iPhone J.D.

Podcast episode 179: Apple-Related CES, Ghost 👻 Chimes in the Machine and Severance Expectance

We start this week's episode of the In the News podcast by discussing the Apple-related announcements from CES in Las Vegas this past week. Next, we discuss why you should keep track of how much space is in your iCloud account and how you can do so. We also discuss strange sounds coming from your AirPods Pro, the recent improvements to the Messages app, enjoying the Vision Pro while you lie down, and more.

In our In the Show segment, we discuss a number of Apple TV+ news items including the return of Severance in just a few days. (I’ve just started doing a re-watch of Season 1 to prepare for Season 2, and I’m surprised at how many details I have forgotten! I guess it has been quite a while since Season 1 first aired.)

In our In the Know segment, Brett share a great CarPlay tip, and I talk about restarting an Apple Watch or iPhone..

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just listen using your podcast player of choice. You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

In the News

Whether you only have the default and free 5GB of iCloud storage or you pay for additional storage, it is always possible to run out of space. In an article for Fast Company, Michael Grothaus provides three tips for deleting items in iCloud that you might not need: large attachments in the Messages app, large videos in the Photos app, and iCloud emails. But many other items use up space in iCloud, so if you haven't checked out what is using up your iCloud storage in a while, you should consider doing so now. In Settings, tap your name at the top, tap iCloud, tap Storage, and then see how your storage is being used. Because I subscribe to the Apple One Premier plan, I get 2TB of space for me and up to four others. That sounds like a lot, but I'm using about 75% of it. I'm currently using almost 1TB myself—primarily because of a large Photos library, but there are other large items on there like the backups for my iPad and Vision Pro—and the other three members of my family are currently using just over 0.5TB. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• It has been horrible to learn about the fires this week that have devastated many communities in the Los Angeles area, and my heart goes out to the people affected. When disasters like this occur, local officials often use smartphone alert systems to communicate with people in danger. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that an evacuation warning that was supposed to be sent only to residents of two communities was instead, by mistake, sent to all iPhone owners in Los Angeles last night. It took 22 minutes before an updated alert was issued to correct the error. That must have been a scary 22 minutes for a lot of people.
• Speaking of those fires, Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac reports that Apple is making a donation to support the victims and recovery efforts.
• If you think you hear your AirPods Pro play a sound when they are in a case and you didn't do anything to cause that sound (like use the FindMy app to try to find them), apparently, that is a feature, not a bug. Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that ‌at the same time that Apple gave AirPods Pro the ability to run a hearing test, it also made them occasionally play a sound while in the case to ensure the microphones and speakers still work as intended. I don't think I've noticed this noise yet for my AirPods Pro, but perhaps I haven't been paying close enough attention.
• There were many changes to the Messages app when iOS 18.2 was released on December 11, 2024. Jeff Carlson of CNet highlights the key changes in Messages.
• The big CES show took place this week in Las Vegas. It is an event at which many product manufacturers show off products that they plan to release this year—along with other products that are just concepts and will never see the light of day. Juli Clover of MacRumors discusses some of the new products announced by Belkin, a company with a great track record for creating good accessories for Apple products.
• Andrew Orr of AppleInsider discusses new iPhone chargers from Scosche that were previewed at CES.
• Hartley Charlton of MacRumors discusses new smart home devices previewed at CES by Aqara that work with Apple devices because they include HomeKit and/or Matter support.
• Lutron, which makes some of my favorite HomeKit products, makes window shades called Serena that can be raised or lowered using HomeKit. My wife and I seriously considered getting them a few years ago for our living room, but they were too expensive to justify the cost. At CES, Lutron announced new Casetta window shades. Andrew O'Hara of AppleInsider reports that Lutron "re-engineered the internals" and "streamlined the manufacturing," and as a result, this new line of window shades costs $399 for any size under 48", which can be half the cost of the Serena shades depending upon the configuration.
• Apple hasn't previewed any products at CES since the 1990s. (In 1992, Apple CEO John Sculley unveiled the Newton at a CES show.) However, William Gallagher of AppleInsider notes that Apple is very much in the minds of people at CES every year. I think that this has been true since the days of the iPod.
• Both Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac and Apple CEO Tim Cook recommend lying down on a couch to watch shows on the Apple Vision Pro. I've tried this out, and it is a comfortable way to watch a show. Another tip from me for cold winter nights: get under your cozy covers on your bed and watch a show on a giant virtual screen on your bedroom ceiling. If you use AirPods, you can enjoy a show without disturbing your spouse.
• Predicting music artists who are on the brink of going big is a job traditionally held by smart people in the music industry. Sometimes, artists become famous simply because many people hear a good song and then think, "I like this; I wonder who that artist is?" People often use Shazam to answer that question, so it can be a good source to predict which artists are about to become stars. Apple, which has owned Shazam since 2018, released its Shazam Fast Forward 2025 list this week. It's an interesting webpage that lets you hear previews of songs by the spotlighted artists. I guess we'll check back in a year and see how many of these artists hit it big in 2025.
• Two of my favorite Apple TV+ shows—Slow Horses and Shrinking—were nominated this week for Screen Actors Guild awards, as reported by William Gallagher of AppleInsider.
• Another of my favorite Apple TV+ shows is Severance. Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac reports that you can now watch the first season for free on the Roku Channel as we await the launch of Season 2 on Apple TV+ on January 17.
• Andrew Webster of The Verge has seen half of Severance Season 2 and, without giving spoilers, states that the new season "hits just as hard as the original, pushing further into the dark, weird edges of the Severance universe, while expanding it in fascinating new ways." I'm excited!
• And finally, here is the trailer for Season 4 of the Apple TV+ show Mythic Quest, which begins January 29. It looks like the new season will be just as funny and zany as the first three seasons.

Review: TimeCapsule by Elevation Lab -- an AirTag that lasts 10 years

I suspect—and certainly hope—everyone reading this knows how valuable an AirTag can be. Put one on a suitcase or in a briefcase, purse, car, camera bag, etc., and you can locate that item even if it goes missing. AirTags became even more useful a few weeks ago when iOS 18.2 was released because you can now share an AirTag's location with airlines to help them locate lost luggage more easily.

One of the few drawbacks of an AirTag is that, because it uses a small CR2032 coin cell battery, you need to replace the battery about once every year or so. Wouldn't it be nice if an AirTag could last more than ten years? That is now possible thanks to a new product from Elevation Lab called the TimeCapsule.

This is a small device, 4.45" x 1.57" x 0.75" in size, that connects an AirTag to two AA batteries so that the AirTag has much more power. With the AirTag and batteries installed, the TimeCapsule weighs 3.4 ounces, which isn't very heavy, but it is heavier than an AirTag alone (0.39 ounces).

To use the TimeCapsule, you need to supply an AirTag and batteries. Elevation Lab recommends using Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries, which typically cost between $2 and $4 each on Amazon, depending on how many you get. That type of battery gets you the most battery life (25 years), plus they provide a flat voltage and do not leak, unlike alkaline batteries.

The TimeCapsule uses four small screws to stay closed. These are hex socket screws that require a hex key (which is included). Because this is a less common type of screw, if someone finds your TimeCapsule, they are unlikely to have easy access to the hardware required to open up the TimeCapsule, which I suppose provides some additional security.

Here is what the head of the hex socket screw looks like:

To install your AirTag in the TimeCapsule, twist the AirTag open—the same thing you do when you replace the battery. Set the CR2032 battery aside because you won't need it. And set aside the shiny silver back of the AirTag because you won't need that either. All you need is the white half of the AirTag, which contains the electronics.

Place the white half of the AirTag on the part of the TimeCapule that looks like a CR2032 battery. Next, install the two AA batteries.

Finally, place the top on the TimeCapsule and use the hardware tool to screw in the four hex socket screws.

That's it. Now you have a small device that can fit in your hand and that Elevation Lab says has 14 times the power capacity of a regular AirTag.

The main advantage of the TimeCapsule is the long battery life. The developer of the TimeCapsule explained that he created the product because his camera bag with $10,000 of gear was stolen from his car. When he tried to use FindMy to track the thief, he discovered that his AirTag battery was dead, and the last location was from three months earlier. Ugh. If you use an AirTag in something you don't use very often, like an RV or a boat, a TimeCapsule could make a lot of sense.

There are other advantages besides the long battery life. First, it may provide a security advantage. Nothing about the TimeCapsule looks like an AirTag, so if a thief sees it, he may be less likely to quickly discard it. A picture of the top of the TimeCapsule is up above. Here is what the bottom looks like, just smooth black plastic:

Another advantage of the TimeCapsule is that it is more durable than a regular AirTag. Once sealed shut, the fiber-reinforced composite body of the TimeCapsule becomes waterproof. If you put an AirTag inside something that you use for camping, boating, or by a pool, this might be helpful.

The TimeCapsule is also relatively inexpensive. I bought one on Amazon for $19.99, but you can also get two for $29.99 or four for $39.99. An AirTag four-pack is currently being sold on Amazon for an all-time low price of $69.99. Thus, if you buy a four-pack of each, that works out to only $10 for each TimeCapsule, $17.50 for each AirTag, and a few bucks for AA batteries: just over $30 each for something that will provide security and help you locate a lost item for more than a decade.

For now, I'm hiding my TimeCapsule in my car. (I trust each of you to keep that information private and not share it with any thieves who say that they plan to steal my car.) However, I'm also considering whether there is another place where the advantages of a TimeCapsule may make even more sense. If you come up with other great uses for a TimeCapsule, please let me know!

The TimeCapsule from Elevation Lab is a fantastic idea that was turned into a well-designed and well-constructed product.

Click here to get a TimeCapsule from Amazon ($19.99 to $39.99).

Review: Happy Scale -- track and predict your weight loss

I realize that it is a bit of a cliché to be talking about weight loss in early January, but the reality is that this is the time of year when a lot of people focus on that. Fortunately, the iPhone can help. It is easy to record your weight every time you get on the scale by using the iPhone's built-in Health app. I find that the fastest and easiest way to get your weight into the Health app is to use a very simple Shortcut. The one I use has only two steps. First, the shortcut uses the Ask for Input command to ask the question "How much did you weigh?" and you respond by typing a number. Second, the shortcut saves that to the "Weight" section of the health app. That's it. I have a widget on my iPhone that launches this shortcut, and because I use the shortcut just about every morning, just about every morning my iPhone home screen automatically recommends that I run the shortcut, so it is easy to tap that home screen recommendation and then log my weight.

The Health app lets you view your weight for the last day, week, month, etc., and even shows you trends for the last few weeks But if you want a better way to look at your weight measurements, that is where the Happy Scale app comes in.

Although you can enter weights directly in the Happy Scale app and have that sync over to the Health app, I find it easier to use the shortcut noted above to get my measurements into the Health app. Happy Scale can then read those measurements to display and analyze them.

Note that the following images are taken from the Happy Scale website. The latest version of the app has a slightly improved look, but these images are pretty close—and no, I'm not going to take my own screenshots that display my own personal data in this post.

The first thing that I like about Happy Scale is the way that it graphs your weight change over time. There are several parts of the app that show your weight change in different ways. But what they all have in common is an emphasis on showing smoothed-out trends, not each specific weight. The app recognizes that your weight will always fluctuate up and down, and what matters is not to get hung up on any one specific number but to think about your trends over time.

The graphs look good on the iPhone, but the app also works on the iPad, where it is nice to have the extra space for your graphs.

When you look at statistics in Happy Scale, you can see specific numbers (like the latest entry), but the emphasis is on averages, such as your average low for the last 10 days. Note that you can control which specific statistics you see, and there are lots of options.

Another part of the app that I like is the Predictions. You can control these manually using the commitment option (you input how much you commit to lose each week), but I don't use that. Instead, I let the app make predictions based on my current rate and my overall rate. And if you provide a goal weight, the app will predict when you will meet your goal. I find that this is a helpful way to keep you focused on the future and to encourage you to keep up the good work.

The app also has a useful Logbook mode. In this mode, you can see your specific weights recorded on specific days (if you have multiple weight entries for a single day, it uses the lowest one), but even more useful, you can see things like your weekly rate, your 7-day averages, any notes that you (optionally) enter for specific days, how much you have lost or gained since you started trying to lose weight, and information telling you that your weight on a specific day was your lowest since X days / weeks / months / years ago. It can be very encouraging to see that a weigh-in is, for example, your lowest entry in three months or three years. And you can choose what is and is not displayed in the Logbook.

The app also lets you set milestones so that you can break up a big overall effort into small, more manageable chunks.

As you can probably tell so far, just about everything in this app is configurable. So you have lots of control over what you see, how it is presented to you, etc. The default settings are really good, but being able to tweak them to make them more relevant for you is even better. I'm using this app to lose weight, but you can also tell Happy Scale that your goal is to maintain weight or even gain weight, and it will help you with that as well.

If you own an Apple Watch and you keep track of your circles, then you already know how the gamification of your own personal statistics can be a powerful motivator. By displaying so much information in so many different ways about your weight loss journey, Happy Scale does a great job of encouraging you to stick with it. And by emphasizing overall trends and not the inevitable ups and downs from day to day, the app keeps you focused on the big picture.

You can try out the app for free, but the best parts of the app, such as predictions and syncing, require a subscription. Fortunately, you can subscribe for a month for only $1.99 to see what you think. I paid $11.99 for an annual subscription. You can also pay $39.99 for a lifetime unlock.

Happy Scale has been around for more than a decade, and the developer, Russ Shanahan, continues to add new features and improve the app regularly. As the developer noted in an interview by Yuvraj Singh, he used his own app to lose 100 pounds. I love this app because of its great user interface and impressive features, and the fact that it has been around for so long gives me more confidence that this is a good app to use.

If you want to use your iPhone to help manage your weight, Happy Scale is a fantastic app.

Click here to get Happy Scale.

Podcast episode 178: Busy Busy Apples, Bicycles 🚲 for the Mind, and The Painful Passkey 🗝️ Transition Period

We start this week's episode of the In the News podcast by discussing the surprisingly large number of new products introduced by Apple in 2024. I wonder if we will see as many in 2025? Next, we talk about Apple's sophisticated anechoic chamber that it uses to test microphones and speakers, the transition from passwords to passkeys, some CarPlay tips, and how Apple wants to help you stick to your New Year's Resolutions.

In our In the Show segment, we discuss the fact that Apple TV+ is free for everyone this weekend, and also discuss a few great shows.

In our In the Know segment, Brett recommends changing the buttons at the bottom of your lock screen to, for example, launch a favorite app. And I share a tip about tips—advice on changing the tips on your Apple AirPods Pro.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just listen using your podcast player of choice. You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

In the News

We had a tragic start to the year here in New Orleans. While neither I nor my friends or family were in the French Quarter this New Year's Eve, I've walked through that exact area where the senseless violence took place on countless occasions, including times when Bourbon Street is crowded, such as New Year's, Mardi Gras, etc. It is horrible how one person can do so much evil. Having said that, just a few days ago, Apple devoted its website homepage to the memory of Jimmy Carter, which serves as a reminder of how one person can do so much good that impacts so many. Hopefully, we will see a lot more of that in 2025. And now, the recent news of note:

• When I think of new hardware released by Apple in 2024, only a few things jump out at me, such as the Apple Vision Pro, new. models of the iPhone and iPad, and the new Mac mini. But Hartley Charlton came up with a list of 29 new hardware products that Apple released last year. I'm surprised it is that many, and I hope to see lots more in 2025.
• Which of those 29 new products was the Apple product of the year? The entire team at 9to5Mac explains why that was the Apple Vision Pro. I agree. I've had more "wow" experiences with the Vision Pro in 2024 than with any other product. Indeed, I'm using my Vision Pro as I type this post, taking advantage of the amazing Mac Virtual Display feature.
• Zac Hall of 9to5Mac discusses the amazing update to the Vision Pro app called Theater, developed by Adam Lisagor and the team at Sandwich. With this app, you can choose from multiple virtual environments to watch videos. But the best feature is that one of these environments is a planetarium, and you can watch amazing and beautiful videos created for planetariums in this app. It is different from Apple's immersive video content, but almost as cool.
• In an article for the Hollywood Reporter (with a short video), Erin Lassiner explains how director Jon Chu used an Apple Vision Pro to do post-production work on the movie Wicked.
• Apple announced this week that Apple TV+ is free for everyone today through Sunday. (Here is a video announcement.) If you are not already a subscriber, take advantage of this opportunity to see some amazing shows. Here is a list of my favorite 30 shows on Apple TV+, which will get you started.
• Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac explains what is coming to Apple TV+ this month, including Season 2 of Severance, Season 4 of Mythic Quest, and a new show called Prime Target that looks very promising.
• Patrick Holland of CNet got an opportunity to visit the typically secret labs at Apple to learn more about how Apple refines its video and audio products, and this article is the result.
• In an article by Dan Moren on Six Colors, which discusses an article by Dan Groodin on Ars Technica, Dan Moren argues that we need more standardization on passkey systems so that it will be easier to move to a future without passwords. I agree. The transition to passkeys has been too slow, and I hope that this changes in 2025.
• If Santa placed a new car that supports CarPlay under your Christmas tree, or if you just want some tips on customizing the CarPlay experience in your current vehicle, Chance Miller of 9to5Mac shares some in this article.
• The latest version of the Apple Watch is the Series 10. Here is my review. It has a retail price that starts at $399 but was sold for $329 on Amazon on Black Friday. It is now back at $329 on Amazon again. If you want a great new Apple Watch to begin 2025, this is it.
• And finally, speaking of using the Apple Watch to start 2025, here is a video from Apple called Quit Quitting that emphasizes how you can use an Apple Watch to motivate you to stick with your New Year's resolutions:

Podcast episode 177: Special Episode - iPredictions for 2025 and Beyond 🔮

In this week’s special episode of the In the News podcast, Brett Burney and I ignore our normal podcast format, in which we discuss the news of note from the past week, and instead Brett and I look into the future. With a brand new year right around the corner, this is the prefect time to think about what new products we may see from Apple in 2025!

We start by discussing the new Apple Intelligence features that we expect to see in 2025. Then we move on to hardware and discuss a rumored new Apple product for your home that acts as a home hub, what Apple might add to the next iPhone (and maybe even the one after that), what we might see in 2025 iPads, the future of the Apple Vision Pro, and a potential new upgrade to the the AirTag. Then we finish up by discussing how the AirPods and Apple Watch might be improved.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just listen using your podcast player of choice. You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

In the News

I hope that your holiday season is going well and that all of the tech-themed gifts that you plan to give or hope to receive are now delivered and ready for Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever you celebrate. Brett Burney and I are taking this week off for the In the News podcast, but we will be back next week with a special podcast episode focused on the new Apple products we might see in 2025. This is likely to be the last post on iPhone J.D. in 2024, so I will tell you now that I hope the rest of your year is filled with joy and lots of great time spent with family and friends. Happy Holidays, and see you next year!

• In an article for ABA Journal, Nicole Black describes the significant trends in legal tech in 2024.
• Tim Hardwick of MacRumors reports that iOS 18.2 brings back the volume slider to the iPhone's lock screen.
• Joe Rosensteel explains why he is disappointed by the changes to the Mail app in iOS 18.2 in a post for Six Colors. He makes some good points.
• Julie Clover of MacRumors reports that the new iOS 18.2 Find My location-sharing feature now works with 14 airlines, including Delta and United. With this feature, the airline can track the AirTag on your luggage to—hopefully—locate your lost luggage more quickly.
• Federico Viticci explains how he uses an iPad Pro for all his work. Some of his methods are extreme and would be too cumbersome for others, but his descriptions of what he is doing are fascinating.
• Ian Carlos Campbell of Engadget reports that Blackmagic is now taking orders for its $30,000 camera that can record immersive video similar to the videos Apple has released for the Vision Pro. There is also an excellent and extensive discussion of this camera on this week's episode of Mac Break Weekly. Hopefully, this camera will lead to dramatically more fully immersive content for the Apple Vision Pro.
• Joe Otterson of Variety reports that Bad Monkey—the excellent Apple TV+ show developed by Bill Lawrence and starring Vince Vaughn—is coming back for a second season, but it will not be based on the sequel to the book on which the first season was based.
• Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed on Twitter that Silo on Apple TV+, now in its second season, will have a third and fourth season.
• In 2016, before there even was an Apple TV+, Apple bought the rights to Carpool Karaoke. The first episode aired in 2017. The show won an Emmy in 2018, and Apple's interest in TV shows led to the launch of Apple TV+ in 2019. The show ran for five seasons, ending in 2023, but now Carpool Karaoke is back with a Christmas Special in which Apple Music radio host Zane Lowe drives and sings with Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, and Chappell Roan.
• Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac lists some of the shows coming to Apple TV+ in 2025. It looks like a great mix of returning favorites and new shows.
• And finally, I've been having fun playing with the new Image Playground and Genmoji features in iOS 18.2. Here is a video from Apple to get you thinking about interesting things that you can do with Genmoji:

[Sponsor] SaneBox -- streamline your inbox

Thank you to SaneBox for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month. SaneBox is a service that focuses your Inbox so that you mainly see the important emails that matter and then return to work. Less important emails, such as newsletters, are moved to subfolders so that you can deal with them when you have time, and it is often faster to deal with all of those at once. If that sounds familiar, it should. Apple is now doing something sort of similar in iOS 18.2, where it tries to manage your mailbox by sorting messages. With Apple doing something similar, it is clear that the method used by SaneBox is smart.

However, the way that SaneBox does this is infinitely better than what you get in iOS 18.2—just like many other third-party apps for things like calendars, podcasts, reminders, passwords, etc., are much more sophisticated than Apple's built-in apps. First, the mail sorting feature in iOS 18.2 only applies to the iPhone, so when you use a Mac or an iPad, you don't see it at all. SaneBox works at the mail server level so it works no matter what you use to read your email—iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC, Apple Watch, etc. Second, SaneBox gives you complete control over how the sorting takes place, and as I've explained in the past, that makes all of the difference. For example, if SaneBox moves a newsletter into its @SaneLater folder, but you know that this one particular newsletter is important to you and that you want it to always stay in the Inbox so that you see it right away, simply drag an email containing the newsletter from @SaneLater to your Inbox. That's it. That teaches SaneBox that you want future issues of that newsletter to go to your Inbox.

The end result is that SaneBox lets you avoid the distraction of dozens of non-essential emails in your Inbox. Instead, your Inbox just contains the few messages that really matter, the ones that you want to know about and/or need to act upon. When you have more time, you can click the sub-folder in your Inbox into which SaneBox stores items like email newsletters—things that you want to see at some point, but there is no urgency to read them right away. Or you can click the sub-folder in your Inbox into which SaneBox filters items to be read later—for me, these items are mostly junk messages missed by my email's built-in spam filter. For unwanted items, you can drag them over into your @SaneBlackHole folder, which teaches SaneBox's brain that you never want to see items from that sender ever again.

SaneBox offers much more than what I've just described. For example, it can remind you when you haven't received a response to an email, and it can filter emails in countless other ways. But those core features make the process of reading your email so much faster and so much less annoying.

I've been paying for and using SaneBox for over two years, and I find the service well worth it. For my iPhone J.D. emails, when I look at the Inbox, I can quickly focus on the messages that matter the most to me, such as a reader sending in a suggestion with a news story for my Friday In the News post or interactions with someone who matters to me. From time to time, I look at the other folders used by SaneBox, and I can quickly deal with those emails, but they are virtually always the emails that don't really matter to me. For my Gmail account, SaneBox has been a lifesaver. I use Gmail when I make purchases from websites, stores, services, etc., and as a result, there is so much in there that I don't really care about. But I don't want to miss my Gmail emails that do matter. Before I started using SaneBox, I would open up Gmail and see over a hundred messages, most of which didn't really matter to me. Now, I often see less than 10 messages in my Inbox. Every few days, I'll take the time to look at the folders used by SaneBox, and I can easily read things that I want to see or quickly delete all of them that I don't care about. It has made a huge difference in my life, and it saves me so much time.

If you want to try out SaneBox to see what a huge difference it can make in your life, click here to get a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. If you don't like having a clean and tidy Inbox and decide to return back to how you had it before, no sweat. But if you appreciate having a better way of working with email, using the link in this post will give you a generous $25 credit for when you pick a plan—and there are lots of different plans offered so that you can choose the one that gives you just what you want.

Thanks again to SaneBox for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month and for giving all of us a more efficient way to work with email.

Thank you to SaneBox for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month. SaneBox is a service that focuses your Inbox so that you mainly see the important emails that matter and then return to work. Less important emails, such as newsletters, are moved to subfolders so that you can deal with them when you have time, and it is often faster to deal with all of those at once. If that sounds familiar, it should. Apple is now doing something sort of similar in iOS 18.2, where it tries to manage your mailbox by sorting messages. With Apple doing something similar, it is clear that the method used by SaneBox is smart.

However, the way that SaneBox does this is infinitely better than what you get in iOS 18.2—just like many other third-party apps for things like calendars, podcasts, reminders, passwords, etc., are much more sophisticated than Apple's built-in apps. First, the mail sorting feature in iOS 18.2 only applies to the iPhone, so when you use a Mac or an iPad, you don't see it at all. SaneBox works at the mail server level so it works no matter what you use to read your email—iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC, Apple Watch, etc. Second, SaneBox gives you complete control over how the sorting takes place, and as I've explained in the past, that makes all of the difference. For example, if SaneBox moves a newsletter into its @SaneLater folder, but you know that this one particular newsletter is important to you and that you want it to always stay in the Inbox so that you see it right away, simply drag an email containing the newsletter from @SaneLater to your Inbox. That's it. That teaches SaneBox that you want future issues of that newsletter to go to your Inbox.

The end result is that SaneBox lets you avoid the distraction of dozens of non-essential emails in your Inbox. Instead, your Inbox just contains the few messages that really matter, the ones that you want to know about and/or need to act upon. When you have more time, you can click the sub-folder in your Inbox into which SaneBox stores items like email newsletters—things that you want to see at some point, but there is no urgency to read them right away. Or you can click the sub-folder in your Inbox into which SaneBox filters items to be read later—for me, these items are mostly junk messages missed by my email's built-in spam filter. For unwanted items, you can drag them over into your @SaneBlackHole folder, which teaches SaneBox's brain that you never want to see items from that sender ever again.

SaneBox offers much more than what I've just described. For example, it can remind you when you haven't received a response to an email, and it can filter emails in countless other ways. But those core features make the process of reading your email so much faster and so much less annoying.

I've been paying for and using SaneBox for over two years, and I find the service well worth it. For my iPhone J.D. emails, when I look at the Inbox, I can quickly focus on the messages that matter the most to me, such as a reader sending in a suggestion with a news story for my Friday In the News post or interactions with someone who matters to me. From time to time, I look at the other folders used by SaneBox, and I can quickly deal with those emails, but they are virtually always the emails that don't really matter to me. For my Gmail account, SaneBox has been a lifesaver. I use Gmail when I make purchases from websites, stores, services, etc., and as a result, there is so much in there that I don't really care about. But I don't want to miss my Gmail emails that do matter. Before I started using SaneBox, I would open up Gmail and see over a hundred messages, most of which didn't really matter to me. Now, I often see less than 10 messages in my Inbox. Every few days, I'll take the time to look at the folders used by SaneBox, and I can easily read things that I want to see or quickly delete all of them that I don't care about. It has made a huge difference in my life, and it saves me so much time.

If you want to try out SaneBox to see what a huge difference it can make in your life, click here to get a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. If you don't like having a clean and tidy Inbox and decide to return back to how you had it before, no sweat. But if you appreciate having a better way of working with email, using the link in this post will give you a generous $25 credit for when you pick a plan—and there are lots of different plans offered so that you can choose the one that gives you just what you want.

Thanks again to SaneBox for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month and for giving all of us a more efficient way to work with email.

Podcast episode 176: Siri Meets ChatGPT, Jeff’s Ultrawide Desktop 🖥️ and Blowin’ Buble’s Mind 🤯

Ho Ho Ho! With Santa Claus, lighting the menorah, and other holiday highlights just around the corner, Brett Burney and I just released the last regular episode of the In the News podcast for 2024. We are taking off next week, and on December 27, we will wrap up the year with a special episode focused on predictions for 2025. This week's episode is a big one because there was so much to discuss. With the release of iOS 18.2 and similar updates for Apple's other products, we discussed all the new features. Yes, the latest Apple Intelligence features are a big part of this update, but there is so much more. (Just a few hours ago, I was chuckling at the Snoopy screensaver, which is a part of the latest update to Apple TV.) We also talk about the acclaim besowed on Apple for its fabulous performance this past year, using an iPhone with a Windows computer, the MacStories selections for best apps of the year, smart home devices, the latest song from Michael Buble created using an iPhone, and much more.

In our In the Show segment, we discuss the Apple TV+ shows nominated for the Golden Globes and other great shows that are now on, or coming soon to, Apple TV+.

In our In the Know segment, Brett raves about a new AirTag feature, and I rave about a new Mail feature on the iPhone.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just listen using your podcast player of choice. You can also watch the episode on YouTube: