[CrzyMke]

I find it hard view a release of OF for the iPhone/Touch as a new standalone program - as its essentially worthless without a direct sync to my desktop.

iPhone sync has long been touted as an intended feature should it ever have been feasible, and (I'm sure) informed many decisions to support Omni, over the competition. If Omni decided to charge for the mobile app, I'd be very disappointed. That being said, I would likely buy the app if priced below $5 or so, but I would certainly feel gouged.

OF is supposed to be "professional-grade" task-management, and sync is its killer feature. I may be off base - but as I followed development of OF from the early beta days, I was under the impression that iPhone sync was always an intended core OF feature. To segregate the user market now seems somehow dishonest. Use of the iPhone app could always be limited to users who sync w/ the main app if there is a concern of giving away a free product to non-users.

I think the subsidization argument against a free app is a bit self-serving. Just because you don't make use of a new feature doesn't mean it isn't part of the core philosophy of the app, and therefore part of an upgrade. I don't use OF w/ iCal or Mail - should I be allowed a price break - or is feature chronology somehow more relevant?

I would feel much better spending $20-30 to upgrade to an OmniFocus 2.0 that includes iphone sync than I would about $5 for a second standalone app.

[Bruce L]

Thank you CrzyMke. Your logic makes a lot of sense to me, although what about the person who just wanted to use a program like OF on an iPhone or iPod Touch? Maybe the answer would be separate prices for a Mac OS X only version, a Mac OS X version with an iPhone/iPod Touch plug-in/program included, and a version for just the iPhone/iPod Touch. You could have a reasonable cost differential between the first two. The pricing differential of buying the OS X version with the iPhone/iPod Touch plug-in/program included would be less than the cost of the standalone iPhone/iPod Touch version. This seems like a solution that would fairly balance the interest of all parties.

[blewis]

For me, in order to pay anything and not feel burned, I have to have iPhone to OF sync with a cable. If I both have to pay for the mobile sync utility _and_ pay for a website/server to run webDAV, then things get fairly expensive for the mobile sync function. If things have to be done on a webDAV server for the application to "make sense" there's going to be more cost involved because I have to pay for a repeating service - which I generally frown upon. Any web base syncing has to be secure because I may be passing actions that have to do with my job.

I don't feel that Omni ever said that they guaranteed iPhone syncing with OF - in fact, I asked them directly in this forum as a precondition to me buying the beta. They gave a very professional and measured response which was something to the tune of ~"we can't really promise anything to you until we see the SDK and then we'll go from there. You can assume that we'd like to give you some way to have OF on your iPhone, but don't assume we will".

I took from that I might have to pay for an OF 1.2/1.5/2.0 license to get mobile syncing. That mainly sucked cause I thought I might have to wait a year to get OF2.0 just to get iPhone syncing. ;-)

After using OF for a couple of months, I'm amazed at how integrated it has become into my life. It's actually causing me some problems at work where I use Windows - I've had to use my personal Mac @ work for the last 2 months and my managers are annoyed with me that I've requested a mac. It's obvious to me that having a mobile interface to the application is the NeXT step. Once that happens, OmniGroup may well have control over my life. ;-)

Brandon

[brab]

Originally Posted by Bruce L

I was hoping that OmniGroup might follow the example of 1Password who are offering their iPhone and Palm programs free with their current (1st) release.

As I have 1Password and a Palm, I quickly went to check this out. Looking at this page it's clear that they offer the iPhone app for a limited time, but that the Palm version requires a separate license (unfortunately for me).

[Kampy]

I've been wanting to implement a GTD app for a while now, and after doing some homework, it seems Omnifocus is the best app out there. But 80 bucks seems kinda steep (compared to other GTD apps) so I have not bought anything yet.

BUT, if Omnifocus worked on my iPhone, THAT would be the tipping point that would get me to take the plunge and plunk down my 80 bucks.

However, if I had to pay $80 for OF, and then have to pay AGAIN to get it to work on my iPhone, that would suck.

I wouldn't want a standalone iPhone only app, of course, because i'd want to be able to enter info via my desktop as well. The iPhone version should work in conjunction with the desktop version.

80 bucks for a premium GTD app that worked with my iPhone would be totally worth it, but having to spend more than, say, $10 more to get the iPhone functionality would leave a BAD taste in my mouth!

[mjstarks]

Thought I would throw me vote in for a free update to existing license holders. Consider the cost as "Green Marketing" because by having OMNiPhoneCus on my iPhone, I will stop printing out reams of paper everyday trying to keep my next actions with me for all my various contexts.

What is GTD if you can't easily have your next actions available when you are in whatever context in which you need it? and, of course, what is always with someone all of the time? Their iPhone!

Don't get me wrong, if I felt the iPhone app was well done I'd be willing to pay again, but anything over $6 and I trend toward bitter.

I have invested in OmniPlan, OmniOutliner, OmniGraflle & OmniFocus trying to get the best system together. And I can't even share data from OmniPlan to/fro OmniFocus, and my incredible portable computing platform, the iPhone can't do much with any of my data. So I am looking at another round of upgrades (which are hopefully coming soon.)

So charge if you must, but I would much rather feel some goodwill for the investment I have already made.

[joelande]

Originally Posted by CrzyMke

...iPhone sync has long been touted as an intended feature should it ever have been feasible, and (I'm sure) informed many decisions to support Omni, over the competition.

... but as I followed development of OF from the early beta days, I was under the impression that iPhone sync was always an intended core OF feature. To segregate the user market now seems somehow dishonest.

Originally Posted by blewis

I don't feel that Omni ever said that they guaranteed iPhone syncing with OF - in fact, I asked them directly in this forum as a precondition to me buying the beta.

Well I can tell you that I was at the Apple Store "event" where OmniGroup first announced OmniFocus during MacWorld Expo a couple of years ago.

There were lots of questions regarding information on their portable device (at that time, Treos). OmniGroup said that OmniFocus would definitely work with as many portable devices as practical.

Omni were very emphatic that OmniFocus data would be available on their Treos. They were even waving their Treos in the air, claiming that they would definitely have their data with them.

Now, to be 100% completely fair, at the time they were talking Treos, and they were not specific as to whether it would be an add-on product or not.

But I have to say, as someone who was there, I walked away with the impression, in the spirit of the conversation, that it would be included.

[Ken Case]

Originally Posted by joelande

Omni were very emphatic that OmniFocus data would be available on their Treos.

This works now by synchronizing both OmniFocus and your Treo with iCal.

If the iPhone had a built-in To Do application like the Treo does, presumably it would also synchronize with iCal and we'd be synchronizing with it now as well. Unfortunately, it doesn't, so what we're really talking about is writing a new application for the iPhone rather than just synchronizing with an existing one.

The iPhone synchronization code will be included in a free update to OmniFocus, but we haven't yet decided whether or what to charge for the new iPhone application we're writing (which some people may want to put on their iPhones even if they don't have OmniFocus—or even a Mac).

[blewis]

Originally Posted by Ken Case

If the iPhone had a built-in To Do application like the Treo does, presumably it would also synchronize with iCal and we'd be synchronizing with it now as well.

Who knew that after a year of iPhone software updates, Apple _still_ would not have a basic smartphone feature. I can't believe it. I expected they'd have one as soon as Leopard came out.

Originally Posted by Ken Case

The iPhone synchronization code will be included in a free update to OmniFocus, but we haven't yet decided whether or what to charge for the new iPhone application we're writing (which some people may want to put on their iPhones even if they don't have OmniFocus—or even a Mac).

Interesting....

[kcmac]

I am a registered user of OmniFocus. I am most interested in seeing how the iPhone version compares to the desktop version. Frankly, I will be impressed if Omni can figure out how to simplify the iPhone version enough to make it iPhone friendly.

I have also started to use Things, which while not as feature rich as OF, is much more intuitive to use. I am also watching how they implement an iPhone version.

Since I registered with the early price of OF, I feel I got a pretty good deal. If I had paid $80, I would feel more inclined to think the iPhone version should be free for a registered user.

Looking forward to June, that is for sure.