The Omni Group
These forums are now read-only. Please visit our new forums to participate in discussion. A new account will be required to post in the new forums. For more info on the switch, see this post. Thank you!

Go Back   The Omni Group Forums > OmniPlan > OmniPlan for iPad
FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

 
Will Omniplan output to pdf or print [now available in v1.1] Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
Nick, note that there's a population that should find OmniPlan 1.0 ready to roll out of the box — that crowd at WWDC. Small groups, building iPad apps, everyone on the team has an iPad, probably not report generating fiends, in other words, Omni built an app they would find useful in house. It seems like a pretty obvious stepping stone on the way to a more widely useful app, allowing them to grab some mind and market share, get some useful feedback and direction, etc. If you aren't in that target population, and can't imagine that an app might rationally be (initially) targeted at a group that doesn't include you, then sure, it might look like a mistake.
Those are fair points, and I'm not suggesting that there's no market for OP in its current form. I'd have been content had Omni said that the app is targeted at the group you described.

But that's not what professional project management means to me, and I've seen what Omni have invested in OP/Mac to make it serve something much more like my view of PM than what you've described - especially the work to coexist with Microsoft Project, the standard many of us have to work with.
 
Remember, all Omni products do quite a bit of growing between 1.0 and whatever they are now. OP for iPad 1.0 is just a starting point. I think that will become clear soon enough. By itself, without the Mac app and without every participant having an iPad and a copy of the app, there are definitely constraints on what you can do. But coming at it from the opposite direction, as someone who has always had the Mac version, having the ability to view and edit plans on my iPad has been a big boon, because the iPad is what I carry with me, not the 27" iMac. It's also handy for doing "back of the envelope" plans for assessing the feasibility of an idea.

I'm confident that Omni's vision for the future of the iPad app includes making it usable in many of the roles currently only shouldered by the Mac app. Each revision should expand the audience for which it is a useful app. As with the other apps, there will likely always be some features not found in the iPad edition (AppleScript being one obvious and important example).
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
Remember, all Omni products do quite a bit of growing between 1.0 and whatever they are now. OP for iPad 1.0 is just a starting point. I think that will become clear soon enough. By itself, without the Mac app and without every participant having an iPad and a copy of the app, there are definitely constraints on what you can do. But coming at it from the opposite direction, as someone who has always had the Mac version, having the ability to view and edit plans on my iPad has been a big boon, because the iPad is what I carry with me, not the 27" iMac. It's also handy for doing "back of the envelope" plans for assessing the feasibility of an idea.

I'm confident that Omni's vision for the future of the iPad app includes making it usable in many of the roles currently only shouldered by the Mac app. Each revision should expand the audience for which it is a useful app. As with the other apps, there will likely always be some features not found in the iPad edition (AppleScript being one obvious and important example).
The problem though is that Omni Group insist that they'll charge for major upgrades (unlike many many iPad apps), yet refuse to tell us whether or not they see pdf and MSP support as upgrades, or just steps toward getting the app up to scratch.

OP iPad may well be very useful to me in the ways you describe, but in fact their policy makes it no use at all, because I can't buy it for fear of having to pay over again when it has these fundamental features added.

They've told us these features are coming. Why can't they tell us whether or not we'll have to pay for them? I get the "don't buy it until it's what you want" idea, but the reality is not as clear cut as that; it's some use now, but not ready for full use, so I'd like to buy it yet am unable to because they refuse to tell me what I'll get for my money.

That's the major frustration. With most apps/developers you know that these kinds of issues (issues where a large number of users see a glaring omission), will be cleared before they even begin to think about charging for an upgrade, so you feel safe to give them your money then work with them to get the app you need. Unfortunately that's not the Omni way :(.
 
Omni has been shipping iOS apps for several years. They have yet to ship a paid upgrade for any of them. I think you have a better chance of seeing a press release about their new Android app than a post telling you that print and export support will be an additional charge for OmniPlan for iPad 1.0 owners.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacBerry View Post
The problem though is that Omni Group insist that they'll charge for major upgrades
Either we posted something confusing someplace (absolutely possible, and I'd love to fix it if you can point me at it) or there's been a misunderstanding.

I have had many, many conversations with folks about how we might handle this some day; I'd summarize every one of those conversations (including the ones with the CEO) as "we don't know; we'll figure it out later".

The iTunes app store doesn't currently offer any real support for paid upgrades. Your best option (note that "best" does not equate to "good") is to pull the old version of the app and put a completely new app out that everyone must purchase at full price. The effect this would have on existing customer satisfaction is pretty easy to anticipate, and it's not good.

Might we do a paid upgrade at some point in the future? It's within the realm of possibility, sure. But there's a big difference between "maybe, if Apple makes it possible someday" and "insist".
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacBerry View Post
The problem though is that Omni Group insist that they'll charge for major upgrades (unlike many many iPad apps), yet refuse to tell us whether or not they see pdf and MSP support as upgrades, or just steps toward getting the app up to scratch.
For all my concerns about OP/iPad, this isn't one of them. Omni don't charge for this kind of upgrade even on the Mac, where they don't have Mac app store restrictions. I think this complaint is unfair.

Last edited by Brian; 2012-07-03 at 02:28 PM.. Reason: reduce quoted material for increased readability
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by nick101 View Post
For all my concerns about OP/iPad, this isn't one of them. Omni don't charge for this kind of upgrade even on the Mac, where they don't have Mac app store restrictions. I think this complaint is unfair.
Really?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Omniplan FAQs for iPad
Will future updates cost anything?

The App Store policy and the longstanding Omni Group policy agree: minor updates should be free. Of course, if there is a major overhaul of the application with lots of shiny new features, we may release it as a new product, and that would cost money. But bug fixes, minor features, and miscellaneous polishing come at no cost.
The things we're discussing here are NOT "bug fixes", "minor features", or "miscellaneous polishing" (if they were, there would not be so many people up in arms about their omission), so the implication of that answer is that they may be charged for.

If, as you suggest, its not the Omni Groups normal behaviour, why do they say that?

With most apps it's not a big deal; if I have to pay £2.99 twice, so be it, but while I think Omniplan is probably worth the premium price they ask for it, it is NOT worth double, so it's perfectly "fair" to ask for clarrification; when these features come, will they be concidered "shiny new features" that we'll have to pay for?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian View Post
Either we posted something confusing someplace (absolutely possible, and I'd love to fix it if you can point me at it) or there's been a misunderstanding.
Your own FAQs, combined with the (not unreasonable) fact that users have no way of knowing how many other new features will come alongside/ahead of pdf and MSP support; enough to constitute "lots of shiny new features"?

The fact that you seam to view these import/export features as nice to have, non-essential functions, makes me worry that you'll concider them chargeable.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacBerry View Post
Your own FAQs, combined with the (not unreasonable) fact that users have no way of knowing how many other new features will come alongside/ahead of pdf and MSP support; enough to constitute "lots of shiny new features"?

The fact that you seam to view these import/export features as nice to have, non-essential functions, makes me worry that you'll concider them chargeable.
I have read what you are referring to but it is my belief that this was written before Apple introduced in-app purchases. While Omni has not to date charged for any updates to iOS apps I imagine that if it came down to it that they would implement it as an in-app purchase rather than a replacement app. The stigma of pulling an app and replacing it with a new one is surely something a company conscientious as Omni would want to avoid.

Your speculation is moot, in my humble opinion, and distracts from more realistic and pressing concerns. Given Omni's track record, we will not be charged for PDF export. Of course, this is no guarantee, but it's certainly more conceivable than the speculation that Omni would replace the app simply for PDF support.
 
Firstly, you assume I or any other user knows Omni's history; I don't, so I can only judge them by what they say.

Secondly, I'm not speculating, you are, both about what their plans are and about when/why they wrote their FAQ's (given that OP iPad has only just been released, I suspect you're wrong about the latter point anyway). You're assuming, with no evidence, that PDF/MSP support would come on its own. How do I (or you), know that it won't wait until a version 2 along with a load of other stuff that they don't regard as core functionality?

I agree that it wouldn't look good for Omni to pull the app and replace it completely, but they wouldn't be the first, and it's what they've declared they'll do, so I'd like them to answer my question; assuming that it proves possible at all, is PDF/MSP support going to be part of V1.x, or is it more likely that it'll come in a later version?

In other words, do they recognise that to a significant proportion of their users, these are core functions, or not?
 
 


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Print output seriously small! tjfallis@blackrockmarketi OmniOutliner 3 for Mac 2 2013-04-14 10:45 AM
How do you get output from OF? GeorgeV OmniFocus for iPad 6 2011-11-23 11:17 AM
Print or PDF output? [A: Open feature request: please email support ninjas.] witz OmniOutliner for iPad 2 2011-05-12 10:04 AM
output from Omnigraffle vooheese OmniGraffle General 1 2011-03-21 04:52 AM
Evading Print on Print Dialog jpelton OmniFocus Extras 3 2010-03-21 12:59 PM


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 02:32 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.