Anticipating OmniFocus 2

The Blog

by Ken Case on January 11, 2013

If you’ve read my most recent blog post about Omni’s Plans for 2013, you already know that we’re just a few weeks away from the debut of OmniFocus 2 for Mac. I’m really looking forward to showing it to you all… but this post isn’t really about OmniFocus 2 itself, it’s about what to expect between now and when it ships.

The first thing I’d like to clarify is that we’re only talking about the Mac edition of OmniFocus! This release focuses on bringing back to the Mac all of the design and innovation that went into our iPad edition—and it will be fully compatible with the existing iPad and iPhone apps, so you’ll be able to sync with them without paying for upgrades to all three apps.

I also want to make sure everyone understands that the OmniFocus 2 debut on January 31st is not when OmniFocus 2 will be shipping! That’s just the first time the app will be shown in public. Following the debut, we’re planning a limited private test period (which you can sign up for), followed by a wide open public test—and then (finally!) when we’ve evaluated everyone’s testing feedback and think it’s ready, we’ll ship the app. If this sounds like it might take a while… yes, it probably will!

So, if you’re looking to purchase OmniFocus today, what should you do? Should you wait for OmniFocus 2?

Well, first of all, there’s no reason to wait on purchasing the iPad and iPhone apps—as I’ve noted above, they’re not the editions which are getting a major upgrade this year.

But if you’re looking at purchasing the Mac app, it would be quite reasonable to wait until after the OmniFocus 2 debut so you know what’s coming before you make a decision. To make that wait easier for everyone, we’ve decided to post a temporary license key so you can all use the app between now and then without having to make a purchase:

License Owner: Waiting for OmniFocus 2
License Key: [KEY HAS NOW EXPIRED]

(Just copy and paste both the License Owner and License Key into the appropriate fields.)

I hope you’re all looking forward to OmniFocus 2 as much as I am! And that this temporary license key makes the wait a little easier.

Update: We had a great time showing what we’ve been working on in OmniFocus 2, you can find more details and watch a video of the OmniFocus 2 debut to learn more. Please note that the license above has now expired, but if you purchase OmniFocus 1, you’ll get a free upgrade to the Professional edition of OmniFocus 2 when it ships.

Comments

I’m eagerly awaiting OF2. You apps are worth the money. Please tell us more about your proposed timeline for the year so we can make plans. I have some upgrades I want to buy, but am waiting for some glimpse of the future.

Mark Fuller

01.11.13 6:16 PM

I know this will be awesome Ken. Counting the days!

Gabe Boisvert

01.11.13 7:57 PM

This could not have come at a better time for me. Thank you!

Mike Rogers

01.11.13 8:22 PM

Please code faster. Please, please, please, please. Can not wait!

Jeff Greenberg

01.11.13 8:42 PM

I can’t wait!!! The only thing this really needs at this point is the ability to assign multiple contexts to a single action… I hope hope hope that this is an update on this version! Thank you for being the best GTD app available in either case.

Austin Wallace

01.12.13 12:17 AM

Great!

Question : Has the upgrade cost from Omnifocus 1.x to 2.x been discussed somewhere? Can you give a price range?

Marc

01.12.13 12:20 AM

Great news.

I bought my license yesterday so my question is if I should ask for a refund and use the temporary license?

Keep up the good work.

Best regards

Andrée

Andrée

01.12.13 12:48 AM

Please please don’t remove wlan sync (like other gtd Tools).

Nasendackel

01.12.13 2:32 AM

Will pricing be changing? Will you still offer edu discounts?

Charles Barbour

01.12.13 8:49 AM

Wonderful. Thank you so much for this.

Merlin Mann’s discussion of OmniFocus on the ‘Back To Work’ podcast made me realise I really needed to check out your product. Then he mentioned that 2.0 was coming.

This solution you have offered is perfect - thank you.

Alex Hardy

01.13.13 2:16 PM

Hello-

I just purchased the latest edition of Omnifocus a few weeks ago. Will there be some upgrade consideration for previous owners or, at least, for those of us who purchased the app within the past few months?

Thanks,

Steve Sisk

Steve Sisk

01.14.13 11:53 AM

Steve,
Omni offers a 30-day money back guarantee, just email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and explain your situation.

They also offer substantial upgrade discounts to owners of any previous version, but it sounds like you might be able to buy OF2 directly when it ships and just use the trial key Ken provided above until then, if you’re still within the 30 day window.

Bill

01.14.13 1:26 PM

Thanks Bill!

Steve Sisk

01.14.13 3:22 PM

Here’s to hoping HEAVILY that OF2 allows for project templates and more visualizations such as pipelines/Gantt. Looking forward to Forecast, but the ol’ trick of duplicating a project and making it active is getting tired. Very excited.

Sean Hoyt

01.14.13 11:34 PM

I got the OmniFocus trial after going through David Sparks’ Screencast Tutorials on his site MacSparky.com. I’ve been loving OmniFocus and didn’t know what to do since my trial is almost up and I know 2.0 is on the way. THANK YOU so much for offering the guest license to tide us over. I couldn’t be happier and that kind of customer service is really unparalleled and has made me a loyal and long-term customer.

Stef

01.15.13 6:48 PM

Really looking forward to OF2 and the new features!

Drew

01.15.13 7:43 PM

Temporary license key is such great idea! Thank you so much for being so considerate!

KevinSayHi!

01.16.13 9:37 PM

Will the “Waiting for OmniFocus 2” license then expire at some point and time? Or will we be able to use OmniFocus 1 free forever?

Thomas McMahon

01.17.13 5:10 AM

You guys are amazing. I just started using OmniFocus because of Mac Power Users and Back to Work on 5by5.tv and I know that I will actually want to get 2.0 when it comes out (because I have a feeling it will address some of the issues I have with the current version). So I was stuck with an iPhone app only and no Mac app since my trial expired. I absolutely will be buying 2.0, so for me, this temporary license is a wonderful gift!

And, to clarify, even if 2.0 doesn’t address my specific issues, this product is still far and away ahead of the competition, and I am sure will still be well worth the wait.

Thank you!

Don

01.17.13 8:09 AM

Team Member

@Thomas McMahon - yes, this license is temporary. It will expire on February 7th. We wanted to give folks a grace period after the OmniFocus 2 debut event to look at the information and decide if they thought v2 was something they’d want to use.

While version 2 won’t be shipping on January 31, there should be enough information available to determine if purchasing v1 and getting the free upgrade to v2 when it does release makes sense for you.

Folks asking for info re: pricing or features - we’ll be ready to answer questions about that after the Debut event. Stay tuned!

Brian@Omni

01.17.13 12:40 PM

Please take my money! I bought OmniFocus at the Macworld Expo in January 2008, which I think is when 1.0 shipped. After five years I’d give you more even if nothing changed. 2.0 will be a bonus.

Mitch Cohen

01.17.13 1:14 PM

Awesome!
You’ve come out with an offer that allows me to start using OmniFocus as it is without the frustration that might result if the normal 30-day trial expired before I was able to purchase OmniFocus 2. The most I’d thought to ask for was a free upgrade down the road, if I buy today. This is, in many ways, much simpler. Probably simpler for you to manage too. All in all, thank you for removing the only obstacle to my getting started with OmniFocus.

p.s. @Jeff Greenberg - thank you for the laughs; loved your comment “Please code faster. Please, please, please, please. Can not wait!” It can’t hurt to be reminded directly from customers who really want to see what you’ve got to offer when you’re behind a computer screen producing that code.

Andrew Ash

01.18.13 9:38 PM

Hello, I purchased the Mac version last year and now have all three for Ipad and iphone too

Will I have to pay extra for the new Mac version as I paid for this already?

Thanks

Ken

UK

ken spencer

01.19.13 3:22 PM

Ditto to the “code faster” comments - especially when you say the interface will appear more “mac like”. I’m a big OF fan, but the graphic design of the current app is really a stumbling block for me. Would love to participate in the Beta - OF 2 can’t get here fast enough!

Amanda

01.20.13 2:25 PM

License Owner: Waiting for OmniFocus 2
License Key: KXKN-ZJDB-EJCX-LZHW-CFBF-QFC

please help where do i use the above info , would love to start trying the product

thanks

Randi

randi

01.20.13 8:11 PM

I can’t wait! Great thinking in offering a code for OmniFocus 1. You guys are a class act.

Joshua Reynolds

01.21.13 1:59 PM

Randi,

under the OmniFocus menu, there’s a Licenses… item which will allow you to enter the temporary license.

Bill

01.22.13 12:07 AM

I hope the sync is more reliable so that repeated tasks don’t spawn into two new tasks after I check on two devices… The hassles involved are what caused me to switch to Things.

Vincent

01.25.13 4:52 AM

I also hope that sync is triggered whenever a change is made, like Things does…

Vincent

01.25.13 4:52 AM

@vincent
Sync *is* triggered when a change is made — there’s just a delay. The default settings cause a sync 1 minute after a change is made, and every 60 minutes thereafter. In addition, the iOS apps start a sync whenever you switch to another app. It is possible to adjust those settings, and in particular, the delay between making a change and starting a sync can be set as low as 2 seconds, though whether that is a good idea is another matter. Details on how to do so can be found at http://forums.omnigroup.com/showpost.php?p=41834&postcount=2

The duplication of repeating actions is not a question of reliability. When you complete a repeating action, a new action is created. If you do that in two different places, you get a duplicate because they both make a new action, exactly as if you had created “Buy milk” actions on two different devices, then synced. Given that you might then make many changes involving those actions that you’ve created before you sync, making the software say “oh, these are the same action, I only need one of them” is not a trivial endeavor, especially if you want it to work correctly EVERY time.

Bill

01.25.13 9:24 PM

Hey all….just wanted to share that we nabbed an exclusive interview with Ken about the upcoming release event at macworld this week….check it! - http://buff.ly/UzMuRZ

Andrew J Mason

01.29.13 6:46 AM

Thanks so much for this information, I was wanting to get started with OF, but nervous about buying now if there is an upgrade coming. Not about the decision itself, but about getting an upgrade cost right after purchase.

From what I can tell, people who purchase now will be eligible for a free upgrade to 2.0, correct? That’s what I get from Brian’s comments above.

Thanks!
-Tom

Tom

01.29.13 9:14 AM

I really hope that the App Store(tm) promos on Getting Things Done / Productivity apps doesn’t steal the thunder from your OmniFocus preview tomorrow. I’ve gotten a bit disillusioned with Apple recently and would love for this to be a coincidence, or something where they’re planning to promote your company as well. Omni products (OmniFocus and OmniOutliner specifically) are my heaviest used Apple appps, and it’d be a shame if they were snubbing a long time dedicated developer (still have your browser on my NeXTStation!).

Chris Wall

01.30.13 6:35 PM

Are you recording and posting the Setup sessions? Looks like great information those who can’t make it would find valuable.

Michael

01.30.13 7:04 PM

Looking forward to seeing omnifocus 2 soon. Guys, do you have a plans to make a financial application? I believe it will be massive and extremely useful, like all stuff you do! Cheers!

Alexey

01.31.13 11:38 PM

Team Member

@michael, yes! We recorded everything and hope to get videos posted, though please have patience, it might take a little while.

Troy

02.01.13 1:54 AM

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