OmniFocus 4

Updated 12082023-130544

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OmniFocus 4 introduces an array of new features and a modernized, unified interface across Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Centered around your task outline, OmniFocus 4 brings a consistent experience, optimized for each device type, to all of your Apple devices. 

Accomplish more every day—anywhere you go—with OmniFocus 4.

OmniFocus 4 requires iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and watchOS 9.

New

• Universal Purchase — OmniFocus 4 is a universal cross-platform purchase: get full access to OmniFocus 4 on your Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch with a single license purchase or subscription.

Outline

• Fluid Layout — Fluid outline layout has been redesigned to provide quick access to the item details most relevant to you. By default, items display assigned project, tags, due date and flag status, and selecting a row provides immediate editing access to these fields as well as the item’s note. With OmniFocus Pro, customize displayed fields on an app-wide or per-perspective basis (including re-ordering visible fields, and selecting fields to display only when editing an item).
• Inline Editing — Add new items or quickly edit an existing item without ever leaving the task outline.
• Action Groups — Action groups can now be expanded or collapsed in the task outline, allowing you to create and view as much (or as little!) structure within a project as you need.

App Navigation

• iPhone Navigation — Opening any perspective in OmniFocus 4 for iPhone brings you directly to your list of tasks, avoiding unnecessary navigation through your database structure.
• Perspectives Bar — The Perspectives Bar is now available on iPhone and iPad, so your favorite perspectives are always one tap away.
• Sidebar — The OmniFocus for Mac sidebar, which displays the full hierarchy for the current view in a single interactive list, has been brought to the iPhone and iPad. Make a selection in the sidebar to filter the content displayed in the task outline, create a multi-selection via Select mode, or edit your projects or tags list in Edit mode. On iPad, the sidebar can be fully collapsed to maximize screen space. On iPhone, the sidebar stays out of view until it is summoned.
• Quick Open — Use Quick Open, now supported on iPhone and iPad, to quickly navigate to a perspective, folder, project, tag, or Omni Automation plug-in. (Omni Automation requires OmniFocus Pro.)

App Appearance

• Modernized UI — Updated OmniFocus 4 interface to feel fresh, familiar, and right at home on iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and watchOS 10.
• App Icon — Select from a collection of alternate app icons, including the new OmniFocus 4 app icon and the original OmniFocus 1 app icons (App icon customization requires OmniFocus Pro).
• Custom Perspective Icons — Choose from over 100 new custom perspective icons. (Custom perspectives require OmniFocus Pro)

App Customization

• Inspectors — Customize which fields are included in the re-designed Inspector, as well as what order those fields are displayed in. 
• View Options — View Option customizations now sync across devices. (Layout customizations, available in OmniFocus Pro, sync between devices of the same type)
• Forecast:
• Structure — Forecast items can now be structured as a single flexible list, with new support for manually re-ordering items and displaying group hierarchy.
• New Item Types — It is now possible to display flagged items and items on their notification date in Forecast. (Displaying items on notification date requires OmniFocus Pro.)
• Custom Perspectives — New flexible organization options introduce support for manually re-ordered lists and hierarchy preservation in ungrouped custom perspectives.
• Apple Watch
  • Independent Watch Application -- OmniFocus 4 for Apple Watch is an autonomous application that can be installed and run independently of OmniFocus for iPhone. Changes made in OmniFocus 4 for Apple Watch sync directly to the server.
  • Full Database Access -- OmniFocus for Apple Watch now syncs your full OmniFocus database into the watch app, allowing for access to all items and perspectives from your Apple Watch.
  • Perspectives List -- The watch app Home Screen now displays a list of favorite perspectives.
  • Item Details -- View additional details associated with an item, like notes and attachments, from the watch app. Items can now also be dropped from the watch app, in addition to completed, flagged, or deleted.
  • Complications -- Watch face complications have been fully re-written, offering improved functionality over previous versions of the watch application, and support has been added for watchOS 10 Smart Stack widgets.
• Nearby — Location-based tags can once again be viewed on a map in Nearby.
• Focus — Focus is now supported on iPhone and iPad. Use Focus to temporarily narrow the scope of your OmniFocus database across all perspectives to just the selected folders or projects. (Focus requires OmniFocus Pro.)
• Keyboard Support — Hardware keyboard shortcut and navigation support has been fully rewritten and expanded, with support for native keyboard navigation, organized menus of key commands, and a full set of new bare key keyboard shortcuts.
• Widgets — Configure your Lock Screen or iPhone Standby mode with an array of OmniFocus 4 widgets. Complete items directly from updated interactive widgets on iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. On watchOS 10, view OmniFocus widgets in the brand new Smart Stack.
• Sharing — Quick Entry interface is now presented when sharing items to OmniFocus, allowing for immediate capture of additional details, like dates and flagged status.
• Supported Languages — OmniFocus is now localized in Arabic and Hebrew in addition to English, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Korean, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. OmniFocus for iPhone and iPad interface has been updated to support right-to-left text.

Updated

• Accessibility — Improved VoiceOver support and compatibility with native OS Accessibility features.
• Attachments — New “Attach File” attachment option allows for selecting arbitrary files from within OmniFocus, or attaching any type of file via the updated Share extension.
• Backups — OmniFocus database backups can now be optionally saved to iCloud Drive.
• Menus — A variety of context-appropriate actions have been added to re-organized shortcut menus (also called contextual menus), offering feature parity with functionality available in OmniFocus for Mac shortcut menus.
• Dates — Entering dates as natural language text (i.e. “tomorrow” or “next Thursday”) is now supported. Completion and dropped dates can now be set prior to completing or dropping an item.
• Default Perspectives — Tags perspective can now be sorted by flagged and due date; grouping in the Flagged perspective can now be customized.
• Notes — Full rich text note support is now available in OmniFocus on iPhone and iPad.
• Repeats — Updated repeat logic for items which complete every period on a custom schedule after completion. 
• Settings — Synced settings previously only configureable in OmniFocus for Mac, like default defer and due times, are now available in a new re-organized Settings interface.