Our deepest apologies, everyone! OmniFocus 2 for iPad shipped with our test build expiration still in place, so it expired Friday evening. Version 2.0.1 was submitted Friday to fix the issue, and was approved Saturday afternoon. It will shortly be available as a free update in the App Store; if you’re not seeing it on your local device yet, please wait an hour or so and check again.
Once again, our sincerest apologies! The Omni Group has a no-questions-asked 30-day refund policy on all our apps. If you would like one, please contact sales@omnigroup.com.
Response timeline:
Friday, 5:46pm — Issue first reported by a customer.
Friday, 6:11pm — Ken (CEO) reproduces the problem and notifies the team, begins reviewing code with the team to identify where the problem lies.
Friday, 6:15pm — The problem is found to be that the new iPad 2.0 app’s expiration logic is reading the iPhone app’s test build flag rather than its own, which is why the iPad app’s test flag was correct but its expiration happened anyway.
Friday, 6:17pm — Team begins reviewing the 28 changes made to 2.0.1 since the initial 2.0 release to see whether they’re ready to include in an update. Determines that most are ready to go, but that the release has had insufficient testing and it will be safest and fastest to submit 2.0.1 with a single change fixing the expiration logic.
Friday, 6:23pm — 2.0 tag is branched to form the basis of the new 2.0.1 build. (Former 2.0.1 branch renamed to 2.0.2.)
Friday, 6:25pm — While engineers work on fixing the code, a public tweet is sent from @OmniFocus to tell our customers about the issue. Continue responding to all customers affected by the issue.
Friday, 6:35pm — Fixed code checked into the 2.0.1 branch, 2.0.1 tag created and build started on build server.
Friday, 6:37pm — While build proceeds on the build server, start defining new release on App Store with release notes containing an apology and explanation.
Friday, 6:47pm — Problem also fixed for the upcoming 2.0.2 release.
Friday, 6:48pm — OmniFocus 2 for iPad pulled from the App Store until this is resolved. (The discounted Omni Productivity Pack will also be unavailable until this is resolved.)
Friday, 6:49pm — New 2.0.1 build completes.
Friday, 6:55pm — New 2.0.1 build signed and uploaded to the App Store.
Friday, 7:12pm — App Store processing completes, now waiting for review from Apple. Begin writing up request for an expedited review.
Friday, 7:16pm — Expedited review request submitted to Apple.
Friday, 7:20pm — Updates posted to Twitter.
Friday, 7:44pm — Email autoresponders for OmniFocus are updated to explain the issue and our support humans notified; some return from their Friday evenings to start responding to customer messages on Twitter and email.
Friday, 10:58pm — Blog post updated to include an explanation of the issue.
Saturday, 1:27am — Hundreds of individual responses sent to customers over Twitter and email.
Saturday, 6:25am — Blog post updated to include this response timeline.
Saturday, 12:34pm — The 2.0.1 update has finished App Store review! Should start showing as a free update in the next hour or so. Our apologies again, and thank you so much for your patience.
Guys, I appreciate the quick response, but I feel like you should throw us a bone for buying OF2 early and getting burned here. There are plenty of $0.99 apps that do the trick, but we paid $29.99 for a premium product. I’m having to start all over with Wunderlist until this issue is resolved. Something like a free Pro upgrade for early adopters seems like an appropriate gesture.
Can anyone give a clear date! how long this nightmare will go on, please?I definitely need to do some planning for the next week. After loosing all my work two times now since I bought this app I am really getting annoyed.
Saturday, 12:34pm — The 2.0.1 update has finished App Store review! Should start showing as a free update in the next hour or so. Our apologies again, and thank you so much for your patience.
This is much appreciated. You guys’ response has made me a believer in Omni, and I understand the loyalty long-time users have been showing in light of this problem. FWIW I plan on using the partial refund to purchase OF2 for the iphone as soon as I get my new phone, as a show of good faith.
I’m trying to run a small business and have had a VERY stressful week, so I can empathize with what must be a hellish weekend for you guys. Thanks again for being so professional.
If we accept the $20 partial refund, will we still be ale to get the free upgrade to Pro (for those of us who were OF 1 purchasers, and who had previoulsy exercised the free upgrade?
Excellent question that I didn’t think to answer - accepting the partial refund won’t have any effect whatsoever on your ability to use or upgrade the app; it’s just an effort on our part to make up for the distraction and stress this has caused.
Sorry for the trouble! We’ve seen some cases where parts of the App Store distribution system know that there’s an update available before the rest of it does.
In other words, one server tells you there’s an update available, but hands you off to a download server that doesn’t have the file you want. Things generally settle out within a few hours. My suggestion would be to wait an hour, then restart the iPad, open up the App Store and try the update again. If you still can’t get it within a few hours, send an email to omnifocus-ipad@omnigroup.com and we’ll be happy to investigate.
That’s a beautiful gesture, much appreciated; rest assured I will use the refund to expand my omnifocus to the Mac and iphone, just in case something like this might happen again…,😃
I will check the update again tomorrow, this side of the pond is still getting the “not available” message. For now: good night!
Although, your refund options are a very generous offer, I personally won’t be taking advantage of either. I work as a software architect in a small company myself and appreciate that small companies don’t have a lot of money to throw around like the big guys. That the OmniGroup is willing to refund 2/3rds of the purchase price, their bread and butter, and let you continue to use the app, just shows how serious they are about customer service.
Consider my $20 as an investment in continuing to allow the OmniGroup to produce the high-quality software that they always have. Yes, they made an unfortunate mistake in the software, but here we are less than 24 hours later and the application is working again just as well as always. I just wouldn’t feel right docking them 2/3rds of what I paid just because I couldn’t use the app for one day, when I’ll be deriving immense value from it in the years to come.
Thank you for offering your money back. OmniFocus works again. Compensation is required and staying. I wish you to make such a mistake has never did not repeat.
I have to say that I am impressed and pleased with Omnigroup’s response. I need software developers with integrity a lot more than I need $20. Thanks, Omni!
Mistakes happen, appreciate the quick fix as well as the constant communication to keep me informed. I also appreciate the partial refund offer, but I I won’t be requesting one. Through the years of using OmniFocus my productiviey has improved so much that I consider the purchase price a cheap investment. Keep up the great work!
Instead of cash out of your business pocket, so to speak, how about offering a voucher for a $20 discount on another Omni product? Your response to this problem has encouraged me to consider buying another Omni product or maybe the iPhone version ofPF.
