The Techie Scheky series offers tips and tactics for being more productive and creative through technology (especially with a Mac).
- OmniFocus 2 for iPhone brought a visual overhaul to Omnigroup's OmniFocus that later made its presence felt in the Mac app.OmniFocus 2 for iPad releases today and it takes design cues from the iPhone and Mac app. OmniFocus 2.3 for iPhone also shipped earlier today and it brought a great Today widget that displays the tasks due today and a systemwide share extension to add various kinds of.
- OmniFocus is a personal task manager by the Omni Group for macOS and iOS. The declared goal of the program is to be able to capture thoughts and ideas into to do lists. 4 The program uses concepts and techniques described in the book Getting Things Done by David Allen.
- The app finally has a great look and a homescreen worthy icon in addition to being the most powerful GTD app for iPhone. OmniFocus 2 is a new app that is available for iOS 7 devices on the App Store for $19.99. Web Editorially — Write Clean, and Bring your Friends Along.
After talking about how I take all of the varying types of tasks in my life, I thought I'd run through the various ways that you can create tasks in OmniFocus using their Quick Entry or Quick Clipper. https://perdiephiro1982.mystrikingly.com/blog/keyboard-shortcut-icons-mac. This post looks to show you how to create one or multiple tasks using Quick Entry, how to create a variety of tasks using the Quick Clipper and how to make Quick Entry in OmniFocus work with Evernote.
Too lazy to read? I've got you covered!
Click here if you can't see the video.
The Omni Blog Debut of OmniFocus 2 by Ken Case on February 1, 2013. Update April 2, 2014: We just noticed that we failed to update the text in this blog entry back in September of last year, when we were forced to change our plans with regards to Mac App Store upgrades. I finally bought OmniFocus for both the iPhone and iPad. Very expensive but needed to have both versions. Only the iPad version has the 'Review' feature for example. Check this Vlog on GTD, Task.
Quickly Creating Tasks in OmniFocus
Single Tasks
When setting up OmniFocus, go to preferences, select the General tab and set the Quick Entry shortcut. I use Control-Option-Space as suggested by David Sparks. From there you can quickly capture a task and add it to your inbox or fill out any relevant information including the project this action is related to, the context, a start or due date and any notes you might want to add at this time. You can also use the setting to add estimated time. Once complete, select save and your task will be added to either the inbox or your selected project.
Multiple Tasks
I also find that Quick Entry serves as a great place to do a brain dump. If you just want to get everything out of your head, use your keyboard shortcut to evoke the Quick Entry box and start entering your tasks. Once you've entered as much information as needed for each task as needed, type Command-Enter and you will get a new entry line. Once you've cleared your mind, hit save and all of your tasks will be added into the proper locations.
Using The OmniFocus Quick Clipper
Oftentimes, you are going to want to add text from a website or a specific file to your task. OmniFocus makes this easy with their Quick Clipper. Start by going into your preferences menu, go to the Clipping tab and select your shortcut. Again, per David Sparks, I use Control-Option-Command-M. With a little extra help, it can also create links that take you back to emails in Mailplane and Mail.app or notes in Evernote.
Text
Once you set a keyboard shortcut for the clipper, you can create a task that includes any highlighted text from just about any application.
Website
While this only works natively in Safari, you can highlight text, use the clipper and not only will it add the highlighted text, but a link that takes you directly back to the page. This is great for creating tasks that require you to reference a webpage at a later date. Datagraph 4.0 for macos. Sure you could just use a bookmarklet, but I love having the direct tie in between the task and the site.
File
Oftentimes you'll need to use one or more files for a task. Simply highlight file(s) you'll need, use the clipper and links to the files will be added into your task. If, like me, you work between two computers, you can save files in Dropbox in order to have links work seamlessly across computers.
While you can add The OmniFocus Clip-O-Tron 300 to Mail.app directly from the Clippings Preferences inside the OmniFocus preference menu, I'm not a big fan of Mail.app. Thankfully for all of us Gmail folks out there, the team over at Mailplane came up with a great solution. It's a plugin that allows for all of the functionality of the clipper in Safari, except instead of linking to a webpage, it links directly back into your email message. Every time I have a message that I cannot follow up on immediately, I use this clipper to create a follow up task in OmniFocus. It's by far the easiest and fastest way I've found to defer email for response at a later date.
Scanned Document
Paper and I have a contentious relationship. I suck at it and it hates me. So part of saving my sanity was finding a way to properly store reference materials in a way that they could quickly be called up for use at a later date. While my love affair for my ScanSnap 1300 (affiliate link) and Evernote is a post for another day, it does play a major role in getting paper off my desk and into my system. When scanning something that requires follow up, I scan it in, right click the image on the main Evernote page (or by selecting Note menu option from the actual note) and select 'Copy Note Link'. From there, evoke Quick Entry (or the Clipper if you select the note name in Evernote) and paste the link into the notes field of your task.
Shawn Blanc came to the rescue with a solution for all of you Keyboard Maestro or FastScripts users out there.Bonus: One minor inconvenience of both the Quick Entry box and Clipper is that they only work when OmniFocus is open. Thankfully Ifoto converter 2 4.
While this may not cover everything in your own personal workflow, I can tell you that just about anything digital and even most of the paper on my desk is out of whatever inbox it came from and into OmniFocus in a way that empowers me to take action at a later date. It's helped me clean up my life and get more done; hopefully some of this will help you do the same.
Have a better way? I'm always interested in hearing one!
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Update: On July 19th, 2017, we removed the legacy support edition of OmniFocus 2 from the App Store. Existing owners of the iPhone-only edition of the app can upgrade to the Universal edition at no cost by downloading OmniFocus 2 for iOS and checking for a discount in the In-App Purchases area. Learn more about upgrading here.
Omnifocus Tutorial
On April 2, 2015 we released the last of our universal updates to our iOS software lineup: OmniFocus 2.1 for iOS is a free update for OmniFocus for iPad 2.
Now that Apple has blurred the line between tablet and phone devices with the iPhone 6 Plus, it seems like the right time to combine the iPhone and iPad feature sets. With the universal release of OmniFocus 2.1 for iOS, you can now do the following things on an iPhone:
- Use OmniFocus in Landscape mode with a Sidebar (iPhone 6 Plus)
- Use the Review perspective
- Create Perspectives (Pro)
- View perspectives with Project hierarchy
This release isn't just about bringing iPad features to iPhone—we've also added a couple of items to both iPad and iPhone that were pretty popular with our TestFlight testers (thanks folks!):
- Show a custom perspective in the Today extension (Pro)
- Completely customize your home screen and place perspective tiles in any order using drag and drop (Pro)
OmniFocus universal contains a lot of smaller improvements and bug fixes, too.
To help illustrate the differences between the new universal app and the existing iPhone app, here's a comparison table:
The iPhone-only app is now the same price as the universal version, in order to encourage new users to purchase OmniFocus 2 for iOS rather than the iPhone-only legacy support edition. OmniFocus 2 (legacy support edition) is still in the App Store so we can continue to offer updates to our existing customers, and so they can use Complete My Bundle to switch to the universal app without having to pay full price.
If you've already got OmniFocus 2 for iPad, the universal version is a free update. If you've already purchased Pro, that carries over to the universal version too.
The App Store is more restrictive than we'd like in terms of discounts, but we've come up with several ways to reduce the cost of the app for those who've already purchased OmniFocus on iPhone (but as usual, we can't do discounting that includes Mac editions of the app):
- We've created the OmniFocus Legacy Support Bundle, allowing customers who already own the iPhone app to get full credit for their existing investment in OmniFocus.
- Customers who already own OmniFocus 1 for iPhone or OmniFocus 1 for iPad can get the Pro In-App Purchase for free.
If you're not sure you need to move from OmniFocus for iPhone yet, that's okay; we'll be continuing to update that app with new features and improvements alongside OmniFocus 2 for iOS, to make sure it stays current. Photo editing software browser. The first such update was OmniFocus for iPhone 2.5, which brought Landscape Mode support. More major free updates are on the way, adding features such as Dark Mode, Swipe to Flag, and Push-Triggered Syncing.
We hope you'll check out the new OmniFocus page on our site, watch the app preview video in the App Store or on Vimeo, and contact our support or sales teams with any questions.
I own both apps. Which should I install on my iPhone?
OmniFocus 2 for iOS (universal) offers an expanded feature set when compared to OmniFocus 2 (legacy support edition). If you own the universal app, you'll most likely want to this version so that you have access to the widest variety of features.
Omnifocus For Pc
I checked for updates, but it didn't replace my iPhone app with the universal version. How do I get universal on my phone?
OmniFocus 2 for iOS and the iPhone-only OmniFocus 2 are separate apps, so if you wanted to install the new universal version on your iPhone you'd need to download this from the App Store. Go to App Store > Updates > Purchased on your iPhone, then locate OmniFocus in the list. The new universal update will have a black icon with the name OmniFocus 2, as opposed to the iPhone-only version which will have a white icon and the text OmniFocus 2 (legacy support edition).
I installed OmniFocus 2 for iOS, but it didn't overwrite the iPhone app. Do I need to keep both installed?
Since it's a separate application, installing OmniFocus 2 for iOS won't overwrite the existing app. However, once you've opened the universal app and set it up to sync with your existing data, you're welcome to remove the iPhone-only app with a white checkmark from your device.
What if I want to leave both apps on my device? Will this cause a conflict?
It's safe to leave both apps installed simultaneously, if you prefer! That said, it'll probably be less confusing if you only have the one installed.
Does this mean you're retiring OmniFocus 2 for iPhone? Will my app continue to be updated?
OmniFocus 2 for iPad has become a universal application, which means you'll be able to install it on an iPhone going forward. That said, the iPhone version of OmniFocus 2 is still being updated with new features and improvements alongside the universal app. After releasing OmniFocus 2.1 for iOS (universal), we released our first update to OmniFocus 2 for iPhone, version 2.5, which introduced support for Landscape Mode.
I have an iPhone 6 Plus. Why aren't I seeing a sidebar in Landscape Mode?
This is dependent upon your preferences in Settings.app > Display & Brightness > Display Zoom: View. If you're using the Zoomed configuration, then your screen resolution mimics smaller devices, and the full iPad-like layout won't be available in applications like OmniFocus and Mail. If your Display Zoom is set to Standard, the native resolution will allow for more content on the screen, including the sidebar layout in OmniFocus 2.
Last Modified: Jul 15, 2020