Using Siri with OmniFocus for iPhone & iPad

Siri is great for controlling your iPhone or iPad with your voice, and OmniFocus is a fantastic task management and organization app. How do you make them better? By making them work together, of course.
 
Even though Apple doesn't let third-party developers have complete access to Siri voice control, there are ways to work around that. The clever coders at Omni Group figured out how to do exactly that, and the end result is that you can tell Siri to create a to-do for you, and OmniFocus will snap it up and add it to your task list. Here's how:

Go to Settings in OmniFocus to capture tasks from RemindersGo to Settings in OmniFocus to capture tasks from Reminders

  • Launch OmniFocus on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
  • Tap the Settings gear icon (It's on the OmniFocus home screen)
  • Scroll down and look for the Capture section, then tap Reminders
  • Set Reminders to On, and tap OK in the dialog asking if OmniFocus can capture the contents from the Reminders app

Setting Reminders Capture to On lets you add OmniFocus tasks with SiriSetting Reminders Capture to On lets you add OmniFocus tasks with Siri

Now anytime you use Siri to create tasks, they'll appear in Reminders just as they always have, but OmniFocus will capture them, too. It's a bit of a workaround, but once set up it's pretty transparent and has been working flawlessly for me.
 
If you haven't used Siri to create tasks before, it's pretty easy. Just press and hold the Home button on your iOS device to activate Siri, then say something like, "Siri, remind me to look for my pants."
 
Siri will dutifully create a task called "Look for my pants" in the Reminders app. Since you told OmniFocus to capture your Reminders tasks, it'll show up there, too.
 
This is a feature I've been using for a while, and I love it. After seeing a discussion among friends recently on Twitter, it turns out this is something I've been unintentionally keeping to myself. If you're one of those friends I failed to let in on this cool OmniFocus tip, I apologize -- and I've already told Siri, "Remind me to iron my hands as penance."