Is OmniFocus Worth It?

[sfwalter]

I have been looking at OmniFocus 2 and although it seems to have all the features I could want its on the pricey side for task management. For me it would cost roughly $60 ($40 for their Mac app and $20 for their iPhone app).


Is there any reason why I should pay $60 for a task management app when there are bunch for free or a 1/5 of the cost? Currently I'm using Wunderlist it suits me ok just wish it had a few more features.

If you have OmniFocus 2 what features do you like the best?

 

[ChrisA]

I have been looking at OmniFocus 2 and although it seems to have all the features I could want its on the pricey side for task management. For me it would cost roughly $60 ($40 for their Mac app and $20 for their iPhone app).


Is there any reason why I should pay $60 for a task management app when there are bunch for free or a 1/5 of the cost? Currently I'm using Wunderlist it suits me ok just wish it had a few more features.

If you have OmniFocus 2 what features do you like the best?

If you use it every day for a year the $60 cost is about 16 cents per day.

Yes you can use Google calendar for free.

There is also a free trial. try it

 

[campyguy]

+1 on the free 14-day trial. They also have educational pricing, 20-odd years to late for me tho'. I did buy two $100 iTunes Store gift cards at Best Buy @$80 each a few months ago when they were on sale, so a 20% discount for me in both the MAS and iTS.

I'm hooked on the Pro version. My likes are the Review Mode and custom perspectives, and their own sync server. My only dislike, for lack of a better descriptor, is I'm still waiting for an iPad version. And, since Omnigroup has been around since before Day 1 of Mac OS X, their support has been top-notch for me.

 

[ScottNWDW]

I have been using OmniFocus for quite awhile now and it is more than well worth the cost. They do have a 14 day trial, just go to the OmniGroup website and you can download it and try it. While there look at all the free tutorial videos, they were my greatest help when trying t decide. The videos cover a lot and OmniFocus is a powerful program. Now a few years into it, it is the backbone of my task management system. You can make it as easy or complex as you like.

The developers are very committed to bringing you the best app(s) out there and they are very responsive. Whenever I had an issue they responded and or resolved the issue within 24-48 hours.

By the way, They are working on an update to the iPad version. Currently the iPad version is off the market and the OmniGroup website shows that the iPad version of OmniFocus 2 is in development. Since the original Omnifocus for iPad is now off the market, the update must not be too far away.

 

[sfwalter]

thanks for the replies. I have been playing with the trial version for a few days now. I do like it just trying to convince myself I $60 like it

 

[sfwalter]

FYI I decided to get Todo (http://www.appigo.com/todo-task-and-to-do-list.html) from Appigo. This is a true GTD task manager and it costs $20 for all my devices (Mac, iPhone, iPad).

 

[campyguy]

I liked the price of ToDo, initially, but not having to pay the synching charge every month or year. I also didn't like the new name - ToDo 7 - which infers to me that I may have to buy new apps when ToDo 8 comes out, probably about the time iOS 8 comes out...

Their 5-year-old privacy policy didn't sit well with me or my attorney. So, good luck with that...

 

[ScottNWDW]

I liked the price of ToDo, initially, but not having to pay the synching charge every month or year. I also didn't like the new name - ToDo 7 - which infers to me that I may have to buy new apps when ToDo 8 comes out, probably about the time iOS 8 comes out...

Their 5-year-old privacy policy didn't sit well with me or my attorney. So, good luck with that...

I have had ToDo since version 1, and never had to pay for an upgrade. It was the very first task manager I got when I bought my first iPhone, the iPhone 3G. Although OmniFocus is my main task manager now, I also use Todo because like I have said before it has features that I like that OmniFocus does not, and OmniFocus has features that ToDo does not.

As for the syncing charge, $20 a year or $2 a month is a small price to pay for the quality of the service that is provided. On top of that the Sync service is only an option because of the added features and benefits it provides, which by the way also makes the apps free. It's an option you don't have to take.

And really, you consulted an attorney regarding a ToDo list? If your that worried about your privacy get rid of all your electronic gadgets and go live in the remote part of the wilderness or on some deserted island.

 

[jlc1978]

And really, you consulted an attorney regarding a ToDo list? If your that worried about your privacy get rid of all your electronic gadgets and go live in the remote part of the wilderness or on some deserted island.

Why not? Depending on what he is using it for he could have very good reasons for wanting to be sure the privacy policy is in keeping with his requirements.

I use an Ironkey to store work related to ensure they are secure in the event my machine is stolen. Many people do not need that level of protection but I do for professional reasons.

As s side note, does ToDo synch with Outlook on the Mac. I see it does with the Windows version but I really would like to be abel to synch with the same Exchange server I use on my Mac and not have to setup Outlook in Parallels.

 

[dyn]

Their privacy policy is better than the one the USA is using. That policy causes American companies to implement a warrant canary. Appigo uses a bog standard privacy policy nearly every company that hosts a service uses (non-American companies included). It clearly tells you what it uses your data for and like all other companies you need to trust them. If you don't like that then don't use any online service (aka cloud service).

Just to add: Omni Group also hosts a syncing service so you can sync between iPhone, iPad and Mac. They also allow you to use your own syncing service (you need to use webdav). And yes, their privacy policy for this service is similar to the Appigo one

 

[campyguy]

I have had ToDo since version 1, and never had to pay for an upgrade. It was the very first task manager I got when I bought my first iPhone, the iPhone 3G. Although OmniFocus is my main task manager now, I also use Todo because like I have said before it has features that I like that OmniFocus does not, and OmniFocus has features that ToDo does not.

As for the syncing charge, $20 a year or $2 a month is a small price to pay for the quality of the service that is provided. On top of that the Sync service is only an option because of the added features and benefits it provides, which by the way also makes the apps free. It's an option you don't have to take.

And really, you consulted an attorney regarding a ToDo list? If your that worried about your privacy get rid of all your electronic gadgets and go live in the remote part of the wilderness or on some deserted island.

Nice to know on the upgrade price thing. It's been my experience that when a developer changes an app name to a versioned name, upgrade pricing is soon to follow. I'm not going to debate this as there's nothing really to debate.

Yes, I consulted an attorney, but for my own reasons. I'm not a litigious person, but I have others to consider. I work with some clients that are funded by Federal $$$, and other clients whose data security is paramount even to the point where Android phones are banned from data transmission. Appigo seems like a nice company to work with, but their data transport method isn't clear, where their data is stored isn't clear. Other developers are clear about these matters - I refuse to pay for something that isn't clear, and I have a few dozen employees to manage so it's more than $20 per year for me to sink my time into. If a developer modifies their TOS or privacy policy, I read it. Omnigroup is clear and they have an extensible data synching system. I'm not picking nits here. I'll pick a paid/no ads app or subscription any day of the week, and I read the privacy policy first before clicking "buy" every time. I leave the impulse buying to my GF... Cheers.

 

[dyn]

Anyone who actually read both the privacy policy of Omni Group and Appigo will see that neither of them are clear about what data they are gathering and where they are storing it. Also, you nor your lawyer has seen the following in the privacy policy of the Omni Group:

We reserve the right to modify or amend the terms of our Privacy Policy from time to time without notice.

Yes, you read it correctly: without any notice.

This is the biggest problem of any cloud provider: they aren't clear about what data they are collecting and where they are storing it. The only thing they'll mention is that they gather "consumer data" and they list a few options (that's what the words "such as" mean!). Some do give you an idea what they are doing but that's as good as it gets. No one tells you what they are collecting exactly and how they are processing/storing it. Nor do they tell you how they handle requests from other parties (governmental bodies, police, etc.). They use vague terminology such as "strong cryptography" or "we use a variety of technologies and procedures" without telling what they are exactly (AES, DES3, PGP, HTTPS, SSL (which SSL library: OpenSSL which is very flawed and thus insecure?). All you get is some nice story which you can't check.

You are now making false accusations which is illegal (more commonly known as slander). I strongly suggest you stop commenting and seek proper legal advise before posting any more of these false accusations. In the end it is quite simple: there will be privacy and security issues if you use an online service, it doesn't matter which one. If you don't want things to leak then DON'T use such a service. Not any. Ever.

 

[shinji]

OmniFocus is definitely worth it if you're going to use all the features. I love it. But it's more expensive because of how powerful it is, and you can expect a learning curve.

I don't use their sync server. You can just use WebDAV.

 

[ScottNWDW]

OmniFocus is definitely worth it if you're going to use all the features. I love it. But it's more expensive because of how powerful it is, and you can expect a learning curve.

I don't use their sync server. You can just use WebDAV.

The sync server is free and does a great job. I have not had any issues syncing my iMac, MacBook Pro, iPhone, iPad or iPad mini. It's pretty seamless and syncs in the background.

 

[shinji]

The sync server is free and does a great job. I have not had any issues syncing my iMac, MacBook Pro, iPhone, iPad or iPad mini. It's pretty seamless and syncs in the background.

It's also completely unencrypted and Omni Group explicitly states they have the ability to go through your data, which is why I use encrypted WebDAV instead.

 

[dyn]

That's the problem with nearly all of the cloud services and it is something people should start realizing. Some services can also be a bit slow when you're outside the USA (OmniSync is quick but Omnifocus itself can be a bit slow sometimes). Being able to use something on your own server to sync with is a bonus. So yeah, you do pay more for Omnifocus but you also get more. Their forums and their inside.omnifocus.com page are also great resources if you are new to their software and to GTD in general (some great discussions as to why and how certain things should work in Omnifocus).

 

[saberahul]

Personally, I like 2Do the best out of all. Not a true GTD but does my job very well. Never was a fan of OF - too much $$$ for too little output for me.

 

[ScottNWDW]

Personally, I like 2Do the best out of all. Not a true GTD but does my job very well. Never was a fan of OF - too much $$$ for too little output for me.

Then you really never tok the time to learn OmniFocus. I tried 2Do and although it is nice it doesn't match up to the power of OmniFocus.

 

[saberahul]

Then you really never tok the time to learn OmniFocus. I tried 2Do and although it is nice it doesn't match up to the power of OmniFocus.

Has nothing to do with learning. It's all about personal preference and what works best for you. Each application has a trial version - go download them all and see what suits your needs. OF for me was just a gigantic waste of time. Again, that's my personal opinion.

 

[dyn]

Then you really never tok the time to learn OmniFocus. I tried 2Do and although it is nice it doesn't match up to the power of OmniFocus.

If you want to use Omnifocus it is best to learn and use GTD (or something that closely resembles it) because that's the core of Omnifocus (the main reason why you can assign only 1 context and why there are no tags for example). Not everybody has the some workflow. To some Omnifocus is even too complex/powerful. They need something that is between Reminders and Omnifocus.

Todo seems to be able to do the simple things Reminders does as well as the more advanced things Omnifocus is able to do. You can start out simple and grow in complexity. If you are into GTD than you're probably better off with Omnifocus because at its core it's a GTD client (mind you: Omnifocus was Omni Outliner plus a script to turn it into a GTD client; it later evolved into a separate application).