Omnifocus vs. DEVONthink

[sigamy]

Fast forward, I found some limitations in Evernote and remembering that I had Omnifocus, tried switching. So far Omnifocus which has fulfilled my needs very nicely.

When I saw the bundle with DEVONthink I did a couple of web searches and it seems like there was a lot out there on DEVONthink vs. Evernote. In a classic case of "if A=B and B=C then A=C" I thought, "if people are using DEVONthink to replace Evernote and I used Omnifocus to replace Evernote, then maybe DEVONthink and Omnifocus overlap in their functionality.

Thoughts?

As others have said, Evernote started as a note taking application, with some OCR capability and sync across devices/platforms. This is where you get the direct Evernote to Devonthink comparison.

After a while Evernote added the ability to create a "to do list" note. You can include check boxes right in the notes and use tags for organizing. It's not a GTD app, just basic to do list style notes/reminders.

This is where the OmniFocus to Evernote comparisons would come in.

This does not create a link between OF and DevonThink. DT has some very cool analysis features that help you find associations between documents. It is very useful for large research projects, such as a thesis...As far as I know DT has zero to do list features.

But, for me, it would be like comparing Excel to Word...yes you can do some features of each app in the other, but both apps have hardcore functionality that you won't find in the other app.

 

[danitaz]

However, what has not been pointed out is DEVONthink's achilles heel and the reason why I have finally given up on it.....SYNCING between devices, other Macs , iPads and iPhones. iOS 7 has killed syncing Numbers docs, which was the final straw for me.

This discussion is very pertinent to me, because this is where I'm struggling as well. I have the following:

ScanSnap
OmniFocus (Mac/iPhone/iPad)
DevonThink Pro (got it in a bundle, and have just started looking at it)
Paperless (Mariner Software)
EverNote (Mac/iPhone/iPad)
Hazel
JotNot Pro (iOS)
Documents to Go (iPhone/iPad)
QuickOffice (iPad)
Bento (Mac and iOS)
I can honestly say I have every single email client available for iPhone or iPad (AltaMail, Boxer, Emailganizer, Seed, EvoMail, IncrediMail, etc. etc.)

Can anyone say application/productivity junkie?

I do not like being tied down to an office (or even a Mac outside of the office). In fact, I've worked at home for 20 years, and my "office" seems to float around the house from room to room. Even though I technically have a ROOM that is my office, I don't work in it that much - LOL. I am frequently out and about and need to email a PDF to a client or read a Word document that someone sent me 2 years ago (or worse a WordPerfect document from 10 years ago), or quickly "scan" a receipt at a store with JotNot Pro so I can toss the paper. Combinations of Dropbox, Hazel, Evernote, Omnifocus, etc. keep me trying to figure out a way to make this more seamless.

Originally I was using Paperless, using SnapScan, various apps, Dropbox and Hazel to get things into Paperless easily. Despite Mariner's warnings against it, also had a symlink of the Paperless file structure in my Dropbox. As long as I had a clue of the date of a PDF that was in Paperless, I could find it in the Dropbox app and use it on iOS. When Mariner changed the naming scheme for Paperless awhile back though, that routine was totally defeated.

So, I've been considering beefing up my Evernote use. But honestly, even though I can actually get to everything in Evernote on my iPhone, the iPhone UI is cramped and difficult to manuever. Not only that, as a true "document manager" Evernote seems lacking. I suppose I could try to use AppleScript to allow me to import documents into Evernote with the creation date intact, but that is something that should just be "automatic" for a document manager. That is one of the great things about Paperless I guess. It would actually scan a document and try to "date" the document by finding dates in the text.

I think it would be overkill/disastrous to try to convert OmniFocus into a document manager.

Currently DevonThink requires that I know in advance what I need on devices (I think - I've heard that an update was supposed to make this different, but their documentation seems to indicate that this is the case), and I'm not sure I want to spend $15 on their iOS app just to test it all out.

It just seems to me that even though I own almost all of the best "document and productivity" software the Mac and iOS has to offer, I still don't actually have a clear picture of how to have a great and automated document management system on my Mac that can be easily and quickly accessed on iOS (the latter being the gotcha - there are plenty of ways to have a really great document management system ON THE MAC, I just want to make it mobile).

I'm happy to use Hazel, Applescript, etc. to assist on the Mac side if that would help. I could just stick with "folder structures" so that I can poke around for things on iOS, but the beauty of a decent document/thought management system is the searching ability, and by sticking with a folder structure and Dropbox I lose all of that!

Has anyone truly solved this?

Thanks.

Danita

 

[Mike Boreham]

Currently DevonThink requires that I know in advance what I need on devices (I think - I've heard that an update was supposed to make this different, but their documentation seems to indicate that this is the case), and I'm not sure I want to spend $15 on their iOS app just to test it all out.

It just seems to me that even though I own almost all of the best "document I could just stick with "folder structures" so that I can poke around for things on iOS, but the beauty of a decent document/thought management system is the searching ability, and by sticking with a folder structure and Dropbox I lose all of that!

Has anyone truly solved this?

Thanks.

Danita

I have just quoted two points in your post to comment on.

1. You are right about having to decide in advance which docs you want on iOS devices with DEVONthink to Go, the iOS syncing app. Version 2 is in the pipeline and may avoid this major drawback, but until then stay away from version 1......it is a disaster area (see their forum) although there is just a new point release.

2. This comment may or may not apply to you, so ignore it if it doesn't!
A lot of software is very complex, and takes a lot of learning to use to its full potential. DEVONthink is a good example. I really used and studied it (tutorials, forums, testing and using it all-in 100%) for six months before deciding it wasn't for me. I still don't think I gave it a fair chance as I know there were aspects I never made full use of, especially in its AI search tools. Short try outs of different programs and trying them in combination is not likely to find the definitive solution.

My comment about really learning and using software applies equally to the OS and especially in this case to Spotlight.

My conclusions so far are that the combination of:-

1.Snapscan Manager (essential for iX500, and OCR of all scanned docs)
2.Dropbox for all syncing.
3.Spotlight for all searching, (though I do use Easyfind sometimes)
4.A scanning to PDF app on iPhone which I haven't settled on yet.

..............does everything I need for a paperless existence.

Spotlight is very capable and powerful, and if all scans on your machine are OCR'd, you can find just about anything with it.

 

[Mike Boreham]

JotNot Pro (iOS)

Thanks for mentioning this...just trying it out and liking it so far.

 

[danitaz]

the combination of:-

1.Snapscan Manager (essential for iX500, and OCR of all scanned docs)
2.Dropbox for all syncing.
3.Spotlight for all searching, (though I do use Easyfind sometimes)
4.A scanning to PDF app on iPhone which I haven't settled on yet.

..............does everything I need for a paperless existence.

Spotlight is very capable and powerful, and if all scans on your machine are OCR'd, you can find just about anything with it.

I actually agree with you for the Mac. It's my mobile existence that has me searching for a better way. I can find almost anything I need on my Mac with Spotlight. I just can't seem to get to them from iOS devices when I need to. Maybe I'll end up with a MacBook Air. But honestly, I use my iPhone more than my iPad. My iPhone is ALWAYS with me, and while I probably would not force myself to write War and Peace on a phone, I've edited many documents and even fixed Linux servers via ssh from it! So I cannot over emphasize the need for a "mobile" way to access information equally from desktop and mobile device. That's where a "document manager" with great searching abilities would be awesome if it had a mobile client that could access the index and then request docs as needed from the cloud.

Danita