[whpalmer4]

Originally Posted by psidnell

I must remember not to use irony - it rarely ends well.

I was quite gratified that I hadn't yet fixed myself any sort of morning beverage by the time I checked out the hot dates! :)

[psidnell]

It's a little clunky but OO can now export OPML directly to CarbonFin outliner which syncs between iPad and iPhone quite nicely. At least it's a way of getting your notes onto the phone without too many steps.

I think going the other way is slightly more complex still.

[MrTiff]

CarbonFin's web interface just doesn't quite cut it ... and of course it requires an internet connection. But their iPhone app is pretty nice.

If you don't want to build your own iPhone OO app, then please get together with the CarbonFin people and make some nice integration happen.

If you DO want to have your own iPhone OO app, then please hire me to accelerate the process! :-)

[Obyor]

+1 for an iPhone version of OmniOutliner!

[HappyCatMachine]

Originally Posted by MrTiff

CarbonFin's web interface just doesn't quite cut it ... and of course it requires an internet connection. But their iPhone app is pretty nice.

If you don't want to build your own iPhone OO app, then please get together with the CarbonFin people and make some nice integration happen.

If you DO want to have your own iPhone OO app, then please hire me to accelerate the process! :-)

Just to correct something, CarbonFin does not require an internet connection to use. It only requires it if you choose to sync with the online version of the outliner.

It's interface is quite simple :)

[deejacker]

+1 for an iPhone version of OmniOutliner!

[mbosley]

I would want to be able to create checklists and other outlines using OmniOutliner on Mac or iPad, but maybe see only the basics on iPhone. To me, the features consistent with CarbonFin Outliner would be all I need on the iPhone, perhaps coupled with the ability to filter or sort by column information but not necessarily to see it on one screen. in other words, to use an outline but not necessarily do all the advanced work to set it up. So my main required features for an iPhone version would be:

Basically, just as I do with OmniFocus, I want to do more advanced/detailed creating/management on iPad or Mac, but be able to put the output to use on iPhone.

1. See the core outline (the hierarchy)
2. Expand/collapse sections individually or all at once
3. Add/remove/edit/rearrange times
4. Show/hide checked items
5. Uncheck all items
6. Sync with iPad and Mac versions (document level sync)
7. (preferably) Drill into an item to edit additional column data (perhaps only if the columns are pre-defined on Mac or iPad)
8. (maybe) Filter or sort on additional column information
9. (not so much me but I bet many would want) View/hide note associated with outline steps

Oh, and this is not iPhone specific, but I think there should be an OmniFocus template for Outliner that lets me plan projects in Outliner and then export to OmniFocus very seamlessly. I realize this capability is sort of there now but it doesn't seem as seamless as it could be.

[mward]

1) Multiple data types would be nice, but as long as OO iPhone doesn't mess up column types for existing documents, I'd be happy. If OO iPhone doesn't support column types, it would also be nice if I could later use OO Mac/iPad with something like data detectors to convert text columns from iPhone to dates, numbers, etc.

2) OO iPhone would be very useful even with plain text; simple formatting (bold, italic) would be great. Full formatting is by no means necessary, again, as long as OO iPhone doesn't mess up formatting on existing documents (it wouldn't even have to display it, just preserve it), that's fine.

3) No.

4) Need basic editing capabilities. A viewer would be better than nothing. DHTML is insufficient for my needs—see below.

5) Would ideally like iCloud syncing or Dropbox compatibility, with round trip capability, so that a file created on one device would be editable on others.

I would like to use OO to replace much of what I currently do in plain text note apps on Mac/iPhone/iPad right now—writing down notes, collecting simple data, brainstorming.

Here's my basic requirements:

* Create and edit basic outlines. Multi-column support would be ideal, column data type support not necessary.
* Be able to expand and format outlines created on OO iPhone with OO Mac/iPad.
* Be able to continue to access and edit these OO files through iPhone (and iPad and Mac)—so some sort of cloud-based storage such as iCloud or Dropbox would be ideal. The way iWork currently does cloud sync between iPhone and iPad is a good example, but I would want this functionality on Mac as well.
* With respect to handling feature set differences between pltaforms—it's fine if I can't change formatting (or column types, or other fancy things) done on Mac, but I'd like that formatting to be preserved. If maintaining formatting between Mac/iPad/iPhone is too complicated, I'd be happy to be happy to be able to share simpler outlines between these apps, as long as there's a "simple mode" on Mac and iPad that restricts the features of those apps to ensure compatibility with iPhone. I could use this least common denominator feature set on all devices to compose outlines, and then use the Mac or iPad to format them—that would be an acceptable workflow as well.

Hope to see OO for iPhone after the release of OO 4! I'd gladly pay for a new iPhone app and buy upgrades to existing Mac and iPad versions of OO for this sort of capability, which would make OO infinitely more useful to me.

[Boodlums]

Originally I was going to say it would need to import a Bonsai outline and support every element of the outline, but since I need to migrate now and OO for iPhone doesn't exist, then it will have to import and support every element of the existing iPhone outliners' (CarbonFin, Zeptoliner, JOutliner Simple Outliner, etc.) files.

And yes, absolutely must support full editing on the iPhone. I've been using Bonsai on my Palm, and I do ALL entry and editing on the Palm. I *never* use the desktop (there's no Mac version of it anyway). I live inside Bonsai; a handheld outliner is the nexus of my life.

Zeptoliner is crashing at startup, so now I'm looking at the other three; I haven't picked one yet.

-Walter

[JockM]

@Ken So omni has had a couple of years to consider how best to make a iPhone version of OmniOutliner... any progress?

I have said it before, and I will keep saying it: Omni makes some of the best software for OSX and/or iOS. I have deep respect for their engineers.

Which is why I feel so utterly disappointed when it comes to things like Dropbox support and an iPhone version of OmniOutliner.

I can more than understand why an app like OmniGraffle might only be iPad only. But outlines are something I want and need to edit on my iPhone as well as my iPad. I need to be able to edit them any time a thought, or correction, or change comes to me. When I wake up in the middle of the night or when I am on the train going downtown.

Once again I feel like you guys are letting Perfect be the enemy of Good Enough. Yes it is hard to scale the UI down to the iPhone, but I would really like to see you support some core subset, and figure it out from there. When it comes to outline editing some functionality is far far better than no functionality.

This (and Dropbox support) keeps me using an inferior program (CarbonFin), rather than the one I would much rather be using: because I can actually get work done with the inferior one.

So I am sympathetic to the problem that it is complex and hard to scale an interface down to the iPhone. But it is a solvable problem...