The Omni Group
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software development |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Founder | Wil Shipley, Ken Case, Tim Wood |
| Headquarters | United States |
Key people | Ken Case (CEO) |
| Products | OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner, OmniFocus, OmniPlan, OmniWeb, OmniDiskSweeper, OmniDazzle, OmniDictionary (discontinued), OmniGraphSketcher, OmniPresence |
The Omni Group is a United States-based software developer specializing in applications for the macOS, iOS, and watchOS ecosystems. The company originated informally in 1989 when Wil Shipley established a consulting practice focused on NEXTSTEP technology. In 1993, Shipley joined forces with Ken Case and Tim Wood to formally incorporate as Omni Development, Inc., adopting this name because "Omni Group" was already claimed locally. Initially, their work centered on creating bespoke database solutions for NEXTSTEP clients such as the William Morris Agency and McCaw Cellular Communications (currently part of AT&T Inc.), while also porting games to NEXTSTEP and subsequently to Mac OS X. By the year 2000, the company redirected its efforts toward consumer applications for Mac, which by 2004 became their primary revenue source.
In 2003, Ken Case assumed the role of chief executive officer. The following year, Wil Shipley and interface designer Mike Matas left to establish Delicious Monster, with Matas eventually moving on to work at Apple.
The Omni Group also oversees various macOS and software development mailing lists and provides open source Cocoa frameworks for developers.
Their flagship products, including OmniGraffle and OmniOutliner, have been honored with Editors' Choice Awards from Macworld. At Apple's 2001 Worldwide Developers Conference, OmniWeb 4.0 received two Apple Design Awards recognizing excellence in user experience and innovation. The subsequent release, OmniGraffle 2.0, secured two additional Apple Design Awards in 2002.
Productivity
- OmniDazzle
- OmniDictionary (a discontinued dictionary application utilizing the DICT protocol)
- OmniDiskSweeper
- OmniGraffle
- OmniGraphSketcher
- OmniOutliner
- OmniPlan
- OmniPresence (synchronizes folders through OmniSync or WebDAV)
- OmniWeb
- OmniFocus
Frameworks
The company develops several macOS-centric frameworks distributed under an open source license, which require Xcode 2.3 and Mac OS X Tiger (10.4):
- OmniAppKit
- OmniBase
- OmniFoundation
- OmniHTML
- OmniNetworking
- Omni Web Framework
Games
Originally concentrating on free source ports of games for NeXTStep/OpenStep platforms—particularly titles from id Software—The Omni Group gained valuable experience that led to commercial opportunities during the transition to macOS. Their game porting repertoire includes:
- Activision Anthology Remix
- Alchemy Deluxe
- Aliens versus Predator 2
- Big Money! Deluxe
- Doom and Doom II: Hell on Earth
- Fallout and Fallout 2
- Freedom Force
- Giants: Citizen Kabuto
- Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.²
- Incoming
- No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way
- Oni (developed using Cocoa)
- Quake, Quake II, and Quake III: Arena
- Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix