What you need to know
- OmniFocus is one of the most popular task management apps around.
- OmniFocus 4 is set to be a big user experience refresh and you can sign up for the public beta now.
Omni Group, a developer that has been around longer than most, today announced that OmniFocus 4 will be a significant user experience refresh for the popular task management app. Users can sign up to be on the public TestFlight beta, too.
The updated app, set to ship later this year, will offer an all-new interface that will make it easier for beginners to get started while still offering the power and capabilities that existing users are so fond of.
The upcoming OmniFocus 4 for iPad and iPhone brings a complete user experience redesign to the powerful and highly-customizable personal task manager. The new user experience is more elegant and smooth, with app behavior that's consistent across all of Apple's platforms, while adapting behavior to leverage the strengths of each platform.
Having seen OmniFocus 4 running during a presentation today I can tell you that there's a lot going on here, most noticeably a cleaner look and more obvious method of doing just about everything. Task settings, including due dates and tags, are no longer hidden inside the Inspector – making everything much more accessible than previous versions of the app.
More advanced keyboard shortcuts are also present – a boon for iPad users who use their tablet with a keyboard attached.
OmniFocus 4 for iPad and iPhone now allows editing task outlines in place and collapsing/expanding items at any level -- all with full keyboard support, making edits as fluid on iPad keyboards as they are today on the Mac. In addition, the new version brings some of the more powerful features from OmniFocus for the Mac, like Focus and Quick Open, to the iPad and iPhone experience. OmniFocus 4 builds this new interface on top of the rock-solid cross-platform data and syncing model developed over the past decade.
Moreover, OmniFocus 4 will also usher in a new licensing model, too. Users will be able to take advantage of OmniFocus across all platforms without paying separately for each one.
OmniFocus 4 will ship as the second product line from the Omni Group available under universal app licensing, which provides full access to OmniFocus across Mac, iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch. Anyone purchasing OmniFocus between now and when OmniFocus 4 ships will automatically receive an upgrade at no additional cost.
No concrete release window has been given for OmniFocus 4 just yet, but those who can't wait can always sign up to be part of the public beta if they're feeling brave. There's a ton more information about what will make OmniFocus 4 such a big change on the Omni Group blog, too.
