Omnifocus for iPad/iPhone

T

tjhoo

0
Long time heavy duty MS Outlook (OL) user for GTD purposes. Use tasks function intricately interwoven with calendar, email.

Have been using Blackberries (BB) for 3 years that sync some, but not all info w/ OL.

Now have iPad2. Can access full OL through Citrix
Plan to switch from BB to iPhone5 when it's available.

Any prediction how good an experience Omnifocus would work for me on iPad/iPhone? I do NOT have a Mac....but perhaps could be persuaded :)

Thanks, TJ
 
I personally love the Omnifocus version on the iPad. I think it's even better than the desktop version because it has certain features the desktop version doesn't have yet (but will have at some point).

My own setup is Macbook Pro, iPad and iPhone all with Omnifocus (which is the best task manager imho). Syncing data between devices is crucial for me since I use a lot of the devices on different occasions.

On the go I use my iphone to capture ideas and run errands. While lounging around the house or at the office, I use my ipad. While I'm at my desk, I use the desktop. So you can see that syncing the data is important and Omnifocus does this very well. It has definitely made me much more productive because I will always have access to it so I know what I to do to maximize my time.
 
Omnifocus- it depends

OF is a high-quality, reliable program built for gtd. It has some things that drive me nuts: It syncs relatively slowly, particularly on the iPhone. It doesn't have a good mechanism for handling actions that are not part of a project. I don't really like its clever pattern matching for projects. It seems to me most appropriate for people who plan everything a lot more than I can do or would want to. Without a mac, you can't create custom perspectives, which are powerful. I bounce between it and Toodledo, which is more flexible. If Things had OTA sync, I might use it instead. OF only integrates with email on a mac, which might matter to you. Lots of people love it, my relation is more casual.
 
Omnifocus is hands-down better than anything else, if you truly plan to implement GTD well. The Inbox perfectly replicates the Inbox on the Davidco workflow diagram. The ability to organize projects into folders (for projects of similar type) is useful and reduces some clutter. The ability to immediate switch between viewing NA's by Project and by Context is terrific, and the ability to flag and unflag items is useful.

Regarding NA's that are unrelated to a particular project, I have a Project called Misc. in a folder called Misc. and it works just fine.

Regarding synching, I synch numerous devices, including an iPad and a MacBook Air with MobileMe and have no problems. Synch speed is fine.

The Review function on the iPad version is useful during weekly reviews.

Download and read the Davidco white paper on GTD and Omnifocus.

rdgeorge
 
If your iPhone (or iPad) syncs slow, try to archive your data once a month. In omnifocus desktop, File > Move old data to archive. That will fix that issue.
 
Thanks to everyone who wants to help me with OF sync speeds, or correct my statement about their beloved program. I am quite familiar with all the tricks. But it is slow to load and very slow to sync relative to similar programs. Things is quite a bit faster, and Toodledo loads and syncs in a few seconds. From a cold start, OF takes several seconds to load data on an iPad, then takes more time to sync. My 3GS iPhone is slower, but perhaps not the 4. You may remember that Omni added an initial quick entry precisely because start-up was long. These are not intolerable delays, but I do think it interferes with effective use, especially on the iPhone.
 
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