Following the 1.2 update for iPad, the OmniGroup today released OmniFocus 1.8 for iPhone, an updated aimed at improving performance of the app on iOS 4.2 (still in GM version for developers) and the behavior of due reminders.

On iOS 4.2, OmniFocus 1.8 takes advantage of the sync completion API to complete in-progress sync even if put in the background. The app can now also perform automatic sync as it enters the background. This is something OmniFocus users have been requesting since the first betas of iOS 4.2. As for due reminders, they are now presented when the app is active, not just when OF isn’t the active app. The developers also implemented a custom sound to differentiate OmniFocus’ alerts from system and other 3rd party apps alerts.

OmniFocus for iPhone is available at $19.99 here. You can check out the full (and huge) changelog below.

Multitasking

• When running on iOS 4.2 or later, OmniFocus will complete an in-progress sync session when it is put into the background.
• When running on iOS 4.2 or later, if an automatic sync is due soon, OmniFocus will start a sync session as it enters the background.

Due Reminders and Calendar Notifications

• Due Reminders are now presented when OmniFocus is active. Previously, these alerts were only presented when OmniFocus was not the active application.
• OmniFocus now uses a custom sound for Due Reminders to distinguish these alerts from other alerts on your device. (The sound remains optional.)
• Various improvements were made to the reliability of scheduling due reminder alerts for users with iOS 4.0 and later.
• Changes made to Due Reminders in the settings are now immediately applied to scheduled alerts.
• Actions are now exported to the calendar using their inherited due date when appropriate. (In particular, actions with no due date now appear on the calendar if their project has a due date.)

Maps

• Fixed a bug where location services updates weren’t always disabled outside of Nearby Contexts mode.
• Geolocation and business results are now displayed in your preferred language when possible.
• Switched to the latest Google Geocoding API for finding the exact geolocation when associating contexts with an address or the address of a contact from Contacts.
• When requesting the nearest result for a business search, the results are limited to one match to improve performance for showing nearby contexts.
• Contexts with available actions are always eligible to appear on the map. The “nearby” distance filter is no longer applied.
• When running on iOS 4.0 or later, OmniFocus now uses the compass arrow icon for switching to Nearby Contexts mode.
• OmniFocus now correctly handles the cases where location services have been disabled globally, or specifically for OmniFocus, while it is suspended in the background.
• Subcontexts that inherit a location from a parent context are no longer displayed directly on the map. Actions associated with the subcontext can be viewed through the parent context.
• Improved help text for assigning dropped pins as the location for a context.
• Fixed a bug when running under iOS 4.2 where switching to Maps view would inappropriately enter Edit mode immediately.
• The map/list view switcher is no longer incorrectly disabled after returning to the map after assigning a dropped pin to a context.
• Tapping the nearby toolbar icon will now recenter map on the current location even if there are no nearby actions currently on the map.
• Improved filtering of invalid device location results from the location services.
• Swipe to delete was incorrectly available for status messages such as “Finding Location” within the list-mode of the nearby action feature. Attempting to delete the status message crashed the application.

Editing

• When assigning an action’s context or project, available choices are now sorted using localized, case-insensitive rules.
• Fixed a bug which prevented the flag on an action or project from being set when running on iOS 4.2.

User Interface

• Fixed a bug where using quick entry while the progress bar was active could result in the keyboard subsequently not appearing when it should.
• OmniFocus for iPhone now honors the synced preference to hide parent of an action when showing actions in action lists. This setting is available in the View menu for OmniFocus for the Mac.
• The configuration options for due reminders and calendar integration have been moved to a subsection of Settings called Notifications.
• Fixed several editing and settings screens where the main toolbar was missing the standard set of buttons.
• Fixed a bug that could result in an incorrect “due soon” means value in Settings after replacing device database with the server’s copy.
• Fixed a text layout bug on the Welcome to OmniFocus screen when running on a device with a Retina display.

Sync

• OmniFocus handles HTTP redirects more intelligently when replacing your local/remote database with a copy of your remote/local database, and when publishing .ics files.
• OmniFocus better handles sync setting URLs when resuming from the background.
• Fixed regression which prevented completion of the initial sync if there was no sync database present on the server.
• Fixed a workaround for some quirks in cPanel servers.
• Fixed some problems with syncing to servers with expired, self-signed, or otherwise exceptionable certificates.

Stability

• Fixed a crash which would occur in certain situations when editing a task which became due while you were editing it.
• Fixed a regression that caused OmniFocus to crash when changing hidden preferences. This is occasionally used by support ninjas to troubleshoot problems or configure options which aren’t otherwise available in the Settings user interface.
• Fixed crashes when attempting to send email from within OmniFocus on a device where no email accounts have been configured in Mail.
• Fixed a crash on initial MobileMe sync when you using a custom path.

Fixed compatibility problem on iOS 4.2 where tapping in the status bar caused OmniFocus to crash.