OmniFocus iPhone Review

This week I'm going to look at the OmniFocus iPhone application. Unless you fit in that narrow wedge of a Venn diagram including both iPhone owners and OmniFocus geeks, these comments will have absolutely no interest to you. So there you have it. You've been warned.

Since the first day I took my iPhone of the box a year ago, I've been waiting for iPhone OmniFocus to arrive. It was, and remains to be, remarkable to me that Apple still hasn't created a native to-do list management system for the iPhone.

Well, with the opening of the applications store, and my willingness to part with $20, my wish has finally come true. I have OmniFocus on my iPhone. I have now been using it a few weeks and thought I'd share some of my initial impressions.

The most impressive feature of the iPhone OmniFocus application is the robust synchronization accomplished without use of a cute little white cord. That's right, you can synchronize your task list database wirelessly. In order to perform this bit of black magic, you need to upgrade your OmniFocus license on your Mac to the sneaky peek 1.1 version. (You can read my MacOmniFocus Review here.) I know most sane people avoid beta software (I frequently install it with reckless abandon), but in this case it is well worth the trouble. The Mac version of OmniFocus 1.1 allows you to sync your data through your MobileMe or other Webdav account. Once you have trained your Mac application to put your data into your MobileMe account, your iPhone will look at the cloud version and update itself. No cord required.

The synchronization process isn't perfect. It takes longer than a wired-based synchronization. Also, sometimes it runs into snags. In that case, OmniFocus will ask you whether it wants you to use the server or local version. The bottom line is that if you're going to do this, you need to respect the syncing gods. There are couple ways to do this. First, you tell your Mac software to backup your data every time you close OmniFocus. That way, you have numerous backups of your OmniFocus data in case the gods become angry. Second, don't tell everything to sync at once. Technically this is possible, but its really like when the Ghostbusters crossed the streams. Very bad things could happen.

With these precautions in place, syncing is great. The Omni people get a MacSparky thumbs up for the sheer moxy to pull it off. I am certain this process will get even easier and better over time but it is entirely workable right now so long as you take a few precautions.

So once I have the data on my iPhone, what do I do with it? This is where the current version of the OmniFocus iPhone software comes up a little short. The application allows you to manipulate the data in your iPhone and make changes to your tasks. Making changes is quite often, however, awkward. For instance, moving the start date on the iPhone requires several button taps and scroll wheels. Strangely, the process of changing the date also changes the start time and requires more steps to set right. Put simply, the interface needs work. The Omni engineers have to figure a way to make data manipulation just as easy on the iPhone as it is on the Mac without benefit of a mouse and keyboard. I don't envy them. I think what they have is a good start. I hope they continue to refine it. I suspect they will.

The flashiest feature is the location aware function. OmniFocus on your iPhone can look where you're at and provide you tasks available for nearby locations. This even works on 1st generation iPhones such as mine. For instance, when you are in front of a market, it can give you your grocery list. A lot of people are excited about this function. I get that this is really tricky, but I've yet to really find a use for it. When I want to buy my groceries, I go to the market. I don't need my phone to tell me. Maybe as I use this more, I'll find a better use for it. If anybody's got any ideas, e-mail me. I'd love to hear them.

So despite my gripes about the user interface, I have to say I can't imagine living without OmniFocus on my iPhone now that I've had it a few weeks. Every morning, after I get my daily tasks set up, I sync everything to my iPhone and it is very satisfying knowing that I have that list in my pocket at all times. I can check items off and, with a little work, adjust them on my iPhone and it will integrate with my database on my Mac. I'm convinced this will become even more useful as the Omni gang continues to polish and enhance the application.

At $20, this is one of the more expensive iPhone applications. However, if you've made it this far in the review, you probably are an OmniFocus nerd so stop kidding yourself and just go buy it.

Hitting the Wall and Back Again

The last few days, well last few weeks actually, the day job has been a real grind. Coincidentally, I've been helping some friends get their arms wrapped around OmniFocus. It has been really great handing out a few tips and watching the light bulb go off as people find ways to use these tools to get their work done faster and spend more time doing things they love. The funny thing is, they all seem to think that I really have it together. In fact, things are quite the opposite. Lately I've been a jumble of loose ends. What I really need to do, is take my own advice and spend about four hours auditing all my various obligations.

Keeping things together is difficult for everyone. We all have our tricks and Band-Aids, but you can never let your guard down. Chaos lurks behind the door. My solution is to table the whole mess and take a few days off and go to Las Vegas with various members of my extended family. While I'm not much of a gambler, I do intend to geek out with some HDR photography and catch up with my inner nerd. Yes, the MacBook Pro will be accompanying me so you may hear from me. When I return Sunday night, the big audit will occur.

Jumsoft Mail Stationery Review

I am one of “those” people. You know … the kind of people that use Apple Mail stationery. Now before the geek storm troopers raid my house and rip my Apple nerd card from my shaking hands, I don’t use stationary all the time. Just occasionally. Like when a friend invites me over for a nice dinner I’ll send a stationery “Thank You” or when sending out an announcement to family members concerning posting pictures to the web. For occasions like this, the Apple Mail stationery fits the bill perfectly.

The problem is I’ve been using the same stationary for a year now and it’s starting to look tired. Just this week, Jumsoft, the same people who make some great Keynote add-ons, released their own pack of Apple Mail stationary.

The stationary pack includes 50 designs that cover just about every occasion you can think of including themes of “Family,” “Congratulations,” “Invitations,” “Emotions,” “Vacations,” “Seasons,” and “Neutral.”

There are a variety of designs allowing you to send a unique e-mail and even dropping in your own pictures if you like. Using this product I made an announcement for about 40 family and friends. It included a custom font, a very nice background, and a snapshot of my family. Everyone was able to read it.

The developer has samples of the stationary on its website. The stationery offered works perfectly for my intended use. Specifically to send a nice card to someone on occasion that goes beyond the typical blocky text.

This product sells for $39. That may be a little high for the occasional stationary user. If you use stationery repeatedly however, it would not be a bad idea to add some new resources so you’re recipients can see something new.

1Password Coming to iPhone Soon

I met Dave Teare, one the the 1Password developers, at Macworld and immediately liked him. Dave is my kind of Mac Geek: passionate about his Mac and making the best possible software. So upon seeing Dave's write up and preview of 1Password for the iPhone and iPod Touch it comes as no surprise to me that it looks fantastic. Make sure to give this one a spin when it goes live in the AppStore. If you haven't already, also take a serious look at the 1Password application for Macintosh. I don't know how I could operate without it. You can read my (somewhat dated) review of 1Password here.

AppleCare After A Warranty Replacement

A few months ago, the Irvine Applestore declared my MacBook Pro officially "dead" and replaced it with a shiny new one thanks to AppleCare. That machine was a few years old so, while the old warranty transfers over to this new machine, there isn't much time left on it. Today I finally got around to calling Apple to see if there was a way to extend it for three years on the new machine. Turns out there is. Apple is refunding a pro rata portion of the old warranty to me. They say it takes about 30 days to receive the credit. In the meantime I will buy a new AppleCare warranty for this new machine and then I'll be good for 3 years after the date they swapped me out the new machine. By the way, I saved $70 buying AppleCare from Amazon instead of Apple

I should probably also mention that I have a separate insurance policy on my computers for accidental damage or theft. You can usually get them as part of your homeowner's insurance or buy one from a specific electronics insurance broker. So between these two policies, I'm covered for just about any problem with my Macs.

By the way, if you are looking for the AppleCare phone number it is not exactly easy to find. Add it to your Address Book. It is 1-800-275-2273.

Apple Gives a 30 Day Extension to MobileMe Customers

This morning Apple sent out its "mea culpa" email to MobileMe subscribers concerning the less than stellar transition from .Mac to MobileMe. Standing behind the apology, Apple gave everyone a free 30 day extension of services.

We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge. Your extension will be reflected in your account settings within the next few weeks.

Apple also confirmed my suspicion that Calendar and Address Book syncing was less than instantaneous.

I appreciate Apple stepping up and taking responsibility and providing some value to the customers. My only complaint is the lack of information while they were sorting everything out. A few simple postings explaining the problems and estimated time for fixes would have been appreciated.

Getting Comfy with MobileMe

The dust is finally settling around MobileMe. I am still scratching my head over the bungled launch of this product but as the servers seem to be recovering, I'm already incorporating the new features into my daily life. Specifically, the push syncing is fantastic. I generally use a MacBook Air as my daily computer. I have a MacBook Pro at home at my desk for all of the heavy lifting like video, photo editing and the likes. I also sync my iPhone to the MacBook Pro. Before MobileMe, that meant when I made an adjustment to an appointment on my Mac, it did not get on my phone until that night when I synced it at home. Now it pushes right through. I already can't live without this feature. Here are a couple other tips I've discovered:

1. Do Not Become a Lemming to Email Notification

Just because you can push email, doesn't mean you have to become a Pavlovian dog like some of our Blackberry brethren. I've left the "push" on for my email but I refuse to jump every time it pings, vibrates, or otherwise announced new mail. Stopping for every email would make it impossible to get anything done. Be the master of your email, don't let email master you.

2. BusySync Still fills a Role

BusySync still lets you sync your calendars with your family and co-workers. Likewise it allows you to painlessly publish to Google if needed. I had an interesting chat with George Starcher and Katie Floyd over the weekend where we figured out a work-around for MobileMe's inability to sync subscribed calendars. Specifically, if you subscribe to the calendar at your Google calendar and then sync it down to your iCal with BusySync, you can get it to push. If anyone knows a way to push the birthday calendar, let me know.

3. All Push is not Created Equal

I've noticed that while the email pushes nearly immediately, the calendar and address push is a bit slower. For me it is generally 5-15 minutes. This delay doesn't bother me at all.

4. About that Web Interface...

I really like the look of the web access portal. It looks and feels like an application. I think the UI is heads and shoulders above Google's offerings but feature poor. There are a lot of options available in Google calendar that are simply not there on MobileMe. Lets hope they continue to improve stability and add features as things calm down.

Launch Day Check In

I've had my head under water the last few days with some deadlines at the day job so I thought I'd check in with the MacSparky faithful with a couple of observations.

iPhone 2.0 - YES

I did the manual install that was widely publicized yesterday. The App Store is everything I though it would be and then some. I've downloaded a ton of free applications. My favorite two free ones so far are Urbanspoon (it is so satisfying shaking your phone and having it tell you where to eat) and Lightsaber (because .. well ... its a LIGHTSABER!).

I've also bought a few apps. I have OmniFocus running (review in the future) but am also loving the MLB application and Band. Now if we could just sort out the issue of that pesky bluetooth keyboard.

iPhone 3g Launch Woes

I, along with most of the interweb, predicted AT&T's painful signup procedures would be a problem and it looks like that is coming true. For those of you going through it, at least rest easy knowing at some point in the next few days, your phone will be faster than my phone.

MobileMess

My biggest disappointment is the problems getting MobileMe off the ground. It has been generally non-existent and, when briefly available, extremely slow. I think MobileMe holds great promise but Apple needs to give it sufficient server backbone to make it snappy AND reliable. I'm withholding judgment on this one a few more days to see if they get it sorted out.

MobileMe Arrives Tomorrow Night

Apple announced last night that the .Mac service will be going down at 6 PM Pacific on July 9, 2008. The service will remain down for approximately 4 hours or until they have MobileMe in place. This is great news. Thursday morning, I hope to have MobileMe working.

In anticipation of using the new service, I have deactivated the Google sync function in BusySync and will be instead doing it through the MobileMe service. My primary use for the Web calendaring is to view and edit it on my PC at work. That is just the beginning. With iPhone calendar push syncing, it will really streamline things for me. Is anybody else planning on dumping the Google calendar sync for MobileMe?

Stepping Up the Screencasts

Recently, I've been getting a lot of email questions about some of my productivity hacks. It has inspired me to try and step things up with the screencasts. I'm now tooling up to release a series of productivity themed screencasts. The first two installments will be:

1. Email

All things email - IMAP vs. POP, dealing with Spam, archiving, best practices, plug-ins, and my filing system.

2. OmniFocus

My particular OmniFocus tips, tricks, and tweaks.

I've got a few other ideas but the above two are going to keep me busy for some time. Let me know if there is anything in particular you would like covered in the above two shows or if you have any other ideas for screencasts. I'm looking forward to putting these together.