[santra]

I'm having a hard time getting any news on OmniGroup's porting of its apps to the iPad.

When will they be ready? Why aren't there separate forum areas devoted to OmniFocus for the iPad, OmniOutliner for the iPad, etc.?

Why isn't there an iPad section under General at the very top?

OmniGroup is my favorite Mac app company, and I believe the iPad is going to be HUGE.

The blog is just not doing it for me. I know OG is working on this, but it's very unclear which apps will be ready for when. And there are really no dedicated forum areas for discussing the apps. I'd really like to see these kind of spaces available for dialog among users.

[Brian]

We're super-excited, and we're really glad you are too! I promise that iPad-related forums will exist by the time we ship, but we're very constrained in what we can say before then. A lot of the iPad stuff is covered by an NDA.

We're working like crazy on the apps. For example, the only time yesterday that one of us didn't check in code for OmniGraffle for iPad was between 4 and 5am.

Forums are like a garden - a great resource, but one that requires care and feeding. Between now and the time we ship, we need to focus that time and energy on building the apps as much as possible.

(I also worry that it would be demoralizing for excited folks to see a bunch of "sorry, we can't answer that because of the NDA" responses to their questions...)

[santra]

OK, thanks, Brian. I totally understand why and how the NDA limits what you can communicate. I'm just fishing, really, to get some kind of idea of when OmniOutliner will become available for the iPad. 1 month, 3 months, 6 months? Users are in the dark and want to know. It's a big issue for me professionally because I rely on OO at my job, and I want to replace my MBP with an iPad (for work), since it's much lighter to carry.

Anyway, I'm sure you guys will do a great job. I really appreciate all the effort your programmers are putting in (especially the extra hours). I think Ken and your managers made the right decision by shifting focus to iPad. Thank you!

[Brian]

Can't make a hard-and-fast prediction; can't say for sure how long it will take to get OmniGraffle and OmniGraphSketcher shipped and deal with any issues that come up.

Once they're squared away, though, OmniOutliner is the next app we want to work on bringing over.

[santra]

I was really upset today to see an article on TUAW boasting that OmniGroup had finally ported something to the iPad: OmniGraphSketcher.

OmniGraphSketcher??? Are you kidding me?

What about OmniFocus?
What about OmniOutliner?
What about OminPlan?
What about OmniGraffle?

This is very upsetting news. OmniGroup, coming to the iPad, with OmniGraphSketcher. Please. Sketcher is the new kid on the block. OmniFocus and OmniOutliner are the programs that thousands and thousands of users have been using for years, and begging you to put on the iPad.

This is just so depressing.

:-(

[supernitin]

I've already paid $30 for the iPhone App and $80 for the Mac App. Omnigroup, cut your loyal users a break!

I'm a huge GTD advocate and have been able to turn many folks at work on the system. However, they usually use other apps due to the high-cost of entry for the Omnifocus system.

Please reconsider your pricing!

[Ken Case]

Originally Posted by santra

I was really upset today to see an article on TUAW boasting that OmniGroup had finally ported something to the iPad: OmniGraphSketcher.

The current shipping version of OmniFocus for iPhone will be available for iPad on day one for no additional charge, but we haven't yet announced pricing or availability for any of iPad-specific apps (including OmniGraphSketcher—I hadn't actually heard about that TUAW article before now).

Now, that said, if you look into the crystal ball…

…That is, if you look back at some of our blog posts (and Brian's earlier post in this thread), you'll see that we're planning to bring all five of our productivity apps to iPad. It's a big undertaking, and we can't do it all at once (so we're starting with OmniGraffle and OmniGraphSketcher), but all five of those apps are coming.

Originally Posted by supernitin

I've already paid $30 for the iPhone App and $80 for the Mac App. … Please reconsider your pricing!

If you already own the iPhone version of OmniFocus, you will be able to use it for free on your iPad. (That's what I'll be doing on April 3!)

I've been asked on twitter whether iPhone OmniFocus users will get the iPad version for free or whether it will be a new purchase, and my reply was simply that I don't know yet: I know some companies do this differently, but we prefer to build an app before deciding how much it should cost.

I'm really looking forward to April 3! (Oh, and to address the original topic which started this thread: we'll be setting up some iPad-specific forums within the next week so they're ready to go on launch day.)

[santra]

>The current shipping version of OmniFocus for iPhone will be available for iPad on day one

Thanks, Ken! Best news I've heard all week.

supernitin, I don't care how much they charge, I just want the apps on my iPad. It will be additionally great if OG has special versions of the apps custom tailored for just the iPad; and from my impression, that's exactly what Ken and all the coders have been working hard on for the last two months.

This could be good. Very good. I, for one, am sick of staring at a tiny screen as my main work area (iPhone), as well as carrying around my 7 lb. MacBook Pro everywhere, so I'm very keen on getting up and running asap on an iPad.

OmniGroup is my favorite Mac company, so of course I'm feeling very neurotic about how it's all going to play out.

Thanks for answering, Ken.

[ksrhee]

Originally Posted by Ken Case

The current shipping version of OmniFocus for iPhone will be available for iPad on day one for no additional charge, but we haven't yet announced pricing or availability for any of iPad-specific apps (including OmniGraphSketcher—I hadn't actually heard about that TUAW article before now).

Thanks for your note! Now for clarification. Do you mean that OF for iPad will be a modified version of OF for iPhone for the native iPad screen size? Since most iPhone applications will run in iPad and with double pixeling, I wasn't sure what you meant by this.

[santra]

Originally Posted by ksrhee

Thanks for your note! Now for clarification. Do you mean that OF for iPad will be a modified version of OF for iPhone for the native iPad screen size? Since most iPhone applications will run in iPad and with double pixeling, I wasn't sure what you meant by this.

Good question!

Did OG just double pixel the app to scale it up, or are you truly coding new versions of your apps that take advantage of the higher resolution?

Wow, we really could use a separate thread/forum area for iPad questions.