Earlier today, Omni Group CEO Ken Case shared the Omni Roadmap 2022. This post continues the annual tradition of celebrating highlights from the past year and provides a peek at what’s in store for the year ahead. Here are some highlights from Ken’s post that will be of particular interest to OmniFocus users.
OmniFocus 4 TestFlight: 7,000+ Testers
OmniFocus 4 for iPhone and iPad has come a long way since we shared a first look in May 2021. Since then, over 7,000 testers have accepted Omni’s invitation to join the OmniFocus 4 TestFlight and have been encouraged to provide feedback on all aspects of this major new version. Ken shared that this feedback prompted Omni to experiment with both the form and function of OmniFocus 4 and encouraged innovation.
Under the Hood: Embracing SwiftUI
OmniFocus 4 is built on SwiftUI, a technology from Apple that helps developers, in Apple’s words, “build great-looking apps across all Apple platforms.” The benefits of using SwiftUI will continue to be realized as Apple evolves this underlying technology with each OS update.
Omni is leveraging the benefits of SwiftUI, supporting their primary goal of “improving the flow of using OmniFocus.” Moving forward, the adoption of SwiftUI will also make it easier to provide feature parity across iPhone, iPad, and Mac versions of OmniFocus.
Universal License for OmniFocus 4
Ken Case confirmed that OmniFocus 4 will be shipped simultaneously on Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
For the first time ever, OmniFocus 4 will be a Universal product. This means that you’ll be able to purchase an OmniFocus 4 license and use it with your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It will no longer be necessary to purchase OmniFocus on each platform. Omni first introduced this redesigned licensing system for OmniPlan 4, and OmniFocus 4 will leverage this development.
OmniFocus 4 Release Date
The roadmap didn’t include a specific OmniFocus 4 release date, but Ken Case shared on Twitter that the release is slated for “later this year.” He added that Omni expects to reach the Feature Freeze milestone this week. This will be followed by other milestones, namely Design Freeze, Usability, Stability & Performance, Documentation, and Localization.
In the meantime, we’re hard at work behind the scenes preparing to deliver in-depth OmniFocus 4 articles, videos, courses and LIVE sessions to help you benefit from all that OmniFocus 4 has to offer.
To keep your finger on the pulse of OmniFocus 4 developments, I recommend following Ken Case on Twitter for further information as details of the launch come into focus.
New Features in OmniFocus 3
In addition to working hard on OmniFocus 4, Omni introduced updates to OmniFocus 3 that leverage new features introduced in iOS/iPadOS 15, including Live Text and Focus. When macOS 12 “Monterey” launched in October, Omni was ready with Shortcuts support on the Mac, including integration between Shortcuts and Omni Automation.
Looking forward, Omni is introducing integration between Omni Automation on the iPhone and iPad. They’re also continuing to develop the Omni Automation API, extending what’s possible with OmniFocus plug-ins. You can leverage Omni Automation by installing existing plug-ins. Some of our favourites are in the OmniFocus Plug-In Directory. There’s also an extensive collection of Plug-Ins for OmniFocus on the Omni Automation website.
We’ll continue to provide content and LIVE sessions to support you in making productive use of OmniFocus 3 and complementary apps. You’ll be able to apply most of what you learn to OmniFocus 4, including best practices for designing your OmniFocus setup and workflows.
Thanks, Omni!
Many thanks to the talented folks at Omni, who continue to develop outstanding products fuelled by purpose and passion (and no doubt some caffeine ☕️). As a former software engineer, I know how much time and energy goes into creating quality software and very much appreciate Omni’s dedication to its products and customers.