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A Nudge Forward

Posted by Robin on 06.23.11 | 4 Comments

Typically before we ship a new version of OmniGraphSketcher, I like to try using the app to re-create a real economics diagram based on a set of the most interesting graphs in an economics textbook. In other words, I try to simulate the experience of being an actual OmniGraphSketcher user.

The last time I did this, I was blown away by how easy it was to draw this professional-quality graph, right there on my iPad — just by tapping and dragging my fingers.

I mean, look at that! I could easily email it in PDF format directly to a textbook publisher.

There was one frustration, though. It was difficult and somewhat error-prone to precisely position text labels, especially when they were short, abbreviated variable names. The labels were mostly hidden under my finger, so adjusting them just right required zooming in as far as I could and even then having to guess if I was in exactly the right spot.

I knew that Apple's iWork applications had solved this problem with a "nudge" gesture, which you perform by holding one finger on the object to be adjusted and then swiping a second finger in the direction you want to nudge. The object being held shifts by one pixel per swipe. That feature was already on our very long to-do list, but no customers had ever requested it, so it was not in any immediate plans. Yet assembling this example graph made it clear that finely adjusting objects was the weakest link in our quest to make graph creation as quick and easy as possible.

I set about implementing the nudge gesture, which quickly turned into a major overhaul of our whole gesture recognition system. That overhaul made the other gestures more reliable, and it paved the way for new and interesting gesture shortcuts. For example, OmniGraffle for iPad now includes the ability to quickly send objects forward and backwards by pressing one finger on the selection while swiping two more fingers up (to send forward) or down (to send backward).

Now that OmniGraphSketcher for iPad includes the nudge gesture, creating that complex economics graph is really a breeze. You'd think I'd have gotten used to it by now, given that I've been developing the app ever since the iPad was announced and I know in detail how it all works. Yet Apple's term "magical" is still the best way I know of to describe what it feels like to use the app to make beautiful, accurate graphs.
OmniOutliner for iPad sells 10,000 copies in first three weeks

Posted by Ken Case on 06.02.11 | 10 Comments

Thanks to all our customers for your amazing show of support for serious iPad productivity apps! Three weeks ago we launched OmniOutliner for iPad, and I'm very pleased to announce that we sold our 10,000th copy of the app yesterday.

More importantly, our reviews on the App Store are averaging four stars and we've been hearing great things about the app from all of you:

@stanlemon: @kcase your crew really knocked it out of the park today with @OmniOutliner for the iPad. Bravo!

@rwilcox: Omnioutliner iPad is so much more than I ever imagined. Never been so blown away.

@PaulWestlake: Used @OmniOutliner on the iPad in my first meeting today. Wow... This is going to replace so many of the apps on my iPad. Stunning. Buy it!

@JustOrtiz: OmniOutliner for iPad was the reason I wanted an iPad when it first came out. Well worth the wait. It's finally made the iPad what I need

@jdriscoll: Spent some time with OmniOutliner for iPad last night and was blown by the 1.0. Great work @omnigroup.

So with over 10,000 sales and great reviews it looks like version 1.0 is off to a great start!

But version 1.0 is just where our apps start, it's not where they end: today we're putting the final touches on a version 1.0.2 update, which fixes a number of bugs and adds a few minor enhancements, such as autoscroll for dragging rows and document sorting by title.

And we won't be stopping at version 1.0.2 either, of course. Many of you have also asked us for a better document management interface and for automatic document synchronization, so those are some of our top priorities for the next few updates. We've been inspired by the improvements Apple has made in the iWork apps earlier this week (yay, folders!), and we're also really looking forward to learning on Monday how Apple's upcoming iCloud service might fit into the picture.

…and all that said, I just got the word from QA that version 1.0.2 looks ready to go, so I'm off to go submit that now. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks especially for all the great feedback over these first few weeks! Please keep it coming: we're looking forward to continuing to make this app better and better with each release. As always, you can reach me by leaving a comment here, or by sending me a message on twitter (where you'll find me at @kcase).
OmniPlan 2.0 beta updated!

Posted by Skwirl on 06.01.11 | 2 Comments

Hello again OmniPlan planners!

For this beta update we fixed 16 more distinct crashers, plugged some memory leaks, and started work on compatibility with Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion). We addressed some issues with scheduling, change tracking, and publishing & subscriptions, as well as various bugs that were reported by beta testers over the last couple of weeks. If you'd like to check out the full release notes, click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page.

As always, please keep in mind that this version is still in development so feedback is encouraged and we apologize if it breaks your computer, corrupts your files, or ruins your weekend. We're looking forward to hearing your thoughts about OmniPlan v2.0: You can contact us directly by our support page or by using the Send Feedback feature in your copy of OmniPlan.

To start using the new beta, you can use the built-in software updater in OmniPlan v2.0 or you can download it from our website here.
OmniFocus Ninja Tricks with David Sparks

Posted by Kris on 05.24.11 | 5 Comments

Good things come in threes. Stooges, Musketeers, Supremes. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings. Columbus' Ships, Newton's Laws, Caesar's Motto. The list (the one I'm keeping in OmniOutliner for iPad) goes on and on... and the Rule of Three once again proves true for David Sparks' 3-part series of OmniFocus Ninja Tricks from his Mac Power Users Podcast.

In each of the three screencasts David guides you through some essential workflow steps to make the most of OmniFocus. Episode 1 covers the various ways to capture your tasks, Episode 2 delves into the planning process and in Episode 3, he explains the best ways to take action and review. As an attorney, author, and all-around man of many hats, it's pretty safe to say that David is a paragon of productivity. We're delighted to share his trilogy of tricks with you.
OmniFocus for iPad v1.3 has been approved!

Posted by Ken Case on 05.17.11 | 21 Comments
OmniFocus for iPad v1.3 updates Forecast Mode: Never spread yourself too thin. Enable Calendar integration to see your hard landscape events alongside your overdue and due soon OmniFocus actions. Use the View options menu to show your items with a start date. Reschedule your projects and actions—with just a tap or two—to keep your days balanced.

This update also includes full screen note viewing and editing, improved support for screen mirroring, and a number of other user interface and workflow improvements.

[NOTE: If you're reading this within a few hours of approval, your local App Store might not have the update yet. If that happens, just wait an hour or so and then try again: it will be there soon!]

We love hearing from you! You can reach us by tapping Contact Omni (in the Gear Menu above the sidebar), sending email to omnifocus-ipad@omnigroup.com, tweeting to@omnifocus, or calling 1-800-315-OMNI or +1 206-523-4152.

Forecast
- Forecast mode now integrates calendar events into a convenient timeline. Use the View options menu to configure which calendars appear on the timeline, and the range of hours for which events are displayed. (This feature requires iOS 4.0 or later.)
- Forecast mode now includes an additional section for viewing items starting on the days of the upcoming week. Use the View options menu to hide or show this section.
- Tapping “View” on a Due Reminder alert now takes you to the Forecast screen, showing you all items which have become overdue at once.
Editing
- The Note section of the Editor now includes an expand button. Tap on the expand button to view or edit your notes full screen.
- When searching in the Project and Context pickers, Smart Match terms are underlined in the search results.
- When assigning a Project or Context to an Action, search results are now presented in Library order rather than alphabetically.
Workflow
- The application’s badge counts the union of overdue, due soon, and flagged items. Items that are both flagged and overdue or due soon are no longer counted twice.
- Folders’ remaining count incorrectly included Single-Action Lists.
- Dropped Contexts are only visible in the Context move popover when the current View options are set to All.
- Dropped Folders are only visible in the Project move popover when the current View options are set to All.
- Errors from automatic sync sessions no longer interrupt you with an alert. Instead, the Sync button is badged. Tapping the Sync button will display the error alert and offer to retry the sync.
User Interface
- OmniFocus takes advantage of hardware screen mirroring when available.
- When mirroring your iPad 2 on a secondary display, OmniFocus now shows your gestures—taps, pinches, swipes, and all—so that your viewers can follow along.
- Untitled items are now correctly represented in Project, Action, and Context lists.
- Fixed a bug that could cause incorrect sorting of a Perspective’s actions when grouped by a date.
Inbox
- The Inbox badge count no longer includes completed items.
- Items blocked by a future start date are once again excluded from the Inbox badge count.
- Paste and New Action are now available from the contextual menu for the Inbox header.
- Fixed a bug which prevented you from moving an item to the top of the Inbox.
Review
- Projects within the Review sidebar are sorted in Library order.
- Fixed a bug where launching OmniFocus into Review mode with the Inbox selected incorrectly resulted in an empty list of projects needing review.
- When there are no remaining Projects requiring review, the plus button no longer gives multiple choices for creating an Inbox item.
Stability
- Fixed a crash which could occur when entering the background and using Bonjour syncing.
- Fixed a rare problem which could lead to a crash if OmniFocus received a memory warning while in landscape orientation.
- Fixed a regression where Email Debug Info (to the OmniFocus support ninjas) was inappropriately using the in-app mail client.
OmniPlan 2.0 beta update released!

Posted by Skwirl on 05.12.11 | Comment

Hello again OmniPlan planners!

Just a quick post to let everybody know that a new update for OmniPlan v2.0 beta has been released! We fixed 17 of the most commonly reported crashers from the first beta and addressed some issues with exports and collaboration that beta testers found over the last couple of weeks. If you'd like to check out the full release notes, click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page.

As always, please keep in mind that this version is still in development so feedback is encouraged and we apologize if it breaks your computer, corrupts your files, or ruins your weekend. We're looking forward to hearing your thoughts about OmniPlan v2.0: You can contact us directly by our support page or by using the Send Feedback feature in your copy of OmniPlan.

To start using the new beta, you can use the built-in software updater in OmniPlan v2.0 or you can download it from our website here.
OmniOutliner for iPad is now available!

Posted by Ken Case on 05.12.11 | 51 Comments

I'm very pleased to announce that OmniOutliner for iPad is now available on the App Store for $19.99!

We've posted screenshots and a video tutorial on our OmniOutliner for iPad pages, and here's the official press release:

The Omni Group Brings OmniOutliner to the iPad

OmniOutliner for iPad Enables Users to Efficiently Create, Collect and Organize Information on the Popular Tablet

SEATTLE – May 12, 2011 – The Omni Group, a developer of productivity applications for Mac and iOS, today announced that OmniOutliner is now available on the iPad. The iPad edition of the company’s popular note-taking and outlining program offers users the ability to create, collect and organize information in a multitude of ways including creating to-do lists and agendas, managing tasks and expenses, taking notes and planning events. OmniOutliner for iPad is available for purchase on the App Store.

Industry analysts forecast that 52 million tablets are estimated to be shipped in 2011, with the iPad comprising 75 percent of these shipments. While iPad and other tablets have been traditionally used for consuming content on the web, watching videos, reading e-books and listening to music, selecting the right tools and apps can easily optimize the iPad for use as a mobile computing platform for business.

"The moment we learned about the iPad we knew it marked a shift in the direction of personal computing devices," said Ken Case, CEO and founder of the Omni Group. "Each time we bring a productivity app to the iPad we redesign it from the ground up to take advantage of this new platform, and OmniOutliner for iPad is no exception. Our team has done an amazing job of making the app easier to use than ever, without sacrificing the app's power. OmniOutliner is the app I turn to whenever I want to collect and structure my thoughts, and it's great to be able to take my outlines with me and work with them wherever I am."

OmniOutliner for iPad includes the powerful features specifically designed to help iPad users get the job done simply and easily:

Rich Text Styling– Fully customizable text styling options provide users with the same functionality as expected from a word processor with a simplified style system that’s already available in OmniOutliner 3.

Simple Outline Restructuring– OmniOutliner for iPad affords users the ability to easily rearrange and drag rows individually. Additionally, users can mark multiple rows to either group or move them at the same time.

Multiple Column Formats– In addition to text, OmniOutliner for iPad provides column options for numbers, duration, pop-up lists, and date types, many of which include their own specific data formatting options.

Inline Image Support– OmniOutliner for iPad allows users to paste images directly into their documents, which will be displayed inline.

Improved Document Sharing– With OmniOutliner for iPad, files can be emailed or uploaded to users’ MobileMe accounts or any other WebDAV servers. Files may also be transferred with iTunes, and can be sent in HTML, plain text, or OPML using the above methods.

Compatible with OmniOutliner 3– OmniOutliner for iPad is completely compatible and interchangeable with files generated in OmniOutliner 3.

Ability to Import OPML Files– OmniOutliner for iPad allows users to import OPML files, a common format used by basic outlining applications, directly into the application.

OmniOutliner for iPad is more than just an outlining tool, offering multiple columns, smart checkboxes, customizable popup lists, and an innovative styles system within a few easy clicks. The app’s document structure is effective for brainstorming new ideas, drilling out project specifics, and lining up the steps needed to get everything done.

OmniOutliner for iPad is available for $19.99 on the App Store at www.itunes.com. More information about OmniOutliner for iPad is available at www.omnigroup.com/omnioutliner-ipad/.

###

About the Omni Group

One of the first companies to develop software for the Mac OS X platform, the Omni Group is a leading developer for Apple products and has designed several productivity applications for Mac OS X, iPhone, and now iPad. Founded in 1993, the Omni Group is located in Seattle.

We hope you enjoy our latest app!
OmniOutliner for iPad: First Screenshots!

Posted by Ken Case on 05.09.11 | 56 Comments

When I announced last week that OmniOutliner for iPad had been submitted to the App Store, I noted that we were still busy putting together our marketing materials which explain what the app does in more detail. Well, we just finalized our App Store description and screenshots, so I'd like to share those with you now:

OmniOutliner starts as a blank page. But as you collect, compose, and rearrange text, its powerful outlining features emerge to organize your ideas. Hierarchy, columns, styling, notes — use them all in concert or keep things simple, depending on the project at hand. From basic lists and tables to serious writing and data wrangling, OmniOutliner understands how to keep your work structured and tidy.

Why choose OmniOutliner for iPad?

COMFORT: OmniOutliner was designed with speed and ease in mind, especially for data entry. Carefully-planned keyboard interactions and the ever-present Edit bar make it straightforward to add and rearrange items. Your ideas are what’s important — OmniOutliner just helps you get them in order.

STRUCTURE: Expand and collapse groups to concentrate on what’s important now. Use the flyout Plus buttons to put new items right where you need them. And of course, just drag items around when you need to rearrange the order. If you need to make a bigger change, use Edit mode to move or modify a bunch of rows at once.

COLUMNS: Checkboxes, formatted numbers, pop-up lists, dates… Keep track of any number of different fields in each row. If you have too many columns to see at once, you can hide some. Or just temporarily slide them underneath the main outline column to get at the ones you’re interested in. You can even sort your rows by any column, then restore their original order.

STYLES: Thanks to the included sample documents and styles, you may never need to adjust anything yourself. But if you want to, check out our custom rich-text editor, with more detailed styling than you’re likely to find anywhere else on iPad. Save your favorites as named styles, for quick and consistent styling across your document. Even chain styles together to automatically change rows based on their position in the hierarchy.

NOTES: Inline notes make it easy to keep track of ideas for future revisions, ancillary content, reviewers’ comments, ill-considered notions, snide jokes, and other miscellaneous info. You can attach notes to any row in a document, and show or hide them individually or en masse. And of course, notes can be styled just as precisely as the main content.

LINKS & ATTACHMENTS: Web addresses you type automatically get linkified. And any image you can copy and paste, from tiny embellishments to sketches from a drawing app to full-sized photos, can be placed right in your outline.

SHARING: OmniOutliner has no shortage of ways to share your documents. Import and export via iDisk, WebDAV, or email, in several formats: OmniOutliner (compatible with OmniOutliner 3 for Mac), OPML (compatible with other outlining applications), HTML, or good old-fashioned plain text. You can even choose a dynamic HTML export with expandable and collapsible groups.

SUPPORT: If you have any feedback or questions, we'd love to hear from you! The Omni Group offers free tech support: you can reach us by email at omnioutliner@omnigroup.com, by phone at 1-800-315-6664 or +1-206-523-4152, or on twitter at @omnioutliner.

Thank you!

And now, the screenshots!

Sadly, the App Store only allows for five screenshots. Fortunately, our blog has no such limitation, so here are a few more!

Again, we don't know exactly how long it will take for OmniOutliner to be reviewed, but hopefully it won't take too much longer. Once it has been approved, we'll post a specific launch date and time—so if you haven't seen anything here yet, there's no need to keep checking the App Store. In fact, if you'd like to be notified by email the moment OmniOutliner is available on the App Store, you can subscribe to our low-traffic OmniNews mailing list or to our OmniOutliner Users mailing list. Or you can follow @omnigroup or @omnioutliner on twitter.

As always, I'd welcome any feedback you might have: leave a comment here, or send me a message on twitter (where you'll find me at @kcase). Thanks for taking the time to read this!
iPad or Bust: OmniOutliner for iPad!

Posted by Ken Case on 05.05.11 | 31 Comments

When the iPad was announced last year, I posted that we were planning to bring all five of our productivity apps to iPad. We've just submitted OmniOutliner for iPad to the App Store, the fourth of those five apps:

I've been looking forward to OmniOutliner for iPad all year: OmniOutliner is the app I turn to whenever I want to collect and structure my thoughts (it's where I'm writing this text right now!) and it's great to be able to take those outlines with me and work with them on my iPad.

Now that OmniOutliner for iPad has reached GM, we're busy putting together some screenshots and an intro video which explain how the app fits together, and we look forward to posting those to our main website as well as more information here. For now, though, let me share this teaser video:

We don't know exactly how long it will take for OmniOutliner to be reviewed, but hopefully not more than a week or two. If you'd like to be notified by email the moment OmniOutliner is available on the App Store, you can subscribe to our low-traffic OmniNews mailing list or to our OmniOutliner Users mailing list. And, of course, you can watch this space—or follow @omnigroup or @omnioutliner (or me, @kcase) on twitter.

Meanwhile, let me briefly give some updates on our other projects! But first, an important reminder: our plans do change over time, so please don't rely on things happening according to today's particular snapshot of those plans.
- OmniPlan v2 just went into beta, adding multi-user collaboration over the air (through Apple's MobileMe or our own Omni Sync Server, or your own private WebDAV server). For more about that, see last week's blog post. Once we wrap up this beta, we'll finally be ready to start on the last of our “iPad or Bust!” projects, OmniPlan for iPad.
- Our free Omni Sync Server has been in beta since last summer, and it's been working quite well: over 18,000 people have signed up and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. This will remain a free service for all Omni customers when it leaves beta; if you haven't tried it already, I encourage you to give it a spin!
- OmniGraphSketcher for Mac has a major update now in beta which adds support for log scales—important when you're trying to compare trends in data which might be orders of magnitude apart. We're also working on bringing that work over to the iPad app.
- We're very close to submitting an update to OmniFocus for iPhone, adding the very popular Forecast view which was introduced in the iPad app. (Here's a screenshot.) Our test pilots found a few bugs around the edges that we need to squash before it's ready to ship, though, so it'll probably be another week or two before it's submitted (and another week after that before it's reviewed).
- For OmniOutliner 4 for Mac we've taken apart our entire outline architecture, rebuilding it on top of more modern OS X infrastructure such as CoreAnimation and bindings. The rebuilt outline architecture from OmniOutliner 4 reached a major milestone last week with our public beta release of OmniPlan 2—and now that OmniOutliner for iPad has been submitted, we can focus more of our direct attention on OmniOutliner 4.
- We're planning some major updates to OmniFocus for Mac, polishing up its user experience to match the ease of use and aesthetics of the iPad edition, adding the Forecast and Review modes which we introduced in the iPad app, and adding support for syncing projects with OmniPlan.
- And finally, we're looking forward to updating our apps to take advantage of the new features Apple is introducing in Mac OS X Lion, such as the Versions autosave architecture, built-in Resume, and full-screen apps.
As always, I'd welcome any feedback you might have: leave a comment here or send me a message on twitter (where you'll find me at @kcase).

UPDATE: I just realized that I forgot to mention the price! OmniOutliner for iPad will be $19.99.
OmniPlan 2.0 beta released!

Posted by Skwirl on 04.26.11 | 18 Comments

Hello OmniPlan planners!

We are very excited to release the first public beta of OmniPlan v2.0 today! Since releasing OmniPlan v1.0, we've learned a lot about how people are using OmniPlan to manage their projects and we think that OmniPlan v1.0 grew into an excellent resource for project planning workflow for a single person. However in undertaking OmniPlan v2.0, we knew that people wanted to bring this workflow and user experience to their teams — and so that's what we focused on: collaboration.

Collaboration in OmniPlan v2.0 allows a manager to create and share a project with their team. By syncing over MobileMe, Omni Sync Server or a WebDAV server, teams are able to synchronize their work and stay up to date on the latest changes.

While collaboration is the most exciting new feature, OmniPlan v2.0 also adds scheduling and printing options and improves performance with large projects to add speed and versatility to your workflow.

We know a lot of you have been anxiously waiting for this, so let's jump right into some of the new features we've added in OmniPlan v2.0:

Collaboration: Sync, Publish, Edit, and Track Changes

Use a WebDAV server to sync your projects between resources. Then, publish your tasks automatically upon saving. Grab new changes automatically via Bonjour or at a specified interval. (You can also publish and update manually, of course.) Publish tasks and pull in updates from a server-based calendar. Export your plan automatically in any supported format. Execute custom AppleScripts from within the app during export.

Use Apple's Calendar Server to pull in free times and busy times for your resources. Import vacation and holiday schedules from a web-hosted calendar.

Keep track of the changes to the project with visual change tracking. See your own edits on a personal project or see the synced changes on a team project. Accept and reject changes on a task-by-task basis or all at once.

Scheduling

Fiscal years are now supported in addition to calendar years so you can choose whether your tasks are due in Q2 or Spring. Schedule projects backwards from a fixed end date. Create, save, and compare your projects against multiple baselines. Highlight the critical path to individual milestones in the new ‘‘Project: Milestones’’ inspector. Resource schedules now have optional start and end dates. Tasks and Resources Split your tasks to schedule around interruptions. Create hammock tasks that have start and end dates based on prerequisites that you define. Effort and Duration can now be unlinked. Default task and resource attributes can be configured per project or in a template for faster task creation. Color-code tasks based on their resource. Choose independent display formats for duration and effort values.

Filtering

Save multiple, commonly-used filters for quick re-use later. Configure publishing actions to use filters.

Printing

Options Headers and footers are now more flexible. Expand or collapse all notes and task and resource groups. Page margins support mirroring on facing pages. Customize the margin above and below the header and footer.

OmniPlan v2.0 will be available from our store and from the Mac App Store for $199.99 when the final version is released. Folks who purchased OmniPlan v1.0 from the Mac App Store and our online store between January 6, 2011 and the final release date will receive a free upgrade to OmniPlan v2.0. For folks who purchased OmniPlan v1.0 before that date, OmniPlan v2.0 will be available from our online store for $99.99.

We hope that you'll enjoy the new features, improvements and updated user interface. We've been working very hard on this new version and we're looking forward to hearing your thoughts about OmniPlan v2.0: please send any feedback, questions or comments to us at omniplan@omnigroup.com and someone from our team will get back to you as soon as possible.

Without further ado, here's the link to the OmniPlan v2.0 beta download page!