Review of OmniFocus

After asking a few people, hearing what other people are using for task/list management, and doing some research... I jumped in and started using OmniFocus on both my Mac and iPhone.

Conversion was a bit of a challenge. I had a flat list in Excel with a simple Name, Due Date, and Category. The import tools on OmniFocus are weak. I had to download a free-for-14-days copy of OmniOutliner, import from Excel into OmniOutliner, and then from OmniOutliner into OmniFocus. I got it done but the OmniFocus product could be improved here.

Tasks can be categorized in Projects with multiple sublevels. Works great for me. One quirk I noticed is that I cannot reassign a task to a new Project while in the Project "view". I must first switch to a Context view. I was almost prepared to give up on the OmniFocus product over there until I Google'd and learned I could move a task between Projects using the Context view.

Sync between the database on the Mac and database on the iPhone is seamless over MobileMe. I make changes on either device, changes are pushed up to the MobileMe cloud, and then pulled down to OmniFocus on the other platform when I open the software. No problems.

I wouldn't want to do a lot of data entry on the iPhone, but it's simple to enter a partial task in the Inbox and then worry about assigning to a Project/folder and a date later.

On the iPhone I like the simple interface showing me the multple Views from the home screen of the app. Projects, Contexts, Due Soon, Overdue, and Flagged tasks are quickly available.

Typical nice integration on the Mac where everything is searchable within OmniFocus or within Spotlight.

Not the cheapest solution out there, but if you want a multi-category, multi-folder solution that synchronizes across your Mac and iPhone then OmniFocus may be the solution for you.