Working in the Cloud

OmniOutliner files are perfectly at home alone on your Mac, but there’s no need for them to stay there. Using the Omni Group’s cloud syncing service (or other cloud storage providers) you can store your documents remotely, and sync them between OmniOutliner for Mac and OmniOutliner for iOS on any of your devices.

We created a pair of technologies to make sure you have the latest versions of your outlines with you wherever you go.

The first is OmniPresence, a free utility that you install on your Mac for synchronizing files. OmniPresence runs in the background, watching a “connected folder”. It makes sure the files inside are in sync with files in the cloud, and with your OmniPresence-enabled iOS apps.

On iOS, OmniPresence is built into OmniOutliner. You’ll access OmniPresence folders and files from within the app’s Resource Browser. The result is that all of your OmniPresence-enabled devices detect changes wherever you make them, and constantly sync up to keep your files up to date.

To get started, you’ll need to download OmniPresence for Mac from our website and install it. The instructions in the OmniPresence Help (OmniPresence Gear Menu ▸ OmniPresence Help) will take it from there.

As part of the setup process you’ll need to choose where to store your files in the cloud. The second component to our sync solution is just such a place: Omni Sync Server.

Omni Sync Server is our own custom cloud server that functions as a central hub for all your syncing needs, and it’s one option for OmniPresence to connect to when shuttling files between your Mac and iOS devices. Unlike other compatible cloud servers, since we control the server hardware and software we are able to provide better advice should you run into trouble when syncing.

With Omni Sync Server, we never ever look at your data without your permission (if our Support Humans are working with you to restore a corrupt file, for example). Beyond that, you can rest assured that your data is private and secure on Omni Sync Server. Read more about our privacy policy here.

Omni Sync Server accounts are free. If you don’t have one already, head over to our website and sign up for an Omni Sync Server account if you would like to use it as your OmniOutliner cloud sync location.

We understand that sometimes you want to keep your data on your own server. This could be due to company policy, for legal reasons, or just your desire to be in charge of backing up everything that’s important to you. We get it!

If you don’t want to use Omni Sync Server, OmniPresence is capable of connecting to any WebDAV server you choose. This could be one that you run on your own server, or a third-party service that you rely on.

If you choose to run your own WebDAV server, step-by-step instructions for setting up WebDAV on macOS Server are available in this support article on our website.

While the .ooutline file format can be changed from the default flat file to a file package via the option in the Format and Metadata Inspector, we recommend always saving your .ooutline files as flat files if you intend to sync with a cloud service. Syncing package files via a cloud service other than OmniPresence may result in data loss.