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On the Mac, you can select a few OmniPlan projects in the Finder and drag them onto the app to get a combined view of the lot. Given that few of us ever work on just one project at a time, this is immensely useful. OmniPlan 2.4 includes updates throughout the app, bringing you an even better OmniPlan experience. Support for the Microsoft Project 2013 format is now available for the first time on Mac. The in-app help is updated to a new look and feel, and is now available in eBook and online searchable formats.
So, you want to manage a project and need the perfect app to aid the process. First decide whether you are a professional manager, or an amateur just seeking a better scheduling app, before jumping into this hands-on. If you are the latter, is definitely not the productivity app for you. With that said, this review is a little ironic for me. I am probably the most unorganized person alive. Anyway, let’s delve into the nitty gritty on this whopping $49.99 app available at the.
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OmniPlan for iPad OmniPlan is known as a robust project management app for the Mac that boasts, smart scheduling, team coordination, and progress tracking, but The Omni Group released an optimized version of its powerful computer software for the iPad earlier this month. The idea is simple: Users can create a project with a time frame and organize sub tasks and milestones through assigned values, dates, resources, etc. Team members can follow individual tasks to track progress visually or make changes in real-time.
The app also alerts users to conflicts within the timeline—while providing helpful suggestions. Those familiar with the are well aware of its vast options and subsequent intricacies.
It is the go-to app for business professionals looking to schedule, organize, and manage a project. I bought the Mac software as part of a bundle last year and hoped to use it with a renovation project, but I quickly realized that the long amounts of time required to learn OmniPlan could actually be better spent executing my project. (Or, I was simply way too lazy to follow/learn an organized plan via an app.) I fully expected to meet the same obstacles with the iPad app, as it is a fully featured counterpart of the Mac app, but I surprisingly found a more user-friendly variation.
The multi-touch controls, help guides, and easy-to-navigate user-interface were certainly more approachable. Learning OmniPlan OmniPlan first launches with a menu that gives access to a help guide. Be sure to scroll through the suggestions and hints to familiarize yourself with the app.
The tour is helpful at detailing the UI’s primary features. There are even resources for project creation, sync features, and a link to the entire user manual. Upon exiting the guide, a Documents window appears with four pre-loaded projects. Combing through the given examples will also assist with learning.
This section further provides options to export a project, sync to the Omni Sync Service or Custom WebDAV server, and it sports buttons for creating, deleting, and renaming projects. Starting a Project Click the “+” icon in the upper left-hand corner of the Documents window to open a new project or launch a blank document. OmniPlan for Mac users will notice an absent sidebar, which housed tasks and other elements in an outline view. The iPad version features Gantt charts as the primary navigation point. The chart view allows vertical pinching to zoom in and out of a project, while pinching horizontally adjusts the time scale below the top toolbar. Gesturing may cause tasks to bleed off the screen, but their text remains to the side as a link.
Managing the Gantt charts occur through the top and bottom toolbars. They include options for task information, resource management, scheduling, project settings, and the toolbars even display preferences. The most useful aspect to editing a project is the progress tracking feature that records every tweak made and gives options to either reject or accept those changes. Obviously, this is a key feature for teams. Syncing/Sharing a Project Syncing a project is most useful when coordinating a team effort.
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OmniPlan allows users to sync their projects with either a WebDAV server or the free Omni Sync Service, where as iCloud is noticeably not available. I did not test the syncing feature, mostly because I did not check the app in a team setting, but the set-up looks straightforward. OmniPlan for iPad does have a few limitations, though.
Users cannot open Microsoft Project files, nor access them using Dropbox or iCloud, and they cannot email project files from the app. However, users can send project files from the Mac to the iPad. To do so: Connect the tablet to iTunes, click on the iPad icon in the sidebar, and then select “File Sharing” under the Apps tab. From there, select OmniPlan, click “Add,” and then add the project files from the Mac to the iPad. Users can also send OmniPlan 2 project files from the Mac to the tablet as an attachment, and then open them from the Mail app.
Conclusion The Omni Group is a clear leader in project management software. Although I think this app is best used for business professionals as a companion to the Mac version, it does do well as a stand-alone. The primary differences are the absent sidebar and emphasis on Gantt charts. It carries impressive gesturing abilities, a responsive interface, and helpful guide that allows first-timers to learn the software gradually (and more quickly than the Mac one).
Check out the 4-star app on the App Store:. Visit The Omni Group’s for more information.
With OmniPlan, you can create logical, manageable project plans with Gantt charts, schedules, summaries, milestones, and critical paths. Break down the tasks needed to make your project a success, optimize resources, and streamline budgets. It's project management made painless. How to get your project done on time and under budget:.
Translate strategy into tactics everyone can understand. Create summaries of work broken into lists of activities. Distribute workloads fairly and efficiently.
Manage costs as you go. Plan, monitor, and control it all with software designed to make your job easier, not harder. What's New:Version 3.10. Backwards Compatibility — OmniPlan 3.10 for Mac and the corresponding iOS release, OmniPlan 3.10 for iOS, contain changes to how OmniPlan identifies projects as distinct from one another. If you’re syncing OmniPlan projects between multiple devices via a publishing & subscription collaboration action, you should update all installations of OmniPlan to the most recent version.
Sync & Sharing Options PRO — Publishing and subscription actions are now configured and managed in a fully redesigned interface. To create or edit a publishing and subscription action, select the new Sync & Sharing Options item in the Project menu (previously, this menu item was titled Configure Publishing & Subscriptions). Server Account Management PRO — The new Server Accounts window, accessed via the Accounts item in the OmniPlan menu, provides streamlined access to the features that were previously split between the Accounts pane of OmniPlan’s Preferences, the Open From Server Repository window, and the Server Repository window.
File Duplication in Finder PRO — OmniPlan now detects when a file that is configured to sync with a server repository has been duplicated in Finder, and offers to sync the duplicated file as a distinct project to the server. This reduces the possibility for dataloss when duplicating synced files.
Google Calendar PRO — OmniPlan now supports Google Calendar’s modern authentication API. When configuring a Google calendar account in OmniPlan it is now no longer necessary to set up an application-specific password for your account or enable account access to less secure apps. Image Publishing PRO — It is now possible to configure an image publishing action that publishes the Network Diagram or Resource Timeline to PDF, PNG, TIFF, or JPEG. Subscription Actions PRO — OmniPlan now refers to getting changes to a subscription action as “refreshing” the action (in previous versions of OmniPlan this was referred to as “updating” the action, which many users found confusing).
The menu bar and toolbar options for this functionality reflect the new name for this functionality, but you can still use the old Update keyboard shortcut if you’d like to!. Syncing Actions PRO — OmniPlan no longer offers to set up a “Sync task to/from Calendar Server reminders” publishing action, as support for this functionality has been dropped by Apple. Syncing Actions PRO — OmniPlan no longer includes previously configured sync and sharing actions when publishing a project to a server repository for the first time. Calendar Syncing PRO — Changes to a task’s duration in a Google or Apple Calendar now sync back to OmniPlan successfully.
OmniPlan Standard — Fixed a bug that could cause OmniPlan Standard to attempt to access publishing & subscription actions that were configured while running OmniPlan Pro in trial mode. Leveling — Fixed a bug that could cause OmniPlan to hang when attempting to schedule a task assigned to a resource with no available work hours. Microsoft Project Export PRO — Data in custom columns now exports to Microsoft Project. Sharing Actions PRO — Publishing to an image format now respects the view selected when configuring the action (instead of exporting the active view). Subscribed Calendars PRO — Updating a webcal subscription twice no longer causes the extra & off hours to disappear from the calendar.
Stability PRO — Fixed a crash that could occur when refreshing with an AppleScript action configured. Stability — Fixed a crash that could occur when undoing leveling. Misc — Additional bug and crash fixes. Screenshots:.