Looking Ahead with Forecast
Forecast helps you keep an eye on the progress of your projects, check upcoming due dates, and schedule OmniFocus actions alongside important events in your Mac or iOS Calendar. With the ability to check for past due tasks and look ahead to the future, you’ll never miss a beat. In OmniFocus for iOS a range of dates spanning today, the next four days, the past, and the future is shown in a convenient row in the sidebar or home screen, letting you know at a glance what’s on your plate in the coming weeks.
One way to think of OmniFocus’s Forecast perspective is to think of the weather (which is something we do often here in Seattle)—you want to know what it’s going to be like outside so you can plan ahead.
Each date button shows the number of actions associated with that date. For due items, the count is color-coded according to the most urgent item: amber indicates that an item is due soon, and red indicates an item is due or past due. To create a new action that is due on a particular day, go to the appropriate date button, followed by the new item button.
Adding your Calendars to OmniFocus
OmniFocus also plays well with your calendars, including those you might sync through Apple’s iCloud from Calendar on OS X or iOS, Google Calendar, or any CalDAV servers to which you have subscribed. The calendars which you can view in OmniFocus are based upon the calendars that the Calendar app on your device can see; to add to, remove, or modify the calendars available on your device, use the Calendar app.
Note
If you didn't allow calendar access when you first set up OmniFocus, the first time you open the Forecast perspective you'll receive a prompt informing you that the app would like to access your calendar. Choose OK to connect the app with your calendars (if you choose not to, your Forecast calendars will come up blank).
To check whether Calendar access is enabled for OmniFocus, go to the iOS Settings app, scroll down until you find OmniFocus, then tap Privacy.
Events on your calendar show up below the time-sensitive tasks you're tracking in OmniFocus. To view an event on your calendar, just tap it for a popover that contains the details of that event. In that popover, you can also tap Calendar to open the Calendar app on your device and go directly to that event.
Note
While OmniFocus is great at talking with Apple's Calendar, we can't guarantee compatibility with other calendar apps that may be on your device. When in doubt, check Calendar — if it’s there, then OmniFocus should be able to see it!
To modify what you see in the list or to adjust the time shown for the Calendar events, tap View in the toolbar. Forecast view options also include a Calendars section that lets you customize which external calendars are shown, including those stored in iCloud and more.
