Filed under: Software, Features, iPhone, iPod touch, App Review
OmniFocus for iPhone finally has reminders, but implementation is awful
[Update] Ken Case comments below, addressing some of the concerns listed here. It looks like a future version of OmniFocus on the Mac will be able to directly update the OmniFocus reminders on the server, removing at least one of my complaints.
Ken Case from The Omni Group has been twittering for awhile about the impending inclusion of alarm reminders for OmniFocus. The task management app's iPhone users have been pestering The Omni Group to implement reminders as push notifications, but OmniFocus refuses to do so. They say that reminders that rely on connectivity are not good enough, and they have instead chosen to implement reminders by exporting due dates and times into iCal. Once the time comes for a reminder, it pops up like a normal iCal appointment reminder.
Well, OmniFocus 1.5.2 for iPhone was released, and now we get to see how this alternative reminder system works. If I had to choose a word to describe this implementation, that word would be "awful." Here's why:
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The Omni Group has taken great pains to point out that you do not need to be using the desktop version of OmniFocus to get use out of the iPhone version. But for users that only have the iPhone version and are not synchronizing it to either MobileMe (which has a yearly fee) or a WebDAV server (complicated for non-techies), they can't use this implementation of reminders. That's right; the way it works is that OmniFocus on the iPhone exports your reminders to your synchronization server, then points iCal on the iPhone to the server to import your reminders. That means that if you enter new due dates in OmniFocus for iPhone but don't happen to have connectivity, you won't get reminders. Wait, I thought it was implemented this way in the first place to guard against a lack of connectivity?
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Your OmniFocus reminders unnecessarily pollute your iPhone calendar with reminders. This is a visual problem when you need to glance at your calendars and see what actual appointments are coming up. On the iPhone you can either look at one specific calendar, or all calendars, so if like me you need to regularly stay on top of more than one calendar, you're forced to look at your OmniFocus reminders as well.
Oh, and even when you complete them in OmniFocus and resync, they don't go away in your calendar.[Update] Stephen points out in the comments that this works as expected, and upon further testing I have to agree. Maybe I was being a bit too impatient. -
Since your OmniFocus reminders are actually just fake appointments, there is no way to audibly differentiate them from appointment reminders. They sound and look exactly the same. Remember the Milk, for example, uses push notifications on its iPhone app, and you can set the notification sound to a number of different options. That way you know that you're being reminded of a task rather than an appointment.
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Reminders are set based on Due time, rather than Available time, and in terms of flexibility you can set the reminder to be 5 to 60 minutes before the task is due. By the time a task is actually due, isn't it too late to be reminded about it?
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Finally, if you're a user of OmniFocus for the Mac, your reminders are not created on your iPhone until you think to launch OmniFocus on the iPhone and synchronize it. That means that if you work all day in OmniFocus on your Mac (like I do), then drive home and start doing other stuff and don't happen to open OmniFocus on your iPhone, you won't receive any reminders for tasks that you might have set for that night, or until you actually open and sync OmniFocus on your iPhone.
So, what would I rather see? Push notifications, like the many other OmniFocus for iPhone users out there that have been providing their feedback to The Omni Group.
As mentioned, Remember the Milk has implemented push notifications, and the ability to change the notification sound isn't the only trick it has up its sleeve. The Remember the Milk icon on my iPhone's screen shows how many due tasks I have that day, and the number changes almost instantly when I make changes on the web version. To see how many currently available and due tasks I have in OmniFocus, I again have to launch the app and wait for it to synchronize.
While I love OmniFocus and I think The Omni Group does amazing work, this implementation of reminders for the iPhone version of OmniFocus is just full of an amazing amount of fail. It's a hacky workaround that still doesn't ensure that a lack of connectivity won't adversely affect the user's ability to receive reminder notifications. Omni folks, this is just meant to be tough love -- I wouldn't be saying all of this if I didn't truly care about OmniFocus.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Stephen said 11:51PM on 7-23-2009
I tested this today, and contrary to your comment: "Oh, and even when you complete them in OmniFocus and resync, they don't go away in your calendar"; this isn't true. I completed my test task in OmniFocus, and almost immediately the 'reminder' was removed from my calendar. So that particular criticism is harsh. But that point aside, I tend to agree that push notifications would be much better and this is overall a 'better than nothing' kind of solution.
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kc said 12:18AM on 7-24-2009
Wow, color me surprised! The feedback we've received regarding OmniFocus' new calendar-based notifications has been overwhelmingly positive.
One fundamental problem with push notifications is that you have to have connectivity at the time of the alarm in order to receive it. With our calendar notifications, you do have to be online to update your calendar in the first place, but once it has synced you'll receive alerts whether or not you happen to be online. (With push notifications, there is no way to schedule an alert for a particular time: the server pushes the notification notification, and your device will receive it "as soon as possible" after that.)
I should point out that while OmniFocus reminders do show up in the Calendar app, that doesn't mean you have to view them: you can touch the "Calendars" button in the top left corner to filter your view to show a different calendar. (Ideally there'd be a way to hide a single calendar rather than just the option to view a single calendar—but for the common case where there's only one other calendar, "All on My iPhone", this works reasonably well.)
I agree that it would be great to have more flexibility around reminder times, such as receiving reminders when something becomes available. We welcome all requests! (The best place to send your requests to make sure they get our attention is at omnifocus-iphone@omnigroup.com.)
OmniFocus 1.7 for Mac will also push out updates to the calendar, so you won't have to launch OmniFocus on your iPhone for its calendar to notice changes you've made on your Mac.
I certainly agree that calendar notifications which go through a separate server aren't ideal: what would be ideal would be for Apple to add date-based notifications on the device itself which had all the same options as push notifications (so we could specify different alert sounds and update the app icon, just like push notifications do). We've been requesting that feature for over a year (starting the day Apple announced push notifications), but Apple already had a lot on their plate for 3.0. (Hopefully they'll get to it for 4.0!)
Once again, I'm sorry you find the current solution "awful"—again, the feedback we've received so far has been overwhelmingly positive, so clearly this is a big step in the right direction for many of our customers!
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Jason Clarke said 1:51AM on 7-24-2009
Hi Ken,
Thanks for dropping by and commenting - it's great that you're willing to have an open discussion, particularly given the critical tone of this post.
I'm glad to see that the Mac version of OmniFocus will be able to update the calendar notifications soon - that fixes one of my bigger problems with how it currently works.
I had written a lot in this space looking to continue the debate, but at the end of the day you've made a design decision and while I might not agree with it, I do have to live with it. Maybe this method for notifications will work well for many people, and I look forward to seeing how it is refined over time. In any event, thank you for OmniFocus - I rely on it daily, and really do love it.
It's strange how my affection for a piece of software can produce such an emotionally charged response to a change I don't agree with. Hope my dissenting view doesn't cause too much trouble.
Johnny Thrash said 7:43AM on 7-24-2009
I agree with not having push notifications. If I'm on a cruise in the middle of the ocean and have little to no connectivity (or very expensive), then push notifications will not work for me.
I need something more reliable; something that doesn't 'require' the cloud.
Calendar-based notifications is the right way to go. The right decision for a professional application.
Thanks Omni Group for putting some actual thought into the process instead of just doing push because it's the 'new, cool' feature.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Good call.
Brian_C said 1:57AM on 7-24-2009
Full disclosure: like Ken, I work for Omni.
Jason, is it possible that you're underestimating the number of iPod touches out there? In the recent financials conference call, Apple announced that they had sold just over 5 million iPhones in the last three months; in the same timeframe, they sold over 10 million iPods. They also announced that iPod touch sales had more than doubled over a year ago.
If you assume that half of the iPod customers bought the Classic, Nano, or Shuffle varieties, you end up with iPod Touch and iPhone sales being on par with each other. Heck, if you assume that only a *quarter* of iPod customers bought Touches, you're still talking about a third of the devices out there running iPhone OS 3 & capable of receiving Push notifications.
It is true that iPhone and iPod customers need to sync to update their calendars with WebDAV, and that it's possible to miss alerts if you don't. At least it's predictable, though, and fairly easy to plan around. Push notification would require somewhere between a third and half of our potential customers to hope they were near an open WiFi network when their events came due. That doesn't feel like a feature that those folks could realistically use. Something that everyone can use seems like a better choice.
One last comment, so folks don't walk away with the wrong impression regarding any cost or difficulty in setting WebDAV up. We maintain a list of free WebDAV providers on our forums for folks that don't need the other services that come with a MobileMe account. While working on OmniFocus, I've signed up for accounts with several of them; it's not hard. If you can sign up for a gMail account, you can handle it. Of course, if you do run into any problems, myself and the other Support Ninjas are happy to assist you. :-)
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Jason Clarke said 2:08AM on 7-24-2009
Brian,
Well, I must say you guys are the most responsive software company I've ever posted about! You make some very good points.
I suppose I'm frustrated because this implementation seems like a compromise to get around a number of things (like having to host a notification server, and the iPod Touch problem you mentioned), but that compromise involves giving up some really useful functionality that Push offers to iPhone users. At the risk of alienating iPod Touch users, the app is called OmniFocus for iPhone, after all.
I work in the software business too, so I understand that compromises are always necessary. In an ideal world, I imagine that having a choice (or even combination of) Push and calendar notifications would ensure that everyone is happy, but that's a lot of extra work. Whenever you make a compromise, someone is likely not going to be all that happy, and this time, that person was me.
To techies WebDAV seems totally approachable, but to many people it's confusing and mysterious. I'd be interested to see how many people simply don't bother with synchronization once they realize what is involved, and whether that number is higher or lower than the number of iPod Touches that would be not be served had you chosen to go with Push notifications instead.
I guess what all of this means is that while the iPhone is great, it's certainly not perfect, and there are serious issues (like a lack of local notifications) that are making life difficult for developers, and therefore for users.
Thanks again for engaging in this discussion.
Jeffrey Bergier said 3:01AM on 7-24-2009
I can agree that on some geekiness scale, calendar notifications are a cheap hack to avoid true push. But from an objective viewpoint, push notifications for scheduled tasks are completely pointless. The entire reason for push is to get new information immediately. Reminders are not new information to your phone. It's information already on the phone. Why should information already on the phone be pushed to it?
Also, I see a key benefit in security. In order for a push notification server to be pushing me my tasks, it would need to have my omnifocus database. No offense Omnigroup, I don't want you to have access to that information.
The security issue is not the top of the list for
most people, but killing battery life by pushing info already on the phone is just silly.
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Christian said 4:29AM on 7-24-2009
@kc and Brian_C: Then again, having to set up OmniFocus to regularly synchronize with the webdav server (and the calendar to synchronize with same server) also drains the battery, and also requires a connection to the network, right? So even with the solution implemented now, I need to be connected to the server anyway unless I'm willing to accept inconsistent calendar entries. I really can't see see a benefit over a push solution. If I can work around not being able to sync the calendar, I can also work around not getting a push information...
Supporting what Jeffrey said - to me, the really silly thing is that an information that's already on the iPhone needs to go through external servers just to come back. It would be so much simpler if OmniFocus could access the calendar data and add it's entries directly. Is the proble that Apple doesn't provide an open API for this?
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Brian_C said 6:08AM on 7-24-2009
Christian, that's exactly the problem. There are no on-device APIs for popping up those reminders. Additionally, apps on the iPhone are forbidden from modifying each other's data, so we can't just edit the calendars directly on the phone and do away with the need for WebDAV.
(Putting each application in it's own sandbox is a security measure; Apple didn't want to have to deal with some iPhone virus stealing all your contacts.)
We would love to present reminders without needing to use an external server of any kind. When/if Apple makes it possible.
Ryan said 6:10AM on 7-24-2009
I am a huge fan of the current set up. I have been a customer of the iphone app since day 1 and the mac app since beta, and the recent changes in the iphone app have really impressed me. All I need now is the 1.7 update to allow calendar updates from the mac app. I was very surprised by the negativity of this post. People who actually use the app have been rating the new update very highly on the app store.
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Tate Forgey said 8:59AM on 7-24-2009
As an OF for mac user since pre-release and on OF for iPhone user on the iPod Touch from week 1 until last week (when I got the new iPhone) I appreciate the non-push implementation of these reminders.
When I was on the touch exclusively, I was constantly frustrated that more companies did not consider touch users when designing iPhone/Touch apps and needlessly crippled the touch version by assuming you would have a constant data connection. Together with ATT's spotty coverage in certain places and the reality that I sometimes turn push off in order to conserve battery, I think this sounds like a sensible set up.
WebDav was initially a little tricky to setup, but has been working flawlessly lately for me and I frankly wouldn't bother to have multiple devices in the first place if I couldn't sync with a central point.
That being said I haven't really used this feature yet and I'm sure that there are improvements that can and will be made.
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Kataaran said 9:09AM on 7-24-2009
That sounds like a truly crap implementation of notifications. I really can't see the problem with push notifications, if you're somewhere you have no service you _can_ check your tasks by looking at them manually, you know, just like before.
It probably has more to do with not having a central cloud based sync. After all there's nothing to send proper notification from. (I'm still smarting over paying £15 for something that crashed frequently, lost my data and wouldn't sync to anything without shelling out more cash).
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Bill P said 11:17AM on 7-24-2009
Why bother with notifications at all in that case? You can always look at your lists at the start of your day!
If you don't like the implementation of the feature, don't use it. Clearly the right thing is to get Apple to provide a mechanism for apps on the iPhone or iPod to post time-based notifications locally. Needing network access to post a local notification makes about as much sense as needing network access to implement a 4-function calculator. Nearly half of the iPhone/iPod touch population is the latter device (18.6 million of 45 million), so why would Omni want to abandon such a large pool of potential customers to use a trendy solution that drains the battery faster and can't be relied upon? Yes, there are some caveats with the process of getting the notification info into the device at the moment, but they are known and you can take simple steps to eliminate them. That's not the case for the connectivity problem.
OmniFocus syncs just fine with no outlay of extra cash to MobileMe (or anyone else). There's a list of free services known to work on the Omni forums.
sylvaticus said 9:19AM on 7-24-2009
While I hope some day to learn some amount of coding in various languages, I am NOT a coder. Let me repeat that: I do not know how to program an application.
Now that I have stated my complete ignorance of the tools you have on hand and how to use them, I find myself wondering if there isn't a simpler and all-around better solution (again, this comes from ignorance):
First iCal in my mind is not the greatest calendar app out there. The fact that it doesn't (can't?) warn you of "event collision" is a serious fail in my book, so Brian_C's comment above is just more proof of something that Apple really needs to fix.
In GTD, the calendar is our hard landscape. Only those tasks that *must be completed* at a certain time on a certain date (usually a meeting), or just on a date but not a specific time. If we use the calendar to hold other information, we come numb to the calendar's purpose. (I believe I have accurately summarized David Allen's view.)
I don't want to use the calendar for To Dos that don't meet the above criteria (*due* today or today at a certain time), but I do sometimes want a reminder to check on something, or give myself a heads-up about a particular To Do.
Why can't OmniFocus or OmniPhocus (my distinction for the iPhone app ) simply gather the desired information for a reminder—Date (in which case there's just a default time, eg 5p, which Omni has done), or Date and Time—and write it to a "text" file: reminders.txt?
Then, upon launch and periodically while, up, OF and OPh could check that file and display reminders as appropriate? No use of the calendar as a placeholder for items that don't belong there. No MobileMe, WebDAV, no push, no security issues (it's all in-app) or battery strain.
Again, I'm not a coder. I know that Apple locks out file access for users, but not apps, so that part shouldn't be a problem, and there are likely other reasons why this idea can't or won't work, but at a non-coder, I don't see them (yet). To me, this sounds like a solution that would be super easy, with all pros and no cons. Again, I don't know code, and likely this might be the world's most insanely difficult coding challenge.
I LOVE Omni and have most of the apps. It's an awesome company all around (and that includes the Support Ninjas!). I really hope this contributes to the discussion and hasn't muddied the waters!
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str1f3 said 10:09AM on 7-24-2009
I agree 100% with your post. I've been in the middle of reading GTD and have been using the iPhone app for the past week and iCal reminders are only supposed to be for the most important tasks. Not for every single task.
Ken Case is right in saying that that time based notifications within the phone are much better solution but Apple has not implemented that yet.
I would recommend this or anything else from the Omni Group. Like I've said previously I was only using this app for a week and I was having a little trouble with a certain aspect of it. I emailed them and they emailed back the next business day with more questions. They are now helping me to resolve the problem (which I'm sure is my fault since I'm a rookie). I've never had customer service this responsive. It is the best I've ever seen. This is the sign of a first class developer. Thanks for a great product and service Omni Group.
Bill P said 10:36AM on 7-24-2009
Sylvaticus, a major drawback to your proposal is that it means that you only get notifications if OmniFocus is running on your iPod/iPhone at the time. I always have OF running on my desktop, but the same is not true for my iPod. Wouldn't make for much of a "trusted system" to use DA's parlance!
As for the propriety of putting the reminders in the calendar, on pp. 39-40 and 142-143 of the GTD book, DA discusses. If you read both sections together, it is clear that he means you should not put things on the calendar in the hope that their presence there will inspire you to get them done, and that the only ACTIONS to be put there are the ones that must be done that day. If you look at the day-specific information discussion on pp. 39-40, it's clear (to me, at least) that putting in a reminder of an action that must get done on that day is condoned. Also, it probably isn't necessary to see those notification events cluttering up your calendar view; when I open the calendar app on the iPod, I'm given a choice of viewing All Calendars, all calendars on my MobileMe account (which does not include the one OmniFocus creates for this), or any individual calendar of my choosing. I suppose if I had a bunch of subscribed calendars and wanted to see all but the OmniFocus one this would be an issue.
Jim Collison said 10:27AM on 7-24-2009
Kudos to Omni for making an attempt at offline alerts, but the harping of issues should really be directed to Apple. Why? Because push notifications only make sense for apps that require connectivity to operate (such as instant messaging apps, or multiplayer games). Those applications that don't *demand* online access to work (calendars, alarm clocks, timers, to-do lists) should have an alternate, in-device method to push alerts.
For over a decade, PalmOS devices have used a common Alert Manager for all third-party apps. Remember, like the iPhoneOS, the PalmOS did not allow for background applications. So, when a PalmOS user set a timer, calendar alarm, etc., an alert was scheduled for the appointed time in Alert Manager (which was a low-level, low-power function of the core OS). When the time for the alert came around, it sounded, and the user often had the option to launch the appropriate app. This *never* required being online, and used almost no extra power.
Since PalmOS has been able to do offline alerting of non-backgrounded applications since the mid-1990s (along with Windows Mobile and Symbian), it make no sense that Apple has failed to include this functionality in the iPhoneOS, and has been a hinderance to developers like those at Omni (for OmniFocus) and others trying to develop more powerful calendaring solutions like Web IS (who creates Pocket Informant). The result is unnecessary workarounds, like the one implemented in OmniFocus.
Finally, remember that while the online access needed for push notifications is prevalent, it is by no means ubiquitous, an effectively causes alerts to cease functioning in airplanes and any well-shielded building (lots of my fellow colleagues in higher education have noted that campus buildings are built like concrete bunkers and have sporadic cell service, and campus wi-fi can be dodgy, too).
** Please ask Apple to add in an offline alerting service to the iPhoneOS: **
http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html
If an app doesn't need to be online to work, it makes no sense that their alerts alone would require it (especially when ancient, out-dated mobile systems have had that feature for over 10 years).
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macd1gger said 10:58AM on 7-24-2009
I mostly agree with the article.
Guess I'm not really a typical user, but I work at a small company, and we have each other's calendars shared via Google Apps. So I have 4 calendars currently - personal (iCal), work calendar and 2 calendars of my co-workers (all synced via Google Apps).
Having that many (and I don't see a way to optimize this setup) - it gets pretty crowded inside iPhone Calendar app. Having more "fake" events from OmniFocus would definitely be awful to have.
I'm on iPhone, and I currently use Toodledo with notifications. Works great for me.
Also own OmniFocus (both versions), but the application is definitely getting dwarfed by newcomers lately (easy of use / features balance-wise). So now I don't even use it anymore.. Currently I use the totally great The Hit List on Mac (for projects planning and on-my-Mac task management), and as said above, Toodledo works pretty good for iPhone and over-the-air notifications (never missed one till now).
OmniFocus, considering itself a master in software development, should AT LEAST give users a CHOICE to what they would prefer to trade - having some (if any, depending in what country you live in, and your cell connection) alerts not getting thru, or having their calendars spammed with fake events.
my 2 cents. No matter the outcome, I really don't think I'm going back to OmniFocus in a foreseeable future, anyways..
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Dorian said 1:50PM on 7-24-2009
while i don't have my ipod touch to test this out, I'm greatly impressed with the attempt. Even if it's "fail", give them some credit for making this work around and not calling it awful. Sure it's not perfect but it's more of a hack then a true fix for that lack of offline notification for apps.
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tuaw.20.eitan said 3:35PM on 7-24-2009
You are right - its clugy but omni is doing the best with what they have. (1) If, you want reminders to work when there is no connectivity and (2) can't run in the background or even set an alarm/reminder because iPhone OS won't allow it, what other options are there?
Using iCal is better than requiring the app to be running all the time like all those useless alarm applications.
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