pro

Sort of a good deal: iA Writer down to 69p

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I say this is sort-of a good deal because I learnt of the price drop, remembered how enthusiastically people had recommended this app to me and I bought it on the spot. And it was only as I tried writing in it that I looked through the controls and found a line saying “Buy the Pro version”.

The Pro version is only £2.99 but you just know that all the enthusiasts were enthusing about that edition so the one I’ve got isn’t the one they meant. It’s only 69p but I was on the fence about trying to take on another word processor so I find I’m unwilling to go plop down £2.99 until I know what the differences are.

But whether you look at the 69p one or the Pro £2.99, go take a look in the App Store. You can’t believe how much praise I’ve heard for iA Writer.

Launching today: OmniFocus 2 for iPad

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I lied to you. I said that the instant, the instant that OmniFocus 2 for iPad is out, I’m buying it. My heart was telling the truth: OmniFocus 1 for iPad has been that useful and the version 2 releases for the Mac and iPhone are great, I will be buying.

But OmniFocus 2 for iPad requires iOS 8 and until you have that, you can’t even see it in the App Store. I don’t know if it’s there yet: I can’t see it because I don’t have iOS 8.

The new iOS 8 is coming today and is likely to drop around 6pm UK time. By when I’ll be off working for the evening.

So let me amend all this to say that the instant, the instant I’m back from the work I’m doing, if iOS 8 is out then I’m getting that free upgrade immediately and if OmniFocus 2 for iPad is therefore revealed in App Store, I’m buying that instantly, instantly.

Not as pithy as my original line, is it?

While we wait, there are more details on The Omni Group blog which says in part:

Beyond its new design, OmniFocus 2 for iPad offers two great new iOS 8 extensions, interactive notifications so you can immediately complete or snooze a reminder, improved searching, and background syncing. And, of course, all of the great features pioneered in the original iPad app, such as the built-in Forecast and Review perspectives.

OmniFocus 2 will be available for just $29.99, and its Pro upgrade will be available as an optional in-app purchase for $19.99.

For those of you who purchased the first version of OmniFocus for iPad, we have a very special deal: we appreciate the support you’ve given us through the years, and we’re showing our appreciation in a very concrete way by giving you the $19.99 Pro upgrade for free.

Introducing OmniFocus 2 for iPad – Ken Case, The Omni Group (17 September 2014)

I do like how well this company treats its customers: the upgrade pricing is unnecessary, given that I would still just buy it, but obviously very welcome.

And under the Surface

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I’m not sold. But the new Surface Pro 3 does address two of my criticisms of the range. Specifically, I’ve always found Surface tablets to be crazily heavy next to my iPad but Microsoft says this week’s new release is lighter.

Then I’ve had more of a jolt seeing the tiny screen. It’s not that small but it’s oddly shaped, it’s shaped like a long widescreen display which is good and is in fact better than the iPad’s, yet it makes any landscape work feel squashed. And you will spend most of your time in landscape because that’s how the Surface likes it. Fine, so do many people, including iPad owners. I’m not one of them, it just feels far more natural to hold and to use iPad in portrait that I resent any pressure to change.

But now the screen is bigger, so that may be fixed too.

It still runs Windows, though, and I don’t see that changing.

Take a look at Microsoft’s product page – and tell yourself to not keep spotting Apple-esque touches on the page – for the full skinny. Prices start at £639 UK, $799 US.