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I have some voice memos that are being added as attachments to tasks in .m4a format (via OF for Mac). To my surprise, Omnifocus for iPhone doesn't seem to be able to play them.

Why is this? What audio file formats (if any) are supported besides the silly apple loops (I can't even remember the extension because nothing else uses it) format?
 
What are you using to record these voice memos?

OmniFocus on iOS records in Core Audio format (.caf), and QuickTime Player on the Mac knows how to play it. .m4a, .aif and .mp3 files need to be opened by another application on iOS, such as GoodReader or Air Sharing (undoubtedly there are many which will work, those are just two that I happen to have).
 
I'm using DropVox, which is an excellent voice memo app. Opens directly to recording mode, uploads to Dropbox. Then I basically have a folder actions script that imports the audio files to Omnifocus.

The audio recording is infinitely better than Omnifocus's current implementation when I'm in a hurry, and my script at home works brilliantly -- in a matter of seconds, my Macbook has imported the file to OF... but the darn thing is unplayable on OF for iPhone! So while I can open the file on OF for Mac when I get back home, I'm stuck with an audio file that is completely unusable on OF for iPhone.

Nothing uses the .caf format -- it seems like a very silly choice. At least if OF could use .mp3 or .mp4 or wav or aac I could use some kind of converter. Or at the very least, OF iPhone could give me the option to "open in another program." But all it does (AFAICT) is... nothing. Click on any other audio filetype all you want, .caf is all it likes.

Bah, I just attached a random .caf file via OF Mac and synced, and that won't play on OF iPhone either. I guess it has to be recorded on the device to work?
 
Looks like the behavior is different on iPhone than on iPad; on the iPad, I do get the "Open in..." option when I attach a .mp3 file to an action.

I've got a bug open on the inability of OF to play .caf files that weren't recorded on the iPhone, though as it turns out we hadn't gotten to that conclusion yet.

My guess is that the reason CAF was chosen was to minimize the memory footprint and sidestep any licensing issues.
 
Ah, that makes sense re: licensing issues. I'll double check with mp3s to make sure I didn't miss anything.
 
@n8henrie: I'd really appreciate it if you shared the script! I was about to find / create a solution for exactly this workflow (different recording app though) and this would save me some time I'd rather spend with my kids. ;)
 
I use NoodleSoft Hazel (a bit easier to use than plain old applescripts) to run this:

tell application "Finder"
set file_name to (name of theFile)
tell application "OmniFocus"
tell default document
set NewTask to make new inbox task with properties {name:file_name}
tell the note of NewTask
make new file attachment with properties {file name:theFile, embedded:true}
end tell
activate
end tell
end tell
end tell

Also lots of info here:
http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=11543
 
Thanks a lot! I'll try it out this weekend!
 
 


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