Omni Newsletter Summer 2025
Like seeds sprouting forth in the summer sun, we’ve been germinating all spring. We thought we’d share with you what’s been growing below the surface and what sprouts are coming up already!
In Full Bloom Now: OmniFocus 4.6
The OmniFocus team opened the year heads-down, preparing for a series of OmniFocus feature updates. First up: OmniFocus 4.6, which shipped universally across all platforms just before WWDC in June.
OmniFocus 4.6 improved note and attachment functionality, with new support for resizing image attachments, refinements to paste behavior, and more. This update also introduced handy new attachment and link shortcut menus (i.e. contextual menus) on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, and brought support for custom font display to these platforms.
Coming Soon: OmniFocus 4.7
Following on the heels of OmniFocus 4.6, public test builds of OmniFocus 4.7 are now available! The feedback we’ve already received on these test builds has been overwhelmingly positive, and we can’t wait to release this update universally for all customers later this summer.
OmniFocus 4.7 will introduce three powerful new features: a new “Planned” date type (for specifying the date an item is scheduled for work), the ability to create mutually exclusive tags (handy in a variety of workflows, like prioritization and energy level assignment), and improved repeat functionality (including new support for setting a repeat to end after a specific date or set number of repetitions).
As these new features will require a database migration, the OmniFocus team has also spent extensive time polishing and testing the migration process.
Fun at WWDC
At the Omni Group, we believe in community, which is why we got involved with LIVE Near WWDC again this year. LIVE Near WWDC is a benefit concert, featuring “James Dempsey and the Breakpoints” (a collection of nerds, techies, and community luminaries from around the globe) performing songs written by developers on programming themes.
LIVE Near WWDC 2025 marked the world debut of a brand new song, "Source Of Truth," featuring our very own Ken Case on keyboard.
It was also our honor to contribute once again as an event sponsor. Sponsorship funds cover the costs, which lets 100% of ticket/merch sales go directly to the beneficiary. This year, the show raised a little over $10,000 for Techtonica. You can watch the show on the livenearwwdc.com site, also hosted on YouTube. It’s gratifying to support an event that brings together the developer community, while also supporting inclusivity in tech.
Omni Roadmap 2025 — Post-WWDC Update
Beyond the fun at WWDC, we always look forward to what Apple will announce. Afterwards—which includes some amount of time to digest and reflect—we look forward to sharing an update to the year’s roadmap. Our January roadmap reflected on 2024 and laid out the game plan for 2025. Every game plan needs a half-time adjustment.
Naturally, the Post-WWDC Roadmap Update includes some initial analysis about what we learned from WWDC 2025, and the ways in which the introduced technologies, like Liquid Glass, Foundation Models, and flexible windows on iPad, can impact our original game plan.
Beyond brand new capabilities from Apple, the roadmap update also discusses OS integrations already in progress, such as App Intents that help Spotlight become smarter and help Omni Automation leverage Apple Intelligence.
The Post-WWDC Roadmap Update also outlines our work this summer to have updates ready for OmniFocus, OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner and OmniPlan, ensuring compatibility with iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, visionOS 26 and watchOS 26 on day one.
In addition, we’ve been laying the groundwork for improving OmniFocus sync performance for people on other continents. Work has also continued full steam ahead on our exciting slate of upcoming releases, like bringing a Kanban view to OmniFocus later this year and the anticipated cross-platform launch of OmniGraffle 8.
Ken Case on the Mac Power Users Podcast
The hosts of the Mac Power Users podcast, David Sparks and Stephen Hackett, take high-expertise topics and break it all down like talking to two friends. Covering all Apple platforms, experienced power users get practical tips and workflow advice, yet beginners find their down-to-earth style makes insights easy to absorb. Their expertise is simply unmatched. It’s all about helping people become more productive, and we’re all about that.
As such, you can imagine that Ken Case was quite honored to be interviewed for the podcast. The resulting episode, called "From NeXT to Liquid Glass, with Ken Case" covers how Ken got his start in technology (even earlier than you might think), what Apple gear he uses, his approach to customer communication, and his thoughts on WWDC 2025. In addition, Mac Power User subscribers got access to a “More Power Users” segment, which added discussion about managing software products during technological transitions.
After spending recent weeks steeped in the latest and greatest from WWDC, it’s interesting to take a step back and think about current technological advances set in the context of a broader history.
Highlights from The Omni Show
In a special episode of The Omni Show, Omni Group CEO, Ken Case discusses the Post-WWDC 2025 Roadmap Update in more depth with additional thoughts on Liquid Glass, Foundation Models, iPad Windows and more. Here are some other highlights from the amazing community surrounding the Omni Group’s award-winning products, as heard on The Omni Show:
How Robert Pope Uses OmniFocus — The IT Director at the Online Learning Consortium, Robert reaches beyond sharing how he applies the principles of GTD (Getting Things Done) to teach us his strategies for reducing cognitive load with a practical approach that will inspire you to optimize your own productivity.
How Rosemary Orchard Uses OmniFocus — A renowned productivity expert and co-host of TWiT.tv’s iOS Today, Rosemary Orchard, shares her strategies for staying on top of multiple projects without feeling overwhelmed—from batching tasks and contextual computing, leveraging AI and Omni Automation, to using Focus across devices—in an episode jam packed with actionable insights!
How Lee Garrett Uses OmniFocus — A master at tutorials, Lee Garrett breaks away from the how-to, to tell us his own story from his first Mac to how he combines productivity tools, such as OmniFocus, OmniPlan, Obsidian, DevonThink, and Hookmark, to run ScreenCastsOnline, plus he shares his thoughts on automation, risk management, and staying efficient.
How Andrew Canion Uses OmniFocus — The exceptionally entertaining Andrew Canion, who oversees 16 (hello!) remote centers in Western Australia while also being a podcaster and basketball commentator, talks about “Mastering projects without stress” using Focus, automation, review cycles and other keen insights.
All Aboard for OmniGraffle 8
The OmniGraffle 8 development train rolls on! Recent Mac public test builds include improved support for reference objects and skew, as well as palette designs refined for upcoming cross-platform availability, and more.
If you’re interested in where OmniGraffle is headed, this is an ideal time to share your feedback with the team! We’re actively exploring many new ideas, and your feedback helps guide our decisions. So if you use macOS 15 Sequoia or later, and have the time to put it through its paces and let us know what you think, you’re invited to download a Mac test build of OmniGraffle 8 today. Look for builds of OmniGraffle 8 for iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro in TestFlight soon!
Until Next Time
Thank you very much for reading this latest issue of the Omni Newsletter. Until next time, stay in touch with us on Mastodon, and of course on our blog.
Want to catch up on past newsletters? Check out the archive here.