Automating OmniFocus 3 with Launch Center Pro 3

Launch Center Pro 3 provides flexible ways to trigger OmniFocus automations based on your current time and location.

Launch Center Pro IconOmniFocus for iOS allows you to assign locations to tags and to be notified about available actions when you arrive at or leave these locations. This is helpful, but has some limitations. For example, you might be prompted to run errands when you’re driving home from the airport in the middle of the night. And you might want to open a perspective when you’re in the vicinity of your office instead of only seeing actions with a specific tag.

Launch Center Pro addresses these limitations; it provides many ways to customize notifications based on your time and location. You can configure it to trigger notifications within specific hours and, unlike OmniFocus, it’s not limited to GPS-based notification. Notifications can be triggered by nearby iBeacons and, if you have an iPhone XS, XS Max, XR, or later you can trigger automations by tapping on NFC (Near Field Communication) stickers.

You can also assign multiple notifications to a single automation. For example, a single Launch Center Pro action can prompt you to open your OmniFocus Errands perspective when you’re leaving the office, near the hardware store, or passing by the grocery store, as long as it’s between 8 am and 9 pm.

Launch Center Pro triggers can be tied to Shortcuts. For example, tapping an NFC sticker in your car could start up your favourite podcast in Overcast and show you a list of your available errands in OmniFocus. The possibilities are endless.

Watch this video and learn:

  • About the many ways that Launch Center Pro actions can be triggered.
  • How to create a notification that opens an OmniFocus perspective at a specific time of day and on specific days of the week.
  • How to specify what time of day you want Shortcuts automations to be triggered.
  • How to trigger a Shortcut automation for multiple locations.
  • How to configured iBeacons that trigger activity in OmniFocus 3 and other apps.
  • How to configure NFC tags to perform actions in OmniFocus 3 and other apps (iPhone XS, XS Max, XR, or later required).

Resources

  • Launch Center Pro — Launch Center Pro is developed and supported by Contrast. More information is available on their website.
  • Purchasing NFC Stickers — NFC Stickers and other merchandise can be purchased from the Contrast Store. Please note that an iPhone XS, XS Max, XR, or later is required to make use of the NFC functionality shown in the video.
  • Shortcut Examples — The Shortcut referenced in the video is available in our Shortcuts Directory.

Share this:

Previous Tutorial
Efficient iOS Capture into OmniFocus using Drafts 5
Next Tutorial
What’s New in OmniFocus 3.0 for Mac