Begin - A Simple Task Planner from Ben Brooks →

Back in law school my task list was a napkin. Everyday I wrote down the two or three things I needed to get done and stuck it in my pocket. At the end of the day I’d check off those items, use the napkin with dinner, and start again the next day.

Unfortunately, that no longer works for me. I’ve got too many oars in the water for a system that simple. However, not everyone is a freak like me.

My friend Ben Brooks  released an app called Begin that gives you a simple list of tasks for today and tomorrow. This app would have served me well in simpler times. I can see Ben’s design aesthetic all over this application and it’s worth checking out particularly if you have a simple task list.

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OmniFocus for iPhone 2.0

Today the Omni Group released OmniFocus for iPhone, version 2. I’ve been in the beta and using my iPhone, nearly exclusively, for the past weeks to manage my OmniFocus data. Today the new version is available for purchase and I wanted to share my thoughts following a few weeks of intensive use.

THE Redesign

Version 2 has a ground-up redesign. The Omni Group put every aspect of the app under the microscope and produced something quite different from the original. The new version looks nothing like the old version. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the home screens for version 1 and version 2.

The new start up screen puts everything you need on one iOS 7-friendly screen. Forecast is across the top of the screen along with a live count of due items for each of the next seven days. There are also large buttons on the home screen for the Inbox (including an inbox count), Flagged items (also with a count), Projects, Nearby, and Contexts. Finally there is a list of perspectives at the bottom of the screen. Like before, you can star individual perspectives and they will show up on this screen and you can access all perspectives by tapping on the Perspectives button. (You can also set the order in which they display.)

When you select an item, like tapping the Projects button, the screen splits at the button you select and animates the two halves to the top and bottom of the screen displaying your selected view. The animation is a nice touch and fast enough that it doesn’t feel a hinderance.

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Missing from the interface is the big plus sign to add a new task. Instead, there is a floating Inbox button in the lower right corner of the screen that is nearly always present. Tap that button to add a task from just about anywhere.

Also missing from the home screen are buttons to sync my data, adjust settings, and search my database. To get these, drag the screen down, like you do to get the search bar in the iOS 7 Springboard or update just about every Twitter app on the platform. This displays a grey bar across the top of the screen with all of these options. The new design does a great job of just showing you what you need 90% of the time and placing the other stuff in easy reach.

One of my favorite features is the forecast view right across the top of the screen. The new version gives a summary listing the per-day deadlines right on the home screen. I can tap on any day and see all tasks due that day and all tasks I’ve deferred to that day. This view also has all calendar items for that day. Pulling down for the toolbar in Forecast view, the Settings icon is replaced with the View icon. From there you can customize the Forecast view for due and deferred items, and specify which calendars appear. Forecast is one of OmniFocus’s premier features and I’m glad to see it get so much prominence in the new application.

Selecting Projects or Contexts gives a list of Project folders or Contexts with a visual representation of the number of items represented as dots. Tapping these drills down into sub folders or contexts until it hits a list of tasks. If there is anything over due (or nearly due) in any list, the grey dot is replaced with a red or yellow one. This is a great way to get a handle on how you’ve got your work spread out.

The way in which the new application displays lists of tasks also received an overhaul. The Navigation bar at the top uses iOS 7-style text “buttons” to navigate. Tasks are displayed in black text on a white screen, always. Each task displays its project name in grey below. Instead of check boxes there are now check circles. The circles do more than just give you a place to check something off. They also convey information about the task. If there is an ellipses inside check circle, it is a repeating task. If the check circle is red, the task is overdue. The date (or time) that the task became overdue is also listed in red. If the check circle is in yellow, the task is about to become due. In that case, the date (or time) it will become due is listed in yellow. The way it uses colors on the check circles instead of the task names makes a lot of sense. It makes the text more readable while conveying the same information. It also provides for a more subdued interface, which I prefer.

The task edit window is also completely new and iOS 7-ified. There are tap-able areas to adjust the project, context, and add a flag. You can set set due and defer dates. Gone is the term “start date” replaced with the term “defer until” which makes more sense with the way I’ve been advocating using start dates for years.

You can also set a task as repeating, move a task, convert it into a project, share, and delete a task from this screen. Several of these options are new to version 2. Notes and Attachments (both pictures and audio recordings) are accessed through text buttons at the top of the list.

As you dig through these options, you’ll see that everything got redesigned. Take the repeat task screen for instance. The new design simply could not exist on a pre-retina iPhone but looks great on my iPhone 5.

Features

The new version 2 isn’t just a pretty face. There are also some nice feature upgrades.

Background Sync

When Apple first announced they were putting a background sync mechanism in iOS 7, the first thought that crossed my mind was “OmniFocus Sync”. The new version delivers on this. Background Sync allows OmniFocus for iPhone to hit the OmniSync server and pull down updated tasks while OmniFocus isn’t the active application. No longer do I need to launch the app and wait for it to connect to the Internet and pull data down. Occasionally, I’ll get an “optimizing” message (which deals with processing already downloaded data and database changes) but usually I just open the application and go. Background Sync isn’t a setting in the new app. It just happens.

Defer Until “Later”

One of my favorite new little touches is when deferring tasks. Sometimes it makes sense to move a task a day or a week or a month. Other times I just want to put a task (or project) out to some time in the future and stop thinking about it for awhile. There is now an option to defer an action until “later”. The selection even includes a pair of dice. Tapping this moves a task about a month or two (it’s random) and gets the task or project off my mind until then. The random element of this pushes a button I didn’t know I had and I use this feature more than I probably should.

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The Price

This is a new version and it requires a new purchase. The price is $20 and, famously, the Omni Group (or any iOS developer for that matter) cannot offer an upgrade price to existing users. I’ve already seen complaints on Twitter about paying for version 2. The logic goes something like this: 1. I paid a lot for version 1; 2. Therefore I shouldn’t have to pay again, ever.

The Omni Group is one of the few companies that has held the line about pricing its software. If you’ve ever owned any of their applications, you probably have a good idea why. The Omni Group is a big software developer with lots of smart engineers, artists, and all the other people required to make something of quality. Moreover, the Omni Group has outstanding customer support. You can call them and get a friendly, knowledgeable human.

This sort of infrastructure costs money. It doesn’t just cost money the first day you buy your app. It costs money month after month and year after year. I remember what it was like having an iPhone without OmniFocus and I don’t care to go back.

I’m pretty sure I paid $25 for OmniFocus for iPhone version 1. That was five years ago. Over the past five years I’ve used the heck out of this app (which ended up costing me $5 per year to own). For the price of one cup of coffee per year I’m more productive and kicking ass with this application. Moreover, the Omni Group did not hold back on updates to version 1. During those 5 years, syncing got really great, OmniFocus became location aware, the Omni Group added an innovative forecasting feature, OmniFocus learned to talk to Siri, the Omni Group built an entire back-end syncing engine for my data, and OmniFocus obtained the ability to add tasks via email. The list goes on. I believe over the next five years, the Omni Group will be just as productive and add more useful features to version 2 that will become equally essential to me.

To those complaining about the price I’d ask you to look back and honestly answer the question of whether the Omni Group hasn’t already given you your money’s worth with version 1. If we, as discriminating users, want to continue to have excellent software, we are going to have to pay excellent developers so they can buy shoes, beer, and Pop Tarts. If you’re really hung up on this, think of it as an extended software license to get you through several more years.

Today I paid $20 and bought OmniFocus for my iPhone without blinking. I’m not trying to be heavy handed about this but we all have an interest in a software model for productivity apps that involves paying an honest price for honestly good software.

Summary

There’s been a lot of speculation that the uniform nature of Apple’s own iOS 7 apps foretold a future where all apps look the same. OmniFocus 2 disproves this. This app does look distinctly iOS 7 but at the same time, is quite noticeably different from the Apple applications. In summary, this redesign reflects a developer that used its own product for several years. It removes friction from the previous design and gives the user something that just flows easier. I’m looking forward to several more years of OmniFocus on my iPhone.

A Few Points on iOS 7

There is a lot getting published today about Apple’s new iOS 7 operating system for the iPad and iPhone. I’m not going to go in depth. (If you are looking for that, Macworld.com is the place to go.) Nevertheless, I do have a few observations having used it now (full time) for about a 6 weeks.

  • Give iOS 7 some time. It takes about two weeks to adapt and it will grow on you.
  • Everyone keeps talking about how “flat” iOS 7 is but it doesn’t feel that way to me. Zipping up and down through folders and apps makes this operating system feel like there truly is a third axis. I can’t wait to see what developers do with that. I think the three dimensional nature of this “flat” operating system may turn out to be its best innovation.
  • The new font support is great if you like text a little bigger.
  • Multi-page folders: Golden for app packrats (like me). No longer do I need three separate folders full of utilities (or games).
  • Spend some time with the new notification center. I didn’t like the text summary at first. Now I prefer it.
  • I know a lot of people are worried about background app refresh updating a cherished app with a broken version. I’m not. I’m just glad to not have to see all those uninstalled updates every time I go in the App Store.
  • Background Syncing is going to be huge for me. I’ve already been using it on a few beta apps and soon we’ll take it for granted.
  • I’m still not entirely happy with buttons that are just words. I understand the design decision. I’m not even sure I have a better idea. It just still looks odd to me. Maybe this one will take a few more months of use.
  • After an hour of use of iOS 7, bubbly iOS 6 apps look very, very old.

 

The AppleCare Question

Since it is likely a lot of us will be buying a new iPhone in the next few weeks and, possibly, a new iPad in the next few months, I wanted to revisit the AppleCare question. 

AppleCare Plus on iPad and iPhone - Yes

On mobile devices AppleCare+ makes a lot of sense. It costs $100 and lets you replace your dropped, dunked, or otherwise wrecked iPhone/iPad twice. Granted you will have to pay a fee for each exchange (it used to be $50, now it's going up to $80) you are still bucks ahead on phones and iPads that start at $550 and could go up to nearly $1,000. I don't use a case but think of AppleCare+ as my invisible case. We've already used this on two of the iPhones in my household and the iPad 3 has a nasty scratch on the screen that will result in its replacement as soon as I get time. Unless you've got some other insurance on your iPhone or iPad, I wouldn't think twice about it.

AppleCare on MacBook - Probably

I've always bought AppleCare on my MacBooks as well. About five years ago I had a MacBook Pro that had something wrong inside where it would reject a logic board after a few months. This started about 18 months after I purchased it (6 months out of the standard warranty). After Apple replaced it a few times, and the second replacement failed I received a call that started with, "David, we're just going to give you a new Mac." As a result, I keep buying AppleCare on my laptops even though I've never needed to use it since then. I probably still will continue to buy it with laptops though I can understand why some don't. They are pretty reliable as of late. The best case for not buying it is if you keep your laptop on a desk all the time and treat it more as a desktop machine. Still, there are a lot of densely packed electronics in there and it is so easy for something to go wrong on a machine so complex. Note that AppleCare for Macs does not cover accidental damage.

Apple Care on the iMac - Probably Not

This is the hardest case for AppleCare. iMacs are generally easier to repair and they aren't dragged around with you every day so there is less wear and tear. They generally have better ventilation (and bigger fans) and are much less likely to run into issues.  I've got AppleCare on our iMac (that is now approaching three years) but don't think I'd buy it again (assuming we replace that machine).

An insurance guy once told me that lawyers are the best insured people on the planet. We always see things going wrong so we always buy insurance. Maybe I've got a bit of that bias but when I replace my iPhone, I will be paying an extra $100 gladly.

For more on AppleCare Macworld recently did an article summing up all the details.

 

New Movie in the Harry Potter Universe →

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling announced she is writing a screenplay for a new Harry Potter Universe movie that takes place 70 years before Harry. It will instead focus on Newt Scamander as he collects material for his Fantastic Beasts  book.

I sure got sucked into the Harry Potter books. One of the best things about the books was the world itself. It is such a great mix of wonder, danger, and whimsey. I'm looking forward to a movie that focuses even more on this strange place sans Harry and Voldy. All that being said, a cameo appearance from a very young Albus Dumbledore would just make my day.

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Hours Are the New GigaHertz

Marco Tabini wrote an article for Macworld about why battery life is such a big deal to Apple. I couldn't agree more. Across the product line, Apple wants to be able to put those cute little green clock animations in their presentations. Apple aims at the fat 90% of the market and while a few points better on a benchmark are nice, what they really want is for one non-geek to tell another non-geek about how he flew from Honolulu to Boston without having to plug in. 

On that theme, I'd always thought the idea of an ARM-based (or some other based of an ultra low power chipped) Mac as something years and years into the future. After seeing Apple unveil the 64 bit A7 for the new iPhone 5s, I'm not so sure anymore. I know a lot of people that would be interested in a Mac (even a bit underpowered) that ran for 20 hours.

 

More Fun with iTunes Smart Playlists

I’ve been systematically working my way through my library rating songs. As a result, my playlists are getting better and better. Since my last post, I’ve had several people ask what my stars mean. I use the following criteria for stars.

1 Star

Rubbish. I actively want to avoid this song. (I don’t delete 1 stars because I find it really hard to do so and other people in my family may disagree.)

2 Stars

I don’t hate it but it isn’t something I get very excited about either.

3 Stars

Good track. Not something that changes my world but still something I enjoy listening to.

4 Stars

Great track. This is for music that draws me in or just makes me smile.

5 Stars

Excellent track. This is for music that can set me right.

I’ve got a lot of genres and music of all these ratings in every one. Most of my playlists are smart playlists combining a genre with a star rating. For instance, this is my cool jazz smart playlist.

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Anything in the cool jazz genre with 4 or 5 stars makes it on this list. It syncs over to my iPhone just fine and pressing the “Download All” button gets my favorite cool jazz into my iPhone with one tap.

I’m not just a jazz nerd. I also like punk rock. I’m rediscovering it lately as I approach middle age and am  looking for more ways to stick it to the man. My punk collection isn’t nearly so deep as my cool jazz collection though so for this list I’m taking songs three stars or better.

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If my punk library continues to grow, at some point I’ll alter it to four stars or better.

You can also combine these smart playlists. For instance, I had a playlist that just included all of my jazz related playlists. I use the past tense because that list would not show up on my iPhone. It appears smart playlists that reference other smart playlists don’t make it through the iTunes Match pipeworks. It is the iTunes equivalent of crossing the streams. So instead I made a smart playlists that uses multiple conditionals.

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To do this, hold down option key in the Smart Playlist creation box and the little plus sign on the right turns into little ellipses. Tap on that and iTunes gives you multiple conditionals. This way I could build the playlist looking at multiple possible genres and star ratings. Notice how I have one condition that the genre contains Jazz. This grabs multiple genres in my library. This one synced over just fine to my iPhone.

Since I’ve got so much jazz rated three stars and don’t want to listen to just my four and five star jazz, I made another smart playlist called “Good Jazz” that pulls together a list of three star jazz that I haven’t listed to in awhile. This list is limited to 100 tracks and live updates. Sometimes listening to this playlist I may re-rate a song up or down.

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I’ve also got playlists that include all four and five star songs. It’s an eclectic mix and it all makes me happy. This playlist is also a great place to start when re-loading my iPhone.

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In order for this all to work, I have to be the only person in my shared iTunes library using ratings. That isn’t a problem for me. My wife and kids actually have lives and are not nearly so fiddly as I am about these things.

If you are going to do this, start slow. Just pick an album you like and rate the songs as you listen to them. Don't jump ahead no matter how tempted you are unless you are prepared to sink about five hours into a metadata binge. Also, I don't rate every track in our library. There are huge swaths of Carpenters, old Wiggles tracks, and other music that I'll never play. Indeed, It helps me (a lot) to pretend those song don’t exist in our library.

 

Sponsor: Rocket Matter and Free Ebook →

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