[holland]

Another day and another load of small updates via app store on my iphone - some big, some tiny - BrainChallenge has now updated twice in a week!

So, i'm going to be blunt today and then not bother you again. You create FANTASTIC APPS and i LOVE THEM! And i don't mind at all if you tell me to STOP WINGING! I chose and use OmniFocus and i got what i paid for. It can be ineffective on the iPhone at times as it loads very slowly, but it is what it is and it is mostly WONDERFUL. Period.

However, with regard to updates, I'd really like it if you'd just get to the point and say "we simply haven't made enough progress with an update to release it yet. That's the ONLY reason that we haven't released an update via iTunes. We have more work to do and aren't really sure when it'll get done. You'll hear from us as soon as its released and not before because we're not into releasing road maps nor blog articles about the progress of the iPhone app". This stuff has clearly got nothing to do with me, but I'd love you to just say that and not bother blaming process complications that other iPhone developers are dealing with fine and releasing 2 updates a week.

So, i'm going away now and a BIG THANKS for some great apps and i look forward to future updates whenever they arrive.

Thanks :)

[whpalmer4]

Here's a comment from an Omni employee on the topic of release schedules:

http://forums.omnigroup.com/showpost...75&postcount=2

Frankly, I don't understand what the problem is. You get much more visibility and input into Omni's development than any other established company that comes to mind. The quality level of the finished result is generally excellent, unlike that of many other vendors. There's an old joke about software engineering that goes "cheap, fast, correct; choose any two" and I think a variant of it applies here. This isn't enterprise software that needs to be rolled out to 10,000 seats simultaneously. Why is knowing the exact date it is going to ship more important than knowing that they are confident they have delivered the best product they can? Has Apple told you when they are going to ship 10.5.6, or the next version of the iPhone software? :)

Your other developers that are shipping multiple releases a week may be rapidly using up their supply of good will with Apple, who knows. It's not like they've never done anything arbitrary or capricious to a 3rd party developer, is it?

[Andrew]

Holland, exactly how much transparency to have is something that we struggle with. While we tend to like transparency, there are some drawbacks in certain aspects or circumstances, ranging from controlling expectations to competitive reasons to not always being confident enough in our current plans to marketing reasons and more. (How's that for a vague answer?)

That said, since it's been mentioned elsewhere, we have an update that has been submitted to Apple and is just waiting for their approval. We don't want to make a big deal about it because we don't have any control over this part of the schedule.

[ext555]

I can say it again , APPLE DECIDES when updates hit the app store , not the developer. Cutured Code released an update to things touch , and 8 days later it showed up on app store . Not being a developer, I'm not sure if apple even tells you why they're holding up your update ..
I'm going to venture a guess , that the more complicated the app is , the more thorough they check it out ?
I'm very grateful for the amount of communication omni does with us .
It's much much much more than a lot of companies I've dealt with .
Keep up the good work Omni !