OmniFocus for iPhone and iPad, the Premier Productivity App [Review]

I’m a hardcore user of the so called task manager apps or to-do apps. I have a bunch of them in my iPhone and iPad. I even embraced the new Reminders app that Apple created and included in iOS 5. But sometimes you need something more powerful.

OmniGroup is the synonymous of powerful tools for both iOS and Mac platforms. Their OmniFocus apps are in the top lists of almost every power user and not by pure luck.

I’ve been using both the iPhone app and the iPad app in the last weeks and although at first was a little lost, I found the right way to use it and found it now to be essential in my everyday life.

OmniFocus is now my choice not only to be reminded of errands or things I need to use, I use it to write down ideas, round them in a common task or project and get it done. 

You start in the inbox, if you want to start writing basic ideas. Go to the inbox, write the name of the item, start date or due date and that’s it. Whenever you have a clear idea you can go back and add it to a project. 

Projects are a group of tasks that need to be accomplished to complete a common goal. Projects can be classified as sequential (meaning one has to be done in order to go to the next), can be parallel (which can be done together) or just single projects. Tasks here or actions, can be added very easily and you can even add notes, photos and something very cool, audio notes. 

There are also contexts, which are mode of actions like groceries which are errands, cleaning the living room which can only be done at home, etc. 

One key feature is forecast. It displays all you current tasks or actions which are to be done in the week. It also presents you with the things that are within the iPhone’s Calendar app. 

OmniFoucs has a great feature which is Review. This feature allows users to see what’s going on on their respective projects and see whether there’s something that needs to be added. When the user feels that it is complete, then can tap complete and move o to the next project.

Location is one great feature. The latest version of OmniFocus allows you to  add location to contexts which alerts you when you are close to the location you inserted in the action. For example of you added your office to an action to be done at work, then when your get to your office you will get alerted. Of course this will require the location services to be on and will drain your battery. 

OmniFoucs can sync your content between iOS devices and your Mac or PC through MobileMe, OmniFocus for Mac, Omni Server or WebDAV. The sync works great and seamlessly. I opted for the Omni Server sync which works great and keeps my iPad and iPhone updated.  

OmniFocus can seem hard to use at first, but this a powerful tool that can get you to do things. It gives you enough tools to go from planning to executing.

Make no mistake, OmniFocus is not cheap. But you get the value for the money you put in it. You might think that some of the most economic apps out there can do this, but they don’t have their features as well implemented as OmniFcous has. 

Most people prefer not to pay or pay less for apps that can do very little compared to OmniFocus. I’m one of the few that think that a well design app, if priced correctly, users should not complaint. 

OmniFocus clearly is not at the top in productivity apps for being lucky, it is a great app. 

You can read more about OmniFocus for iPhone, iPad, Mac and more apps by OmniGroup by visiting their site.