“OmniFocus 4, for fostering focus with simplified task management.”
What a wonderful bit of news to wake up to! This morning Apple announced the finalists for their Apple App Store Awards for the best apps and games of 2024. For the “Mac App of the Year” category, they wrote these words: “OmniFocus 4, for fostering focus with simplified task management.”
We are humbled and honored at the same time.
When we built OmniFocus 4 with Apple’s new SwiftUI technologies, our goal was to make the app approachable and easy to use at a light level, while still providing the depth, power, and stunning customizability our customers expect when they need to go deep. Apple’s emphasis on “fostering focus with simplified task management” feels like recognition that we achieved our goal. And naming OmniFocus as a Mac App of the Year finalist just puts an exclamation point on it!
Over the years, the number of excellent apps in our ecosystem—and the number of platforms for that matter—have dramatically increased. It can’t be easy for Apple to narrow that down to just 45 nominees for their 12 awards, so being selected as one of only three finalists for Mac App of the Year is truly an honor!
One doesn’t (and can’t) apply to be considered for these App Store Awards. All finalists are chosen by the App Store’s Editorial team for delivering the highest levels of user experience, design, and innovation from developers across the world. And, according to Apple, the finalists in the Mac App of the Year category “delivered powerful tools, helping users tackle projects with ease.”
Delivering powerful tools can take time. OmniFocus 4 followed a five year development cycle. Our development process is collaborative: we seek feedback from real world customers early and often, and we have many users who are both passionate about the products we’re building and generous with their time and feedback. Not only do we appreciate it, but it absolutely makes our apps better. OmniFocus has long been recognized for its power and flexibility, but this nomination might be the first time it’s also been recognized for simplifying task management!
For everyone who has supported us along the way, either with feedback on TestFlight builds or by purchasing a license, we truly thank you. For anyone else who is curious about why all the fuss, we invite you to embark on a fully functional two-week trial of OmniFocus, OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner or OmniPlan and see if powerful productivity tools are for you.
