The Omni Group

Howdy, friend-os! Today, I get to do something we’ve been looking forward to for a while now: announce that the Omni Sync Server is coming out of beta.

We’ve had the server up for almost two years now - it launched way back in April of 2010. In that time, the server has been scaled up from a Mac mini here in our offices to a collection of machines in our colocation facility, all working together to help you move your Omni apps’ data back and forth between your OS X and iOS devices, as well as to store backup copies of that data just in case things go totally diggstown and you need them.

When we launched the server, it was an OmniFocus-only affair, but we’ve added support for the server to all of our iOS apps. On the Mac, OmniFocus and OmniPlan have built-in support for the server as well. (The Mac apps that don’t already include support will get it in the future.)

So, to the tens of thousands of folks out there that have been storing your data on the server this whole time: thank you very much for being willing to sign up and help us build this thing. There’s always a seat for you on our little red wagon. To everyone else: if you were interested in using the server but didn’t want to sign up while it was in in a testing phase, we’re rolling out the red carpet for you. Head over to omnigroup.com/sync and set up an account.

Oh, and did we mention that you can have this all for the low, low price of zero? One of the things we learned is that we can build and run a service like this without needing to charge for it. Consider it a delicious after-dinner digestif you get whenever you buy one of our apps. Enjoy!

Howdy, everybody! With a new release of iOS and new iPhone hardware, there’s been a ton of excitement and news this week; fun times!

In addition to all the cool new stuff Apple’s released, we’ve been able to build a few things using their toys that we hope will also be pretty exciting; I wanted to take a few moments and tell you about one of them. Specifically, the new location-based notifications we’ve added to OmniFocus for iPhone 1.12 and OmniFocus for iPad 1.4!

One of the first things we added to OmniFocus was time-based reminders; it wasn’t too long after that that folks asked for location-based ones as well. In fact, the first request we got for location-based reminders was back in May of 2007, before we’d even shipped version 1.0 of the Mac app! Over the years, we got more requests, especially once OmniFocus for iPhone and iPad appeared - wouldn’t it be great if the device you were carrying around in your pocket could tell where you were and remind you of the things you needed to do?

The first couple versions of iOS mostly made use of location data on maps. It was useful - you could create a context for a pharmacy you used, add the address, and see a dot on the map if any actions needed doing. You had to remember to look at the map screen, though. With iOS 4, it started to look like the pieces we needed to add the feature were coming together - that version of the OS had the ability to monitor location information and notify an application when the device was in a certain area. We did some preliminary work towards implementing location reminders; the feature worked and didn’t use much battery charge, but it became apparent it wasn’t as fast or as accurate as we hoped. We decided to pause work on the feature.

We were pretty excited by some of the changes Apple made in their recent hardware, though; they found a way to improve the accuracy of location monitoring without using more power. Specifically, the iPhone 4 (and 4S) include a feature called “region monitoring”, which lets them track the devices’ location via GPS without running down the battery. iPad 2 models with 3G also have this capability. Unfortunately, devices released before then don’t have a low-power way to monitor their location as accurately, so they won’t be able to use this type of reminder in OmniFocus. (The Reminders app included in iOS 5 has the same limitation.)

Still, if you have a device that supports it, the location reminders can give you an extra nudge, helping you to complete actions you might otherwise forget. Because battery life is a top priority, though, it’s important to remember that the location is only being checked from time to time. If you pass through an area quickly (by driving past it on the highway, for example) you may not get an alert. It’s also important to note that the regions being monitored are fairly broad - the smallest “distance” setting still corresponds to about one city block, and things get more broad from there. Hopefully in the future we’ll have never-fail pinpoint-accuracy location monitoring, but we’re not quite there yet.

Since we shipped this feature, we’ve gotten questions from some customers that are seeing the “your location is being monitored” indicator more often than they used to, and it’s true that it’ll show up more often. As long as you have an available action in a context with a location attached, OmniFocus will stay subscribed to location information, activating that indicator.

The folks that are concerned by this are usually worried that their battery will be drained more quickly, and in previous versions of iOS, that would have been the case. In iOS 5, though, you shouldn’t have to worry as much. Behind the scenes, iOS 5 is handling things. We can’t know the exact details of how it works, but Apple’s stated goal was to be reasonably accurate while minimizing battery drain. The location monitoring indicator is mainly to help you manage your privacy; avoiding battery drain was a useful side-effect. But in iOS 5, the device is better able to conserve the battery.

It may also be helpful to know that OmniFocus’ map view also shows the indicator: that view determines your location more precisely than the location reminders do - you will see some battery impact there. In fact, shortly after shipping the iPhone update, we discovered that the Map view doesn’t remember to stop monitoring your location after you close the view; that actually can cause battery drain! Thanks to the folks that reported this problem - we’ll get an update out that fixes that as soon as possible.

For more details on location reminders, check the new help pages; they’re accessible from the Settings screen in each app. In the meantime, I hope this post helps you decide if location reminders will work for your purposes. Have ideas, suggestions, or concerns? We’d love to know what you think! Drop some comments here, or email our support ninjas; you’re also welcome to ask questions in our forums or on Twitter. Thanks, everyone!

Now available on the App Store, OmniFocus for iPhone v.1.9 improves the basic workflow by offering immediate access to View settings that display Next, Available, Remaining, or All items. It also improves the experience of choosing dates and setting up repeating items, and contains many other improvements to the interface.

A detailed list of changes is available on our forums; as always, we'd love to know what you think! Drop a comment below or on the forums; if you need help, give us a call at 800.315.6664 (OMNI) or email our support ninjas and we'll be happy to help. Enjoy, folks!

Weren't able to make Macworld this year? Came to the show, but weren't able to check out that one presentations you were totally into? The hour of your rejoicing is at hand! We're uploading the videos to our Vimeo page as we speak. Several of the videos are up now; the rest should be up in the next day or so. (Once we upload them, Vimeo's data-crunchers have to "process" them. We don't know exactly what that entails, but we assume the result is something smooth and creamy. In our experience, smooth and creamy is good.) We know folks are really looking forward to these, so we figured we'd give folks a heads-up now, rather than wait.

We want to give a special shout-out to Merlin Mann and David Sparks, who were both kind enough to prepare and give presentations, despite, you know, not actually working here. Service above and beyond the call of duty, gentlemen; thanks very much!

Touching on something from the last blog post: this is the first time we've done screencasts "live" like this, and it turns out that the Macworld show floor is a pretty challenging place to capture audio. Our video camera was completely overwhelmed, so we ended up recording the audio separately, then synching it up and filtering as much of the background noise out as possible. Needless to say, we learned a lot that'll help for next years' videos. 

In any case, enjoy the videos and we'll see everyone next year!

If you've been reading Ken's iPad or Bust! posts, you know just how busy it's been around these parts lately. We've got a couple more products on the way, so we'd like to bring some folks on board to help spread the work around. New jobs means hiring, which means new posts on our Jobs page! Head on over there for information about the positions and on how to apply. Thanks, everyone!

A Fable: It did come to pass, that upon a Tuesday, (the 27th of April, to be precise), Monica, one of the Elite members of our Support Ninja dojo, responded to an OmniFocus feature request. She did so, of course, with her usual (by which I mean exceptional) skill, grace, and professionalism.

In this way, the email was not unique. But, dear reader: do not be fooled. While the email was not unique in this particular way, the email was indeed unique. For it was the first email we would receive from this customer, but it was not the last. 

Within a few hours of the sending of Monica's response, we received another email from the same address. This one, however, was different. The title included the words "Tracking Number".

The ninjas were puzzled, for they had placed no order.

The ninjas, however, are students of Sun Tzu, who teaches: 

Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with suspicious doubts. Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared.

So the ninjas observed.

This afternoon, a package arrived. "What could it contain?" they asked.

It was flat.

It was light.

It made no sound.

With care, the Ninjas opened the package. With surprise, they saw that it contained a Medium Astro Rocket from the fine folks at CardboardSafari.com.

We have erected a shrine to the Astro Rocket. It is awesome. We have the best customers ever. We're grateful for both. 

From the making-sure-folks-know dept: we're looking to add a web software test pilot to our QA team. Check our jobs page for details and info on how to apply!

I wanted to do a blog post about what I regard as (in my humble opinion) the single most awesome feature in OmniFocus for iPhone. It's also a feature that I'm not sure everyone knows about. Time to change that!

OmniFocus for iPhone plugs into part of the iPhone OS called "Location Services"; this lets it figure out where in the world you're located. The location-finding is most accurate if you're using a device that has GPS (an iPhone 3g or the new 3gs, for example), but if you've got a first-generation iPhone or an iPod Touch, the device can also figure out your location by seeing which cellphone towers and/or WiFi networks it can find. (WiFi is actually more accurate than the cell-tower method, at least here in the US; overseas, the situation may be different.)

Okay, this is cool and all, but how is it useful in OmniFocus? Well, your contexts can also have location information associated with them. By combining the two, OmniFocus can do Google map searches to help you figure out what you can get done based on where you currently are. Tap the "Nearby Contexts" button - it looks like a crosshair on the toolbar - and OmniFocus will show you where you can go to accomplish actions in the contexts it has location info about.

To assign location info to one of your contexts, do the following:

Tap "Contexts" on OmniFocus for iPhone's home screen.

Tap the "Edit" button in the upper right of the screen.

Tap the context you want to edit.

Tap one of the location buttons described below and enter your information.

The various kinds of Location info supported are:

Current location - where you are right now, expressed as latitude/longitude.

Contact - The address assigned to the contact you choose is used.

Address - Enter an address. Anything that works in the iPhone Maps application works here; street address of your home, or even something as general as "Beijing, China".

Business Search - Specific business names and general categories are both supported; OmniFocus will return the closest result it can find. If you have a favorite drug store where you get prescriptions filled, you could enter the name; if you travel a lot, you could just enter "Pharmacy" and get results in multiple cities.

Always Available - This setting is good for contexts like "Phone" - ones that are generally available no matter where you are.

In any case, once your contexts are set up, you can tap the nearby button and get a handy list that looks like this:

(A tap the button on the right side of each header takes you to the Maps application so you can navigate to the location, by the way.)

I've added a list of location-based contexts that folks here at Omni use to get folks started. I've also created a thread over on our forums where folks can swap further ideas - we're doing a google map search behind the scenes, so using their search operators, you can do some neat tricks with this stuff!

Suggestions:

Home

Office

Phone (always available, if you're on an iPhone)

Grocery

Pharmacy

Post Office

Music Store

Book Store

Apple Store

Cities you visit frequently

One of the best aspects of doing the work that we do is getting to see the really cool stuff that customers do with the tools we make. One such nugget of awesome came to us last Friday, when we got an email with this AppleScript as an attachment:

faces-v3

[Update: If you downloaded an earlier version of the script and it didn't work, try the updated one above. It handles the '~' in the iPhoto library preference now, and it avoids a problem that folks using a document style with no line head specified would encounter.]

The script makes use of the new Faces feature of iPhoto '09. It looks for named faces in your library, then creates an OmniGraffle document showing which ones appear in photos together. At that point, it fires off OmniGraffle's automatic layout feature. I'll let the script's author, Armin Briegel, describe the results:

"It probably depends on your picture taking habits, but in my graph you can pick out families and groups of people, such as my son's classmates. The big mess in the middle is obviously our closest friends and families. But even there the families are in close proximity to each other."

In any case, this gets our robot-stamp of approval, so we thought other folks might want to check it out, as well. Enjoy!

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