OmniPlan project manager launches as an iPad app

08.06.2012
OmniPlan, a popular Mac-based project management application in its desktop version, is now available on the iPad.

, launched Wednesday from , is priced at $50. It syncs with and complements the company's $200 . Like its Mac-based companion, is designed to help users oversee and work with others on complex tasks featuring multiple collaborators.

It also completes a year-long effort by The Omni Group to offer an iOS version of its task-management product.

"I think the iPad is getting a lot more traction in business in the last few years, more than the Macintosh has had in decades on the market," said Ken Case, CEO of The Omni Group. "We've had lots of customers writing and asking when we'd bring our apps to this setting."

OmniPlan was the last of the company's products to get the iOS treatment, Case said, in part because the most recent version of its desktop program was unveiled only a year ago. Developers also needed to think about how visual features like the project-monitoring would work with the reduced real estate of the iPad--the OS X version was built for users working on monitors 30 inches or larger.

The company addressed that challenge by including new labels in the timeline to guide users ahead to upcoming tasks, expecting that the iPad's multitouch interface will invite users to pinch-and-zoom for close views of individual items rather than view everything from a big-picture project perspective.