Command Browser vs OmniOutliner 5

I’ve been using this for a while, really good, the general user experience is very nice. It has clean and pretty UI, robust utilities to accommodate basically any function one needs from this sort of website collecting/highlighting apps, and it combines all those features into just one app, making the whole process much easier and quicker, doing it better all the other similar apps in my opinion. I’ve only recently heard that it now can integrate with Notion and sync the highlights, which is really convenient for me because I’m a heavy Notion user, and so I started to use this app more frequently now. The syncing function’s good, easy setup, and the syncing is really fast, I like it a lot. The only thing is that it cannot sync the notes taken along with the highlights, which means that I still have to transfer the notes manually to pair off with every individual highlight in Notion, and that hinders the efficiency a bit. Really hope there would be a note syncing function as well in the future updates, just a personal wish.

- els9677

Disclaimer: if you’re only looking for a browser, look elsewhere. This app is so much more. Review: I have been looking for ways to integrate with Notion in more meaningful ways. That is where all of my highlights and book notes are kept (syncs with Kindle highlights through Readwise, and my physical notes sync through Readwise). Why I have never heard of this app before, I’ll never know. I was looking for a way to highlight article and take notes without a subscription. I like Pocket, and I have tried Instapaper, but Command Browser has replaced them both. Not only does this natively integrate with Notion (which is so, so cool by the way) but it can ALSO integrate with Readwise (which, by extension, can integrate with Notion for a small annual fee). So now I can natively sync with Notion, or I can choose to integrate with Readwise to preserve my knowledge template there. This is a very long review, but let me make it very simple for you. If you are a Notion user, get this app. Seriously. That simple. You will LOVE IT. And it just works.

- Ukeduke98

Really nice start. I'd really appreciate a few things... 1. More specific update notes please? 2. Notion integration needs fixing in my opinion so that tags made in Command stay attached to specific highlights (as when they are created in Command) ... Currently, when sent to Notion, tags get rolled up into a bundle as a property of a URL and as a result information (that tag X was attached to highlight Y) is LOST. To fix this, I think the Highlights table needs to have each *highlight* as its entity/row/granularity, rather than URL. Ideally a related "Pages" table with URL as base would store page title and page-scope comments. If that's hard (or not possible to auto-populate related fields?) then URL and page title could just be properties of each highlight in the Highlight table, with those values repeated for each highlight in a page. 3. Data protection: I'd love to know somehow that my Notion data isn't being exposed to accidental sharing or even erasing. Maybe Notion limitations make that impossible to guarantee but at least warn us of what could happen by giving you the keys to my data there. 4. Thanks for the handy app!

- dtoyd

I've been trying to use Omnioutliner for a couple years. I love the idea of it. I certainly see the potential. However, if you want to hear a user cussing at his Mac, come by when I'm trying to do somethign in this tool. It might be the least intuative piece of software I try to use. - Promoting and demoting- easy tab and shift tab, unelss it defaults for some reason to makeing every return a child. .and then I have search teh manual to figure out why. - Open a OPML Doc. and half the functionaliy is missing. Can not figure out how to update or save as the right file.. - Formating is clugey, have to figure you inspector or formatting window you want, It's a long list for me. Maybe I'm just not that saavy or have a block when it comes to this tool, .. here we are. The good news, and why it has three stars, when I do finally figure out how to make it work, it's great. Sadly that's about 1/2 the time

- Sank63

This outliner app is just clunky and awful compared to other Omnigroup products. Try editing an outline at all or dragging parts of the outline around. You just can’t. Or at least I couldn’t drag a subheading from one top-level heading to another. Also, Select all doesn’t work, but you can hold down shift and select multiple items individually? Not great to introduce friction into an outlining app. I feel like I’m back in the early/mid-nineties when drag and drop wasn’t universal and people were just figuring out intuitive elements of the UI. For $10? No thanks. I’d rather outline things in Omnifocus, as silly as that sounds, but it’s actually way superior app for the task. Save your money and just get OF and export as taskpaper.

- Argon Torr

I'm unsure what some of the reviewers are experiencing when complaining about cumbersome syncing. When I save an outline to iCloud, it syncs seemlessly across Mac OS and iOS. I can then simply open the file, make any changes, close the file and all changes immediately sync across all devices. Maybe the issue was fixed in response to the reviews. Maybe the reviewers were confused or need instruction on using their devices. Either way, do not let those reviews discourage you from purchasing this great app. Syncing with iCloud is fast, easy and intuitive.

- John Abeel