PM..
 
 


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