Shared iCloud Plug-In Folder on iPadOS
In the following scenario, all plug-ins for all of the installed Omni applications will be kept together in the same folder on your iCloud Drive. Each of your Omni applications can identify this commonly shared folder and a linked plug-ins source directory. Because of the metadata in each plug-in, only those applications targeted by the plug-ins will load and display them.
Installing/Managing Plug-Ins Stored on iCloud Drive
The following describes how to create a new folder on the iPad, which will become the linked source folder for the Omni Automation plug-ins used by the Omni applications installed on your iPadOS device.
The Files app on iPadOS:
The first step is to create a new folder in the mounted volume.
DO THIS ► | In the Files app, select the iCloud Drive location 1 and then tap the New Folder button 4 to create a new directory. |
A new folder will be created and the iPadOS naming sheet will be displayed:
DO THIS ► | In the naming sheet, enter the name for the new folder, for example: Omni Plug-Ins (iCloud) |
The newly named folder is created on the mounted volume:
For the sake of providing convenient access to the created folder, let’s add it to the Favorites section in the Files sidebar.
DO THIS ► | Long-press the created folder until the contextual menu appears. Then tap the Favorite menu item to add the folder to the Favorites section in the sidebar. |
Once the Favorite menu item is chosen, the folder will be added to the Favorites section of the Files sidebar:
Now that the Plug-Ins folder has been created, we need to designate it as a plug-in source folder for each of the installed Omni apps. For the purposes of example, the following illustrations will show the linking process from within OmniFocus.
DO THIS ► | From with the Omni app, select “Configure Plug-Ins” from the Automation menu to summon the Plug-In Management sheet: |
The Plug-In Management sheet will be displayed, listing all plug-in source directories and installed plug-ins.
An option for adding another source directory (linked folder) will be available:
DO THIS ► | Tap the “Add Linked Folder…” button to display a folder picker view in the sheet: |
DO THIS ► | To designate the created folder as a plug-in source directory, select the folder and tap the “Done” button. |
The folder picker view will be dismissed and the chosen directory will now appear as a linked source folder in the Plug-Ins Management sheet:
Omni Automation plug-in bundles or files placed within the designated plug-in source folder (Linked Folder):
Will appear in the Plug-In Management sheet:
DO THIS ► | Tap the arrow button 4 to display the selected plug-in’s metadata (details) in a slide-over sheet. |
The action’s metadata may include: file name, identifier, version, author, and description.
DO THIS ► | To optionally assign a keystroke shortcut to the installed action, tap the arrow button at the right of the installed action to reveal the key assignment interface: |
The installed Omni Automation action will be displayed in the host application’s Automation menu, and may be executed when appropriate: