A while ago I wrote a post about my switch from OmniFocus from Omnigroup to Things by Cultured Code. Both do pretty much the same thing: allow you to make lists of tasks so you can keep track of what you need to get done. Each has their own feature sets. I originally bought OmniFocus, but after some time switched to Things. It’s a great App, and they have an iPhone version that is pretty handy. I work on a PC during the day, so it makes it a little hard to use Things as my primary means of tasks, but I use it for my secondary items.
The real motivation by this revisit is to mention how the Apps have been coming along. Things is the primary product of Cultured Code, whereas OmniFocus is one of several Apps produced by OmniGroup. This has lead to a more rapid development and, in my opinion, a more refined product. Things for iPad was released on the same day the iPad was. OmniFocus for iPad is still in developmental stages. Now, I don’t yet own an iPad, but I’ve looked at the online videos for both OmniFocus and Things and I’m a little disappointed in OmniFocus. I feel like their icons aren’t at the same quality level as Things. Their App feels less refined and it doesn’t feel like they are using all the screen space to it’s fullest ability.
As a little tangent, I’d like to mention that OmniGroup used to be my favorite company. I LOVED OmniGraffle when I was in college. I used it for most of my projects. The new version of OmniGraffle just doesn’t feel right. There are too many features and it is hard to find what I’m looking for. The interface doesn’t really make sense to me. I had this issue the other day when I was trying to set the background color of a canvas. It was not intuitive. I’m very interested to play with OmniGraffle for the iPad and see if the reduced screen and processing power has gotten the company to focus more on a core set of features, thus making the App easier to use.
In conclusion, I’m getting Things when I get my iPad, and I don’t know how much of a market OmniFocus will have.