The Omni Group

[Last update: 7/29]

Hello, everyone!  Remember back in iPad or Bust when I said that our natural inclination is to be open about what we're doing, but that there were several problems with talking about future plans?

Well, I'm running smack into one of those problems right now:  we were hoping that we'd be ready to submit OmniFocus for iPad to Apple on June 30, and we shared that date last week. It's wonderful that everyone is so excited about that date, but I need to remind everyone that June 30 was never intended as a promise—it was simply our best estimate at that moment.

The team has been working around the clock on this for quite a while, and we made a very big push over the weekend. We're in that part of the development cycle where it's hard to predict exactly how soon we'll be done. The app feels very close—but tomorrow is closer.

Just in case you're still wondering "So when will OmniFocus for iPad be ready?"—I'm afraid I don't have anything else to suggest beyond what I just said:  we're working around the clock, and at this stage it's hard to predict exactly how soon it will be done. We're still testing the app and we don't know what issues we'll uncover or how long those issues will take to fix.  So, again: it feels close, but tomorrow is closer.

Sorry, I know this will be disappointing news for many of you—it's certainly disappointing for us. But we think the time put into the final product will be worth it: thank you for your patience. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly at kc@omnigroup.com.

7/12 UPDATE: Sorry, I know the wait has been hard for everyone. (It's been hard for me, too!) This weekend I invited several people to help us beta test OmniFocus, and their feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I have to keep reminding myself that Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien, "the perfect is the enemy of the good," and that "not shipping" might be a worse flaw than a missing feature that we'd really like to implement. (After all, there's always 1.1!) To that end… I've been sorting through a few hundred bits of feedback to decide which issues and suggestions are important to address for 1.0 and which ones can wait. I'm about half-way through the list, and will post another update soon.

7/16 UPDATE: We've reached a big milestone: we've declared feature and UI freeze. The documentation is written, we have an intro video and welcome document, and so on. But we're not quite done yet: we're still tuning performance and memory usage, fixing glitchy animations, and eliminating crashes. Our test pilots are busy finding problems so you won't have to.

7/20 UPDATE: Code freeze! Release candidate tagged and built, it just needs to be put through a (hopefully final) round of testing.

7/21 UPDATE: Submitted to the App Store!  (I know they're very busy, but according to Apple's latest stats they review 85% of new apps within 7 days.)

7/28 UPDATE: The clock is definitely ticking, but there are still about 12 hours for OmniFocus to remain part of the 85%.  If you'd like to be notified by email the moment OmniFocus is available on the App Store, subscribe to our low-traffic OmniNews mailing list.

7/29 UPDATE: Expecting App Store approval at any moment. If we receive it between now and 6am tomorrow (Pacific Time), that's when we plan to release.

Hello, esteemed Omni blog readers! We have two bits of news for you today, both OmniFocus-focused. 

BIT O' NEWS THE FIRST

OmniFocus 1.7 for iPhone is now available! The big changes are related to iOS 4: the app is now multi-tasking aware, so it's compatible with the fast app switching in iOS 4; database optimizations can now be completed in the background on iOS 4, and OmniFocus 1.7 now uses local notifications to display due alerts when running on iOS 4 (giving you the option to receive alerts for due tasks, even when you're not syncing with a server). 

Also, all the artwork has been refreshed in preparation for that fancy new high-resolution Retina display on iPhone 4. Plus, the app now periodically releases the magical and revolutionary scent of mango. (One of these statements is not true.)

If you're like me and haven't updated your phone yet because you like to wait until everyone else has already done it and you can confirm there are no reports of people saying things like "ARGH MY RINGTONE GOT REPLACED WITH A VUVUZELA", you should grab this latest version of OmniFocus anyway, because it also includes some handy fixes and overall improvements. 

OmniFocus 1.7 for iPhone can be found at your friendly neighborhood App Store.

BIT O' NEWS THE SECOND

Some of you have expressed interest in an update on the projected release date for OmniFocus for iPad. Interest has been communicated in a variety of ways: gentle email queries, polite forum discussions, and of course there was that brick that got tossed through our lobby window wrapped in a note reading YOU SAID JUNE YOU DILL-WEEDS WHAT GIVES.

Here's our current plan: we are hoping to submit OmniFocus for iPad to Apple next week, on June 30. I emphasize hoping because it's not a certainty and this date was extracted with great reluctance. Many Bothans died to bring you this information.

We wish you could get your hands on it right now, but as tempting as it is to rush it out the door for all the folks who are waiting for it, there's still work that needs to be done. I've been using the development builds and it's really exciting to see how things are coming together. It's very close to being ready, at this point it's all about fixing the rough edges and working on the UI.

When I say that, I don't want you to get a mental picture of engineers arguing over the pixel placement of one button. I mean, I'm sure that happens—ha ha ha, ENGINEERS—but I'm talking about a giant effort to influence how you feel when you use OmniFocus. This app needs to be more than a place to store your to-dos, you know? It needs to be a pleasure to interact with. It needs to be a place you want to go on a regular basis. It needs to be satisfying. 

I believe there are some features in OmniFocus for iPad that have the potential to change the way some of us feel about task management. Specifically, for people like me who are lazy about committing to a task manager and repeatedly fall off the wagon, I think this could be the perfect combination of app and device that keeps us engaged.

But we have to do it right. If I don't enjoy opening the app and interacting with it, I won't stick with it. Simple as that.

So, all that's to say: we're close. We're really, really close. This part is mission-critical, though, and we hope you're okay with waiting just a bit longer. We're pretty sure it's going to be worth it. 

Say, have you ever found yourself trying to mock up a website with only a wet piece of toilet paper and a broken crayon and it's not fun at ALL because because the crayon is that cruddy "atomic tangerine" color and the toilet paper is one-ply and you are, like, totally building the worst website ever?

Well, have we ever got a handy video for you, then! We just posted our latest video overview, which is a mere 2:32 of your time but nicely covers the basics for using OmniGraffle for iPad to create website wireframes. This video is not only handy and informative, it also features the smooth vocal stylings of our wonderful Support Ninja and Talented Video-Maker, Kris. 

Take a look at the video here, and if there are other topics you'd like to see us cover—for OmniGraffle for iPad or any other app—please let us know!

Two and a half months ago, I announced that we were planning to bring all five of our productivity apps to iPad.  Two weeks later, I wrote about some of the steps we were taking to make that happen.  Now that iPad has shipped, I thought it might be good to review where we are now, and what our plans are going forward:

As the above graphic indicates, we've already made some great progress: two apps down, three to go!

OmniGraffle and OmniGraphSketcher are available now: they both launched with the App Store, and they've both been very well received—with App Store ratings averaging four stars. Of course, those were just our 1.0 releases, and we're not standing still: OmniGraphSketcher 1.1 for iPad adds data import and is already available as a free App Store update, while OmniGraffle 1.1 improves performance and stability and overall user experience and will be submitted to Apple for review very soon.

Meanwhile, I'm sure many of you are wondering about the other three apps: OmniFocus, OmniOutliner, and OmniPlan. We're currently working on OmniFocus and OmniOutliner in parallel. OmniFocus has a bit of a head start, thanks to the work we'd already done in bringing it to iPhone, so we anticipate its iPad app will be ready in June. OmniOutliner is a little further out, and our current projection is that it will ship this summer. Finally, after we've shipped those four apps, we'll round out the set with OmniPlan for iPad which we're currently anticipating will ship sometime this fall.

So that's where our iPad apps are today, and where we're going! Thanks for taking the time to read this, and for all of your support: over these first two weeks OmniGraffle has sold several thousand copies, making it one of the top apps in the iPad App Store! We've had a pretty amazing journey so far, and we couldn't do it without you.

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 to the unpredictable timeframe of  Apple's App Store review process, today there are two new releases of OmniGraphSketcher available.

OmniGraphSketcher for iPad 1.1 is a significant update which focuses on adding data import capability and improving the user experience. Now that we've had time to use OmniGraphSketcher on actual iPads, we've adjusted the draw and fill tools to make graphing even easier and faster, and we've fixed issues affecting the document browser, graph editor, and info popovers. We've also had a chance to implement the data importing feature that is available in OmniGraphSketcher for Mac. Thanks to those of you who have patiently waited for import, and those who have provided feedback via the App Store and Email! 

Those of you running OmniGraphSketcher 1.1.1 beta 1 on the Mac may have noticed that the expiration date was fast approaching! We don't normally like to cut things this close, but developing two versions simultaneously has proved to be tricky. Beta 3 improves our Japanese and French localizations, and fixes a problem with entering Japanese text. We've also included some smaller fixes and improvements related to the iPad app. You can grab this release via our downloads page or via software update; as always please don't hesitate to email or Help > Send Feedback.

(If you're wondering what happened to beta 2, it was released and then immediately replaced due to a nasty bug)

Now that we have three products available from the App Store, certain things have changed about the way we do business. The access to our software has changed. The way we receive payment for our software has changed. The flexibility we've always had with regards to discounts has changed. 

We plan to continue developing for iPhone and iPad. As Ken wrote back in January, it's our intent to bring all five of our productivity applications to iPad. This means, obviously, that these aren't short-term business changes for us. 

It has always been Omni's policy to give you as much information as possible to help you make an informed purchasing decision, because we truly want you to be happy with what you buy. This is a core value of our company, which we prioritize in a number of ways. We try to make sure you have access to good resources and documentation. We provide free trials on all of our Mac software. We offer top-notch customer service, including phone support. We offer a 30-day guarantee on products sold from our online store, no questions asked.

Your satisfaction is every bit as important to us as the sale. 

We're not trying to say we don't need to make money, because we do. We need to pay our rent, pay our employees, help others when possible, save enough to make it through bad years, and in a good year, hopefully even have a little extra for profit sharing. Omni has limited resources to invest into our development work, and we do have to recoup those expenses or we can't continue offering the products that we do.

However, no one here wants you to buy something from us that you won't enjoy using. Our primary goals are to help you decide if our products are right for you before you buy, and to help make things right if you aren't happy after you buy.

To that end, we've made some decisions that are intended to help us continue to do business the way we want, even within this new distribution model. Starting today, we are offering the same 30-day money back guarantee on all of our iPhone and iPad apps as we do with our other software. This applies to OmniFocus for iPhone, OmniGraffle for iPad, and OmniGraphSketcher for iPad. If you find that you're unsatisfied with your purchase, email sales@omnigroup.com with a copy of your App Store receipt and the reason for return, and we'll refund your money.

Let's just be up front about the fact that this choice obviously opens us up to some risk. We pay 30% of our App Store sales to Apple whether or not we refund a purchase, for one thing. 

So why are we doing this? Because we want to give you the same confidence in buying our App Store software as you have when you buy our Mac software. Because it's important to us that we continue to provide the same support and service we always have. Because we believe the benefit outweighs the risk.

The 30-day guarantee isn't intended to take the place of a demo period. We do ask that you take the time to look at the product features, watch the videos, and ask questions before you make your purchase. If we haven't given you what you need to make a buying decision, please, tell us what would help. 

Finally, if one of our products doesn't seem right for you, we don't want to try and convince you otherwise. We'd love to hear why it isn't right for you, of course, because that's how we make improvements, but we don't want you to buy something you don't need. The ideal outcome for us is when you get amazing value from the applications we create. 

That is, after all, the real reason we do what we do. 

Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. We hope you know your comments and concerns are always welcome.

You know, you always think the countdown to a product launch is going to be exciting, but you forget about the part where it's actually just, you know, just kind of INSANE. Especially when the products in question are tied to a brand new hardware device. 

We are both thrilled and relieved to finally let you know that our first iPad apps, OmniGraffle and OmniGraphSketcher, are available on the App Store. If you're the sort who enjoys a tasty corporate press release, the officially-formatted mumbo jumbo is here (spoiler: it basically says OmniGraffle and OmniGraphSketcher for iPad are, wait for it, available on the App Store).

You can also read up on some of the reasons why we chose to develop for the iPad and how we went about doing so, check out the Macworld coverage on the new apps, and enjoy this Mashable list of their top 10 iPad apps they can't wait to use (#5, holla!).

We've also put together a little Q&A, for some questions we've legitimately been asked and some stuff we, ah, totally made up for the purpose of fleshing out this blog post. Ahem.

Can I download a trial of these apps?

Unfortunately, the App Store does not yet provide that option. 

So how am I supposed to figure out if I want them or not? 

Check out our website, where we've got overviews of both products as well as introductory videos. 

(Here's the OmniGraffle page and video, and the OmniGraphSketcher page and video.)

You could also download trial versions of the Mac apps if you'd like to get familiar with how they work in general. Obviously, it's going to be a different user experience on the iPad—one we hope you really enjoy!—but many of the features you can use on the Mac will be available on the iPad.

If you have any questions about how either app works, you're more than welcome to contact our wily Support Ninjas. 

I have the Mac version, can I get a discount on the iPad version?

We're generally happy to offer bundle pricing for products purchased through our own online store, but there's no way to do that when selling through the App Store. We've tried to make sure that each product is priced reasonably based on individual feature sets, and we hope you'll agree that both products become even more valuable when you use them together.

Can I open my existing OmniGraffle/OmniGraphSketcher documents on OmniGraffle/OmniGraphSketcher for iPad?

Yes! Currently the easiest way to transfer the documents created on the desktop to your iPad is via email.

I notice that OmniGraffle for iPad costs $50 and I think that's too much.

Well . . . that's not really a question, but to give you some background on our pricing decision, we followed a similar model to what Apple used for iWork, where there's a $79 suite on the desktop, and the iPad versions of the apps making up the suite now cost $30. OmniGraffle for iPad sells for half of what OmniGraffle for Mac costs.

Given the choice between two editions on the Mac, Standard for $99 and Pro for $199, twice as many of our customers choose Pro for $199.  (And before you think that's overpriced, if you wanted to buy a similar app for Windows you'd be looking at Visio--which retails at $259 for Standard and $559 for Pro.) $50 may be too much to spend on entertainment (although many console games cost more), but we don't intend OmniGraffle as a casual purchase: OmniGraffle for iPad is designed as a professional productivity tool, one which will make you more productive and will save you time and money every week.

We feel confident you will be happy with the depth of the feature set, pleasantly surprised by some brand-new options only available on the iPad, and overall find OmniGraffle for iPad to be a good value. As always, we welcome your feedback, so feel free to talk to us about any concerns you have!

Do I have to have an iPad to use these new apps?

It depends on how vivid of an imagination you have.

I'm sold! Where do I buy this stuff?

The App Store, natch. Here's the direct iTunes link for OmniGraffle, and for OmniGraphSketcher. We really hope you enjoy them. Happy iPadding!

I like to think that one of my more valuable contributions as an Omni employee is providing the lowest common denominator factor in usability testing. That is, when an engineer wants to really understand how a total Cro-Magnon will be using their app, they come to me.

Oh yeah, that's right. Who's got two thumbs and represents the most pathetic use case? THIS gal.

Anyway, I thought some of you might be interested in seeing how some of our iPad development work is happening for OmniGraphSketcher. Now obviously we do a lot of mockups in what is surely the world's best program for creating IA/UX designs, OmniGraffle. But when it comes to envisioning how something works on a piece of hardware no one can actually use yet, a lot of people here are going low-tech to try and figure it out.

Omni's lead developer for OmniGraphSketcher, Robin, created some iPad-sized paper templates for sketching up ideas.

He didn't stop there, though. No sir, he most certainly did NOT. Here's his custom graph paper notebook, which he cut to iPad dimensions using a table saw.

I want to say that's sort of crazy, except our own CEO Ken Case created a terrifyingly accurate faux iPad using a 3D printer. It—well, it even has a little Omni logo on it. And a 30-pin dock connector. And . . . look, it's just very, very realistic and I'm a little worried about how much sleep everyone is getting, okay?

Here's Robin's own iPad-sized hardware prototype (!) with a variety of UI element ideas designed by our User Experience lead, William Van Hecke.

That's what Robin had me look at the other day, while asking a series of questions. I'm sure he regretted it almost instantly.

Robin: "So let's say you want to turn this point from a circle into a square. What would you do?"

Me: "Buhhhhh. Dur. I touch it?"

Robin (soothingly): "Okay. You see a little blue circle around the element. Then what do you do?"

Me: "Uhhhhhrrrr. I'd . . . maybe I'd press real hard. Like this." *smoosh*

Robin: "Um . . . well, okay. You get a dialogue that says 'copy'."

Me: "OH GOD NO THAT'S WRONG ISN'T IT MY HEAD MY HEAD MY HEEAAAD."

Robin (brisk clap): "Okay then! What say we try this again later."

Lastly, here's Robin interacting with his fauxPad.

I think he's making color adjustments. On a fake, printed-out inspector that Bill made. To the document that is actually just a piece of paper. Man, software development is weird.

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