OmniFocus 3 adds tags, advanced perspectives, a multi-pane mode with batch editing, more powerful repeat options, customizable notifications, and more:
- Tags — Contexts have been replaced with Tags. You can assign multiple tags to any item. Tags have the same status and location properties that Contexts did.
- Perspectives — This feature requires a database that has been migrated to the latest format, now supported in OmniFocus 2.12.2 for Mac and 2.22.3 for iOS: Perspectives created in OmniFocus 3 are built from filter rules and allow multiple tag selection, AND/OR/NOT groupings and nesting, and lots of other cool stuff. Once added, filter rules can be dragged to re-arrange.
- Multi-Pane Mode — On wider devices OmniFocus now supports a three-pane view. You can show a left sidebar or a right inspector, and both can be “pinned” to be persistent.
- Batch Editing — You can now use Edit mode to select multiple items and change the properties of all of the items in your selection using the inspector.
- "Fancy” Repeats — There are now many more options for repeats, but we’ve hopefully adjusted the UI to find the type of repeat you’re looking for more easily. Most notably, day-of-week and day-of-month intervals are now available for all repeat types (previously day-of-month didn’t exist, and you had to choose “repeat regularly” to get day-of week). Controls that aren’t relevant based on the item’s propreties are hidden.
- Flexible Notifications — OmniFocus 3 supports several new notification types. You can be notified at the time an item is Deferred Until or Due, or at the latest time you should start (Due time minus estimated duration). There is also a “Custom” option that lets you set a notification for some interval before the item’s due time or at a completely arbitrary time. Due, Defer, and Latest Start notifications can be made the default for all items in Settings.
- Customizable Inspector — OmniFocus now hides most fields in the inspector by default. “Show More” at the bottom of the inspector reveals all fields, and tapping “Customize Inspector” lets you drag rows between the “Always Show” and “Hide by Default” groups.
- Interleaved Forecast — Instead of siloing your calendar events within Forecast, they now appear as rows interleaved with your actions. Hopefully you’ll get a better picture of exactly when in your day you should be getting things done.
- Forecast Tag — In Forecast’s View Options, you can choose a tag to display in Today. In this section, you’ll see available items with your chosen tag. Once a Forecast Tag has been set, you can quickly tag items with a left-to-right swipe. We think this opens up a lot of possibilities for important items that don’t have explicit dates, for daily rituals, and a lot more!
- Clean Up — We’ve added OmniFocus for Mac-style Clean Up across all views, so that actions don’t disappear out from under you while editing in 3-pane mode. To manually clean up on iPhone, pull down on the outline as if to sync. On iPad, use the broom button next to View Options. A Clean Up area has been added to Settings.
