CNET Editors' review
OmniFocus is a high-powered, flexible, feature-filled task-management app that's based on the widely used Getting Things Done (GTD) productivity method, but it's designed to accommodate a variety of work styles. OmniFocus uses a GTD-esque approach ("Capture, Organize, and Do") to handle actions, projects, and contexts. You work in a relatively clean, two-pane interface, with folders and projects in the sidebar and grouped actions in the main outline (where you add, edit, and check off actions).
Within this interface, it's easy to set up versatile contexts for your actions, distinguish between sequential and parallel actions within a project, and drag and drop actions, projects, and contexts. The sidebar also contains the In-box, a "holding area" for incoming actions, and you can enter new actions here, or from anywhere using a system-wide shortcut. OmniFocus even helps you add actions in several other ways, including via e-mail. There are also lots of different ways to view your workspace, and an improved Perspectives menu lets you save the ones that you use the most (including a set of editable defaults for common Perspectives, like In-box and Flagged).
Overall, OmniFocus's many features and highly tweakable interface deliver a lot of horsepower, making it one of the best (and best documented) GTD applications available. All that functionality comes at a price, though--and there many cheaper options out there--but GTD devotees should definitely give OmniFocus a try.
Publisher's Description
From The Omni Group:
Task management shouldn't be your full time job. We've built OmniFocus to take a load off your mind by managing your tasks the way that you want, freeing you to focus your attention on the things that matter to you most. Finish that novel. Spend more time with your friends and family. Grow your business. Let us worry about keeping your goals and tasks, both personal and professional, in one ordered, easy to access system that you can depend on.
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All versions:
3.6 starsout of 26 votes
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Current version:
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"OK, but too complex for my needs."
Version: OmniFocus 1.9
Pros
OF syncs well and has tons of features for those who are right into the GTD system.
Cons
OF is ok if you like process more than actually accomplishing your todos. I find it takes way too long to get a snap shot of my most important tasks on any given day. I spend far too much time hunting down or inputting data.
Summary
Too complicated and way too expensive.
I've really come to appreciate the KISS system after using OF. GTD is just to convoluted for me. -
"Complexity may be appealing but it will get in your way"
Version: OmniFocus 1.8.1
Pros
Full-featured GTD-oriented task manager. You can slice and dice almost any way you want.
Cons
In practice the complexity of the product and the inconsistent UI divert significant attention away from getting things done and towards configuring the product.
Summary
I used OF for several months and finally gave up due to its complexity. I have understood, used, and not used every bell-and-whistle, and I can tell you OF refuses to just "sit there" while I get my work done. There's always something that is not intuitive or not obvious! In contract, Things, which I've started using recently is so wonderfully simple that GTD takes virtually no effort. I'm really getting things done with Things.
A word to those who are concerned that Things does not currently support sequential projects:
Omnifocus does have that support. But I found that in almost every project the real sequence is more complicated that a simple list of tasks. There are multiple dependencies, some tasks have no dependencies, etc. Omnifocus attempts to manage this with an outline (group) capability inside projects, and I tried to use that. But I found that it's more detail than I require and it is too complex to be transparent. Instead, Things permits me only to mark some of a project's task as Someday. I do that and leave the few remaining to review in Next Tasks in no particular order. The simplicity of this approach makes my work go much smoother than it did when I was worrying about dependencies in Omnifocus.
So I urge you to try Things first. If you think Things is a better solution but you're concerned about sequential projects, my advice is to not worry. The capability is more trouble than its worth. And if you have a project with tens of task and multiple dependences, I suggest you use a real project management application, like OmniPlan or Merlin.
GTD is not designed for project management, it is designed for task management. -
"A useful task management application"
Version: OmniFocus 1.8.1
Pros
Nice layout and tree structure of tasks.
Cons
It would be nice to be able to put reminder alarms on To Do items that can be either dismissed or delayed as appropriate.
Summary
I find this product to be quite useful in helping me keep track of tasks that I must get done.
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"Great standalone product but ..."
Version: OmniFocus 1.8
Pros
Great id you want to use it as a standalone product.
Cons
A major limitation of this software is its inability to import data from other company's applications. If you use mindjet mindmanager, or fasttrack Omni cant import your mindmaps or project plans.
Summary
Dont bother purchasing this product unless you want to manually type entries or only use Omni software.
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"The best, most flexible to do program around."
Version: OmniFocus 1.7.5
Pros
Tremendous flexibility. A very full feature set. Many, many ways to display, analyze, and control items. It is completely intuitive. There's a decent (though expensive) iPhone application that synchronizes.
Cons
The one glaring omission is the alarms. You have to actively engage with the program to know what's due when.
Summary
I love this program. The designers have done a really smart job.
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"Expensive and tied to outdated GTD method"
Version: OmniFocus 1.7.4
Pros
Software looks good and offers many thoughtful features
Cons
No way out of rigid GTD orthodoxy. Overly complex for all but David Allen's family members.
Summary
GTD requires more management of the system than time spent on task. OmniFocus would do well to offer other approaches less complicated.
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"No way to try before you buy"
Version: OmniFocus 1.7
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
There's no way to try this app before you buy it. Downloading an extracting it simply gives you a crazy message about "no password or too many people using the application - exit".
So don't bother unless you feel like shelling out $$$ without knowing what you're getting. -
"OmniFocus at the top of The Hit List"
Version: OmniFocus 1.6.1
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
After test-driving a new Mac-based task management tool for less than a month it's easy to see why "Whack OmniOutliner" recently made it to The Hit List. As beautiful as The Omni Group's other software applications are it's hard to imagine what caused them to mangle this endeavor so mercilessly. I don't know if they had hired and/or fired someone in between the design and development of the OmniOutliner and OmniGraffle pair and OmniFocus but they sure should fix it somehow; either get the original minds behind OOP and OGP back or banish the culprits responsible for OmniFocus. Before wasting time and money on OmniOutliner check out The Hit List by Potion Factory. Potion Factory is a development crew that definitely understands this domain in a manner that The Omni Group definitely does not!
www.potionfactory.com/thehitlist/ -
"a great power tool, but only for geeks in love wit..."
Version: OmniFocus 1.6.1
Summary
...
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
With extensive usage, I have slowly become less enthusiastic about OmniFocus than I once was. It?s generally an amazing piece of software. However, it is also extremely complex, and I don?t mean in a power-user kind of way: I mean in a confusing way. No matter how well I learn the software, I still ?lose? my data. There are so many ways to sort and view and filter your data that it is also amazingly difficult to find things. I?ve seen this problem discussed ad infinitum on the Omni forums. It?s such a serious flaw that I would never recommend the software, despite its other virtues. This app is a power tool for geeks in love with GTD.
Syncing with the iPhone application was so consistently error-prone over several months of experimentation that I eventually gave up.
OmniFocus support, generally excellent in my experience over the years, was not exactly perfect either. Ultimately they dropped the ball, offering to examine my database for the cause of my chronic syncing problems, but then taking much too long to follow-up (weeks). -
"Final Decision: The winner is OmniFocus!"
Version: OmniFocus 1.5
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
I began testing both THINGS and OMNIFOCUS last summer and didn't make my final choice until after the near-final version of Things was released a few days ago to those using the beta version. Things is a beautiful program & it is very easy to use. However, my final decision is to go with OmniFocus because of it's superb power. IMO the purpose of a program like this is the ability to organize and view data easily in a number of ways to facilitate planning and actually accomplishing goals. While Things provides a great deal of what I need, the bottom line is that I found it's approach a little too scattered. It was often difficult for me to see all my actions & projects in one view for a given period of time. Because I am an organizer, I would file some tasks in "Someday", others in "Scheduled" and the rest in "Next". When I would try to see where I had an opening for another task or project, I often could not get a clear sense of my planning with Things. It's heavy use of tags is just not to my liking. I prefer the use of contexts, which are like categories. OmniFocus follows the use of contexts. (Things has something similar called "Areas"; but they are just not the same thing in practice.) Things does not allow the use of start dates as well as due dates. Even though it is true that projects should be constructed of single actions that can be accomplished at a given time, the ability of OmniFocus to assign start dates allows tasks to be unavailable until their start date. This approach gets them out of the way until I am ready to review them or focus on them. Also, Things just doesn't use dates well. OmniFocus not only allows easy entry of dates, it also presents the due date more clearly for each task and, because it has an inspector panel, it's easy to see more about repeating items, when items are due for review, etc.l. The final straw that broke the camel's back for me was the difference between the iPhone clients. If iCal had been able to handle to do items better (especially repeating tasks) and present them on the iPhone, I might never have started this journey. Both Things and OmniFocus have iPhone clients; but there's no real comparison. Things, like it's desktop counterpart, is very scattered on the iPhone, while OmniFocus is just as organized on the iPhone as it is on the desktop. Things only allows syncing while on the same wireless network. OmniFocus allows syncing via a number of methods; and since I am a MobileMe subscriber, I use that method, which allows me to sync from anywhere. I'm sure Things will meet the needs of many people; and for those who place a big emphasis on price, it will probably win. For me, time is money; and OmniFocus helps me get the most done.
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