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OmniFocus for iPad: Sunny with a chance of productivity

OmniFocus for iPad packs a powerful productivity punch, landing right on the jaw of your time management needs.

Joe Aimonetti MacFixIt Editor
Joe is a seasoned Mac veteran with years of experience on the platform. He reports on Macs, iPods, iPhones and anything else Apple sells. He even has worked in Apple retail stores. He's also a creative professional who knows how to use a Mac to get the job done.
Joe Aimonetti
2 min read
OmniFocus for iPad (available in the App Store for $39.99) packs a powerful productivity punch, landing right on the jaw of your time management needs. And for a cool $40, it better. Suffice it to say, The Omni Group broke the mold when they created OmniFocus for iPad. I mean that literally. They didn't simply stick to the look they had already cultivated in their Mac application and they didn't just enhance their iPhone App to make it iPad-compatible.

OmniFocus for iPad is a totally new beast with some new, unique features that are really fantastic. Right off the bat, the interface is amazing. As a design-oriented guy myself, this is extremely important to me. It's the kind of App that makes you want to open it up and use it, thus practically forcing you to be more productive (or at least think about being more productive).

 
OmniFocus has a slick interface that makes you want to get stuff done. OmniFocus

But the real break-out feature has to be the Forecast view. After entering your to-do items and assigning them due dates and contexts, you can tap the Forecast button and see what tasks you have in store for the week.

 
Figure out where to get caught up with the new Forecast view. Screenshot by Nate Smith

As you look at your 7-day forecast you can analyze your time usage and see what days will give you an opportunity to catch up and which day you might need an extra cup of coffee to tackle.

But OmniFocus doesn't stop being great there. With a syncing capability that is consistent across all their platforms, OmniFocus for iPad makes keeping your tasks organized incredibly easy and efficient, no matter how you access them. Using OmniFocus on the Mac, iPhone, and iPad may be quite a financial investment just to make sure you get your chores done, but it is worth it.

And since you're spending that kind of cash on these programs, they'd better be able to talk to each other. And that they do. OmniFocus even provides support for syncing with Apple's MobileMe service to keep your database current across each of your devices. If you've already got an OmniFocus database synced to MobileMe, you'll be able to download it immediately upon opening the iPad App.

 
Stay current with your tasks by syncing OmniFocus with all your devices. Screenshot by Nate Smith

But if you don't want to shell out the dough for MobileMe ($99/year) you can try out the new beta sync server, a welcome additional option for syncing your database across multiple devices, directly from OmniFocus.

Final Thoughts
With an ultra-refined interface, a gaggle of iPad-specific features, and the ability to sync your new and current databases, OmniFocus, despite its relatively enormous price tag, is an absolute necessity for anyone serious about their time management.

How do you do time management on your iPad (and iPhone/computer)? Let us know in the comments!


Special thanks to Nate Smith for getting me, a life-long procrastinator, excited about OmniFocus, a productivity App.