Impressions from Omnifocus for iPad

The choice of the most convenient task manager - process is long and laborious. You need to do not just put the program and look at it, but also to work with her for a few weeks to understand the strengths and weaknesses, try to know the plan of developers.

I since the release of Things for Mac has been faithful to this application. Attractive interface, easy, clear "ideology" - all captivating. Things have been shortcomings (and a lot), but nevertheless the application somehow managed to set up in accordance with its objectives. From being able to go to competitors, and stopped the financial issue - because, as a rule, it is necessary once again to buy a software package for different platforms. And they are usually not cheap.

Then two things happened: Apple released the iPad, and Cultured Code have sharply reduced the pace of development. Things actually ceased to evolve (sometimes, the truth out bug fixes), it did not appear necessary to me the ability to create projects within projects. Versions for iOS provoked problems of synchronization and more limited functionality. On the purchase of Things for iPad ($ 20) and I'm sorry for all - the program lacks features such as the People, which is in the desktop version. For those who are not familiar with Things, I will explain: in this application, you can add colleagues, his team members, contractors, etc., charging them tasks and monitor their execution. Since I work on the main encounter with freelancers, this feature Things I always appreciated.

In general, Things I was satisfied with less and less. We had to make compromises, but the work itself has been less comfortable. And then I caught the eye article UmputunaIn which he talks about the heat Omnifocus for iPad. Actually, after this review I decided to explore the iPad-version of the popular task manager (with the desktop version has been signed).

Omnifocus clearly focused on the methodology GTD. If you are not readers of the book by David Allen's "Getting Things Done order. The Art of stress-free productivity ", it is better to do so, otherwise the application can seem complicated. The site Omni Group has GTD white paper (small Manuals) and a series of articles in the blog, which are devoted to practical use Omnifocus. It should read them to understand, in any case, the application will be useful to you.

Already after the first run Omnifocus for iPad, you'll see multiple tasks and projects. Add a new task in two ways: by clicking on the icon sheet with a pencil or a "+" in the upper right corner.

In the first case, the addition of recording window will appear. Here you can specify a task, a project to which it belongs, and to note its flag. Pay attention to paragraph Context. The methodology GTD every action can have its own context. Contexts help to group similar tasks: for example, telephone calls, the actions that must be done for the Mac in the office by e-mail. Those. if next to you phone, you can immediately see which calls should be made.

You can specify the start time and deadline to each task. You can also set the action as a regular. Then the problem will be repeated. This, incidentally, the only one not well thought out part Omnifocus. The fact is that you can specify what action should be carried out every hour / day / week / month, but you can not specify "every day" or "the last Friday of the month."

In addition to the timing of each task you can attach text notes, as well as image and voice recording.

In Omnifocus conveniently organized work projects. Suffice it to say that there is an opportunity to create subprojects. Not so long ago I was involved in the launch of the service. The problem is solved versatile - was the work of designers, programmers, content filling, etc. I think in the Things I would be chaos, but here is one project with multiple nested sub-projects. Everything is organized and Navid. :-)

In the desktop Omnifocus has such a feature as the "Prospects» (Perspectives). Prospects - it various options for displaying tasks. You can, for example, to create a perspective Today and see all the tasks to be performed in the next 24 hours. Create perspective Home, in order to "hide" the tasks that perform at work, and of Office, to Omnifocus not show you the household chores, while you are in the office. Omnifocus for iPad automatically imports all your prospects.

The iPad version Omnifocus have two options that are not available in the desktop analog. We are talking about and Forecast Map modes. Mode "Map" allows you to attach a context to any object on the map. For example, you frequently visit the bank. Can cause separation of the card, attach context. And then, being in the bank, you will know that here you have to pay bills, make money on the loan, to pay fines issued a new card, etc. :-)

The second mode display tasks, Forecast, even more interesting. Omnifocus learned to show the calendar for the week with all the planned events. It looks like this:

Selecting the day of the week, you'll see a list of planned actions. After the iPad-version are lacking in the desktop mode Forecast Omnifocus. Remotely, it is possible to achieve prospects.

Separately, I would like to dwell on the synchronization mode. With this in Omnifocus no problems at all. Synchronize tasks between different devices can be on WiFi protocol, through the MobileMe service, with a WebDAV server, as well as using the Omni Sync Server, which is still under beta. Everything works like magic.

What we have in the end? Powerful and at the same time very convenient task management tool. Similarly, the application remains except that compete on price (Omnifocus for Mac costs $ 80, and for iPad - $ 40). In this case, in particular business people there is no alternative, for the quality and functionality have to pay.

Tell, and what you use to manage your tasks on the iPad? It is waiting for your comments and recommendations.