iPhone J.D.

iPad tip: download a YouTube video using the a-Shell app

YouTube is full of useful and interesting videos.  If you need to have one of those videos on your iPad for some reason, such as to view it when you don't have Internet access or to use it as a part of a presentation, it used to be that there was no easy way to do so.  But now, you can do so using the free app called a-Shell and two other free programs.  This post gives you all of the steps for doing so.  I realize that this post may look complicated at first, but I promise you that these steps are simple to follow.

But first, some kudos and a caveat.  I first learned about this tip from a post by Federico Viticci on MacStories.  He linked to a post by Greg Godwin on his website NonProfit Workflows, a website with advice for working in a non-profit organization.  Although Greg's post provides instructions, I modified his instructions for this post in a way that I think makes them easier to understand and follow.  And finally, please note that you should only download a video from YouTube if you have an appropriate reason and permission to do so.

With that behind us, here are the step-by-step instructions.  These instructions assume that you are doing this on an iPad, which has a larger screen and thus is better for viewing and working with a video, but I suppose these steps would also work on an iPhone.

The a-Shell app

The first thing that you need to do is download the a-Shell app from the App Store.  This free app provides a text-based terminal window on your iPad — essentially taking your modern iPad and giving it the capabilities of a computer from the 1970s.  Here are the first few steps to get this app and get it configured correctly.

1. Click here to download a-Shell app by Nicolas Holzschuch.

2. Open the Settings app on your iPad and scroll down on the left until you see the a-Shell app listed; tap on that.  On the right, in the section called ALLOW A-SHELL TO ACCESS, make sure that Document Storage is set to On My iPad.

Download youtube-dl and FFmpeg

Next, we are going to download two free, command line, cross-platform, open-source software programs that can be used to work with video, audio, and other multimedia files and streams.  With a terminal like a-Shell on your iPad, you can use this software on your iPad instead of a computer.

1. Open the a-Shell app.  The first time you do so, the app will ask if you want notifications.  You don't need to allow notifications for this project.

2. Type the following exactly as it appears and tap return:

pip install youtube-dl

"pip" is a package manager for the programming language Python.  By typing that command, you are telling a-Shell to install the youtube-dl program.  After you tap return, a-Shell will install the software and then tell you that it is successful.

3. In Safari on your iPad, click on this link to download FFmpeg from the GitHub page:  https://github.com/holzschu/a-Shell-commands/releases/download/0.1/ffmpeg.wasm

[That link works great right now, but if for some reason it stops working in the future, go to this page to find the download link.]

Your iPad will ask "Do you want to download "ffmpeg.wasm"? and you should tap Download to do so.  The download icon at the top of the Safari app will show you that the file is being downloaded to whatever the default download location is on your iPad. 

Use the Files app

Next, you want to open up the Files app on your iPad.  The left side of the app will list all of your locations — things like iCloud Drive, On My iPad, Dropbox, etc.  Tap on On My iPad and you will see a list of folders on the right, folders that correspond to apps installed on your iPad.  Near the top, you will see a folder for a-Shell.  Tap that folder to open it.

Once that folder is open, tap the folder+ icon at the top right to create a new folder within the a-Shell folder.  The Files app will do so and will give you the opportunity to name the folder.  Call it:  bin

Next, you want to move the FFmpeg app into that folder called "bin" that you just created.  If you tap the Downloads tab on the left of the Files app, you will see the file called ffmpeg.wasm.  Hold your finger down on that file for a second and a pop-up window will appear.  Select "Move" — the third option.  That will open up a window for you to select the destination.  Tap On My iPad, then tap a-Shell, then tap bin, then tap Copy.

Note that you won't need to directly use the FFmpeg app for the rest of this project.  You simply need to have it saved in the "bin" folder because the youtube-dl app is going to take advantage of it from within the a-Shell app.

Now, you are ready to go.  You won't have to follow any of the above steps again.  The next time that you are ready to download a video, just go to the next set of steps:

Use youtube-dl to download a video

Open the a-Shell app and type in a command to download a video from YouTube.  The basic structure of the command that you will use is very simple, just the command "youtube-dl" followed by the URL of the YouTube video that you want to download.  Note, however, that using this command will download a video in the .mkv video file format, which the iPad doesn't know how to play unless you install an app that can do so. 

A better approach is to tell youtube-dl to download the video in the .mp4 format, which the iPad can handle with no problems.  And to do that, you add the following just before the URL:  -f '(mp4)'

So to give you a specific example, let's say that you want to download the video that I shared last year when I reviewed the Catalyst Waterproof Case for iPhone Xs.  My review included a video that I posted to YouTube that I took using this waterproof case while I was in Hawaii.  The short video includes some fun footage of turtles and tropical fish underwater.  The YouTube link for that video is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCqAKXpDIbA

So to download this video and convert it to .mp4 format, you would type the following in the a-Shell app:

youtube-dl -f '(mp4)' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCqAKXpDIbA

If you want, you can copy the above text, open the a-Shell app, hold down on the flashing cursor for a second, and then select the paste function to save you the trouble of typing it. 

The youtube-dl program will download the video and alert you to the progress while it is doing so.  This one is a short video, so the process will be very quick.

Use your downloaded video

The video downloaded from within the a-Shell app is located in the a-Shell folder on your iPad.  So open the Files app, tap On My iPad on the left, tap the a-Shell folder, and there is your video.  You can tap it if you just want to play it — and since it is downloaded, you can play it even if you are in Airplane mode.  Or, you can hold down your finger on the filename for a second and tap Share on the pop-up menu.  From there, you can send the file to another app, or just tap Save Video to download it to your Photos app.  Once it is in your Photos library, just about any other app will be able to access it.  For example, you can put it in a Keynote video.  Or you can use the iMovie app to take a clip from this video and add it to some other video. 

Conclusion

Using a terminal window on an iPad may seem like the most un-iPad thing that you can do with an iPad.  However, it gives you the ability to take advantage of free, open-source software like youtube-dl.  After following all of the above steps, it will be quick and easy for you to download a YouTube video in the future.  Just open the a-Shell app, and type in the command with the link to the video.  That's it.

Thanks again to Greg Godwin and Federico Viticci for making me aware of this great tip.  And thanks to Nicolas Holzschuch for the powerful a-Shell app.

Review: Apple iPhone 12 leather case -- slim case to protect your iPhone

I've been using the black leather iPhone cases sold by Apple since 2014.  When Apple started selling the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro on October 23, 2020, it did not yet have a leather case available, but they are available now and you can get one on Amazon for $59.  The new leather case is similar to the ones I've been using for years in that is slim and the leather feels good.  I fully suspect that, like Apple's prior models, this year's version will get even softer over time as you use it.  The model that I purchased works with either the iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro.  Apple also sells a smaller model for the iPhone 12 mini and a larger model for the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The reason I started to use an Apple leather case six years ago with my iPhone 6 was that, unlike the iPhone 4, 4s, 5, and 5s, the iPhone 6 had a curved side, making it more slippery.  I needed a case to make the iPhone less likely to fall and to give it some protection if it did fall.  The iPhone 12 family brings back flat sides to the iPhone, which I find makes the new iPhone easier to hold securely in a hand.  Thus, I don't plan to use a case with my iPhone 12 Pro nearly as much as I did in the past.  But I still think it makes sense to have a good case for those times when you will need a little more protection, such as when traveling ... whenever we all feel comfortable doing that again.

My guess is that if you are thinking of getting an Apple leather case for your new iPhone, you have used an Apple leather case for a prior model.  With that in mind, I'll focus on what is different about this year's model.

Colors

This year, the cases come in red, saddle brown, black, baltic blue, and California poppy.  The red one is (PRODUCT)RED. 

I always prefer the back model, and this year's black leather looks the same as the prior models. 

Flat sides

The flat edge on the iPhone 12 leather case definitely gives it a different feel from the prior models, and I like it.  Between the flat edge and the friction that leather provides, an iPhone seems very secure in my hand when it is in this case.

The leather case rises up just a little bit higher than the screen.  Thus, if you place your iPhone face down on a flat table when it is in this case, the screen will not touch the surface of the table, providing some protection.  When I first started to use this case, I was immediately convinced that the edge on this year's model must rise up higher than prior years because of how it felt.  But when I compared it to the edge of the leather case on my iPhone 11, it looks the same.  In the following picture that shows how much the lip goes up above the screen of the iPhone, the iPhone 11 in an Apple leather case is on the left and the iPhone 12 Pro in an Apple leather case is on the right:

Perhaps it just feels higher because this is a brand new case and the leather hasn't been broken in yet.

Camera cutout

In prior years, the camera area of the Apple leather case was simply a cut-out.  This year, Apple has added a very tiny plastic frame around the edges:

I presume that the purpose is to provide a little additional protection for the camera lenses.  Even with this slight frame around that square, when an iPhone is in this case, it lays perfectly flat on a table.  Thus, like prior models, this year's leather case prevents the camera on the back of the iPhone from making the iPhone teeter when it is on a flat surface.

MagSafe

If you want to use a MagSafe device with an iPhone 12, such as a charger or Apple's wallet accessory, a normal case between an iPhone and the MagSafe device could reduce the magnetic attraction.  Apple solves that in its cases by adding a magnet in the case itself.  It is a rather weak magnet — I could get a paperclip to stick to the magnet on the inside of the new leather case but nothing heavier — but I presume that it is strong enough to ensure that MagSafe devices work with it.  (I don't currently own any MagSafe devices, so I couldn't try it out.)

You can see the circle of the MagSafe magnet on the inside of the case:

Note that because this case is itself a MagSafe device, when you first put your iPhone in the case, you see a short graphic on the screen alerting you that you attached a MagSafe device (along with a ring corresponding to the color of your case) with a short beep.  If you don't want to make a noise when you put your iPhone in the case, flip the silent switch before attaching the case.

I thought that the MagSafe magnet might make the case stick to the iPhone even more than prior models.  But I haven't noticed a difference.  Apple's leather cases have always provided a nice, tight fit that wasn't going to come off unless you pulled it off.  This year's model is no different.

One more note about using MagSafe with this case.  Because leather is not a hard surface, if you frequently use a MagSafe device with this case, you might start to see the an outline over time.  As Apple explains on its website:  "Leather is a natural material and like a fine leather belt, it may show creases, marks, or a patina over time.  Interaction with MagSafe accessories will leave slight imprints (as shown in the last image of the gallery).  If you are concerned about this, we suggest you use an iPhone 12 | 12 Pro Silicone or Clear Case."  In the pictures I included above to show the different colors, I used that last image for each of the iPhones, and that is why you see a slight circle around the Apple logo.  I actually think that the circle looks sort of interesting, but if you don't like it, either don't use a MagSafe device when your iPhone is in this case or choose a different case.

Protection on all four sides

Ever since 2014, the Apple leather case has covered three sides of the iPhone, but the bottom was somewhat open.  For example, here is the leather case on an iPhone 6:

But this year, the leather case covers all four sides, including the bottom:

This change has pros and cons.  I'm sure that it provides more protection, which is the purpose of a case, so that's good.  But without the bottom covered, it is easier to swipe up from the bottom of an iPhone to show the Control Center or to unlock the iPhone.  With this new case, the lip provides a very minor speed bump.  I'm sure I'll get used to it over time, but right now I miss the older design that I've been using for years.

As for the buttons on the sides of the new leather case, they work the same as the buttons on Apple's prior leather cases:  they work well.

Conclusion

Although the iPhone 12 version of the Apple leather case is different from the prior models in many ways, it is similar enough that if you have used and liked an Apple leather case in the past, you will like this one too.  It feels great, it provides protection, and it is a great match for the iPhone 12.  I don't plan to use a case with my iPhone 12 Pro as much as I did with prior models, but whenever I do want to use a case, I'm glad that I have this one.

Click here to get Apple's iPhone 12 leather case from Amazon ($59.00)

In the news

As 2020 continues to be even more 2020 every day, it's nice to find something entertaining that lets you escape from the real world, even if for only a short while.  If you are an Audible subscriber (or if you sign up for a free trial), there is a great title called Have a Nice Day by Billy Crystal.  It was released two years ago, but I just learned about it from my wife this week, and given that it stars Kevin Kline playing the U.S. President, it could not be more timely.  This is a stage production that lasts less than two hours and was recorded especially for Audible, so it is like an old-time radio drama, complete with live foley special effects.  The actors involved are top-notch, including Billy Crystal, Kevin Kline, Annette Benning, Darrell Hammond, Rachel Dratch, Christopher Jackson (who played George Washington in Hamilton), and many more, with the amazing voice of Dick Cavett as the narrator.  I listened to this on my iPhone and AirPods, and loved every minute of this funny and heartwarming play.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• If you own a device in the iPhone 12 family and you have heard unexpected noise in one of the dozens of Made for iPhone hearing devices such as a hearing aid, Apple says that you should upgrade to iOS 14.2.1, which came out yesterday.  That update also fixes some bugs with MMS text messages and the lock screen on the iPhone 12 mini.
• If you are looking for an iPad stylus but the Apple Pencil is too expensive, Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reviews the $70 Zagg Pro Stylus, which has a fine-point active tip for writing, but then you can flip it over and use a larger capacitive tip for swiping.  And it has magnets so it can attach to the top of an iPad (without charging).  Interesting product.
• Josh Ginter of The Sweet Setup recommends iOS 14 home screen widgets.
• Chris Gonzales of The Sweet Setup reviews the Satechi USB-C Wireless Charging Dock for Airpods, a small tray that plugs into the side of an iPad Pro or laptop in which you place your AirPods in a case to charge them.  Only $30 on Amazon.
• John Gruber of Daring Fireball wrote a very positive review of the HomePod Mini.  In fact, I've seen nothing but good reviews about this product.  If you are looking for a good $100 gift for an iPhone user, this could be the one.
• iMore has announced the winners of its Best of 2020 Awards.  Lots of great products on that list.
• This is the first time I remember hearing about an app that is available only with a prescription.  Malcolm Owen of AppleInsider reports that the FDA has approved an Apple Watch app called NightWare that helps reduce PTSD nightmares by vibrating to wake you up if it senses that you might be having a nightmare.
• When Apple purchased the right to Peanuts for Apple TV+, many folks were upset that it would no longer be possible to watch the classic Thanksgiving and Christmas specials on free over-the-air TV.  As Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac reports, Apple decided this week to also air the specials for free on PBS so that even more kids can watch them.  You're a good man, Tim Cook.
• And finally, kudos to U.S. Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod, Judge Charles Eskridge of the Southern District of Texas, and the others who created and performed this Hamilton-inspired song that describes oral argument in the age of COVID-19, We'll Be Back.  Bravo!  Bravo!

[Sponsor] PDF Expert by Readdle -- tips and tricks

Thank you to Readdle for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month.  When Readdle was a sponsor last month, I provided an overview on their amazing PDF Expert app, which is one of the most useful productivity apps on my iPad and iPhone.  It is a fantastic tool for working with PDF files in a law practice, and it is no exaggeration to say that I use this app on my iPad virtually every day, throughout the day.  Every attorney should download the free app to explore how you can take advantage of it in your own law practice.  Although the free app is very powerful, you can access advanced features if you purchase a $50/year subscription.  In today's post, I'm going to discuss some of my tips and tricks for using this app in a law practice. 

View Settings

There are three different modes for reading a document in PDF Expert.  Different modes are better for different situations.

Most of the time, I use the Vertical Scroll mode.  That way, I can just use my finger to swipe up and down to move through each page of the document. 

In the Horizontal Scroll mode, instead of swiping up and down to scroll through the document, you swipe left and right.  But the method of swiping is not what makes this mode so useful.  What makes this mode useful is that you can zoom out to see an entire page at once.  (Often, I use my iPad in portrait mode when I do this so that there is minimal wasted space on the two sides of the document.)  Then, just tap to the right or to the left of the document to move forward or backward.  This page-at-a-time method of browsing a document is very useful in lots of situations.

For example, when I have finished drafting a brief, I use this mode to look at the brief, one page at a time, in an overview.  When I do this, I pay some attention to the text, but this is also the best mode to make sure that the page breaks are occurring in places that make sense (something that I often miss when I am just working with a document in Microsoft Word), that there is uniformity throughout the document on things like block quotes, things like that.  I'm double-checking how the brief looks more than what it says. 

I also use this mode when I am working with large exhibits, such as a PDF file that has hundreds of pages in it.  Swiping up and down to move through the document in Vertical Scroll mode is laborious.  But in Horizontal Scroll mode, I can tap quickly on the right side of the screen to move through the large file with ease.  Sometimes, if the document is large, I actually use two fingers and quickly go back and forth between tapping each one of them, which is a great way to zoom through a document very quickly.

The third mode is Two Pages.  That mode works just like the Horizontal Scroll mode except that there are two pages on the page at one time.  When I'm looking at a brief, I typically want to focus on one page at a time.  But if I'm browsing through a very large file such as exhibits, I sometimes use the Two Pages mode to go through the document more quickly.

Thumbnail view

The Horizontal Mode and Two Pages mode is useful when I am working with a large PDF file containing exhibits and I want the exhibit to be large enough to see it, even if the words are very tiny.  But sometimes I don't need to read any of the words at all and I want to have more of a bird's eye view of the pages in the document.  That's when I tap the icon at the top left with four mall boxes to switch into thumbnail view. 

From here, the text is way too small to read, but I can see the overall shapes of the pages in the document.  When I encounter a large PDF file containing multiple exhibits, it is usually easy to see where each new exhibit starts.  When the PDF file contains a lot of pictures, this is often the fastest way to find a specific picture — or to jump to the first page before or after the pictures.

Highlighting text

When I review a document, such as a brief of opposing counsel, I often highlight the text to remind me that I want to address that point in my response.  (Often, I also write a note to myself in the margin.)  There are two different ways to highlight a document in PDF Expert.

If you have already done an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on the document (more on that in a moment), then you can use the Highlight tool to highlight text.  This is the best way to highlight a document because the text remains dark, but it is surrounded by your highlight color, be it yellow or any other color that you want to use.

Sometimes I will highlight a full paragraph, and then I will use the Underline tool to underline the most important words within the full paragraph that I highlighted.

If the document is not OCR'd, then you cannot select or highlight specific words in the document.  But you can still highlight part of a document in several ways.  First, you can use the Marker tool.  The Marker tool is similar to the highlight tool, but it applies a color over a part of the document.  That means that whatever it is covering up becomes a little lighter (and sometimes harder to read).  For example, in this next picture, I used the Marker tool to highlight the word Zablocki, and you can see that the text underneath the yellow is harder to read than the text in the paragraph below it, where I used the Highlight tool:

You can adjust the opacity of the Marker to make it easier or harder to see the underlying document.  I virtually always consider the Marker tool to be an inferior method of highlight a document, but whenever you are in a situation in which you want to highlight something that is not text that has gone through OCR, then it is great that the Marker tool will work even if the Highlight tool will not.

A second option that I use when I want to mark something as important but the highlight tool is not appropriate for some reason is the Rectangle tool.  It is an easy way to mark a part of a document as important:

I often use the rectangle tool when the document that I am working with is a statute.  Sometimes I want to highlight individual words in a statute, but other times I just want to draw a box around a part of the statute.  Perhaps § 32(B)(4) is the key part, so I will just draw a box around that part.

Once you have annotated a document, if you tap on the third icon from the top right (which looks like a book), you can select one of three tabs:  Bookmarks, Outlines, or Annotations.  If you tap on Annotations, you will see all of the parts of the document that you annotated.  Here, you will see another advantage of using the Highlight or the Underline tool:  You will see on the right the specific words that you highlighted or underlined.  Simply tap on those words to go to that part of the document.  When you use the Marker, Rectangle, or Pen tool, you can see that an annotation was made on a specific page, but you cannot get any sense of what it was that was annotated.

OCR

Because the Highlight and Underline tools are so powerful when you are reading a document, and because a document needs to have run through the OCR process to use those tools, I often perform an OCR on documents as soon as I receive them.  When I am working on my PC in my office when I first receive a PDF file, I will typically just use my PC software to OCR the document.  (We use Kofax Power PDF in my office, which works great for this task.)  When I have a paper version of a document that I want to convert to a PDF, I typically use another Readdle app, Scanner Pro, to scan the document and do an OCR at the same time.

PDF Expert on the iPad/iPhone does not currently have the ability to OCR a PDF file, but Readdle has already announced that this is a feature that they are working on, and it will be included, at no additional charge, in the subscription package when it is ready.

Photo to PDF

Although most of my litigation practice is currently in the area of appellate law, I also do quite a bit of litigation at the trial court level.  And sometimes, such as during the discovery process, I will be provided with photographs during litigation.  I often find it useful to annotate those photos.  For example, I may want to annotate a photo as I am deposing a witness when the witness identifies certain things depicted in the photograph.  Here is how I do that.  Note that you have to pay for the PDF Expert subscription to take advantage of these advanced features.

I start with the photos in my Photo library.  (For example, if they are emailed to me at the start of a deposition, I just save them into Photos.)  Next, in PDF Expert, I tap the My Files button on the top left of the file browser mode, and then I tap on Photo Albums at the very top.  (If you don't see this option, tap on the Settings icon — the gear — at the bottom left, then tap on File Manager, then turn on "Show Photos.")  Next, tap Select at the top right, and then tap on one or more photos to select it. 

Next, choose from one of the two options at the left, "Convert to PDF" which will convert each photo into its own PDF file, or "Merge to PDF" which will combine multiple photos into a single PDF file.  The PDF files that you create will show up in your My Files section.  I typically find it more useful to have a single PDF file with multiple photos, each photo on a different page of the PDF file, so I find the Merge to PDF feature more useful.

After going through this process, you have a PDF file full of pictures that you can annotate just like any other PDF file.  The Marker tool that I described above works particularly well if you want to circle something or write words on the photo because you can still see part of the photo underneath the marker (depending upon the level of opacity that you choose).  For example, in a deposition, have the witness point to one part of the photo, identify that on the record as the part of the photo that you are circling and putting a 1 next to, have the witness point to another relevant part of the photo, identify that as a different color circle with the number 2, etc.  When you are finished working with the document you can share the PDF file containing the annotated pictures with the other counsel in the case and the court reporter.  This method creates a high-quality (trial-ready) exhibit that clearly displays each photograph and your annotations.

When I first started practicing law in the mid-1990s, I remember that working with photos in a deposition was a huge pain.  You had to create large photos before you went to the deposition (which often meant a trip to the photo counter of a drug store), you had to use special pens that would write on a photo, and if you made a mistake while you were annotating, you often ruined the exhibit.  Creating photographic exhibits during a deposition using PDF Expert is infinitely better.

For a twist on this, what if you want to ask a witness about something on his company's website?  You can visit the website page during the deposition and create a screenshot of the page by pressing the power and volume up button at the same time.  Or, if you are using an Apple Pencil, a faster way to create a screenshot is to put the tip of the Pencil near the bottom left or bottom right corner of the screen and drag up about an inch.  Save the screenshot to your Photos, and then use the steps I identified above to convert the photo(s) into a PDF to take advantage of all of the advanced annotation tools in PDF Expert.

Custom toolbar

I mentioned this last month, but because it is such a useful tip, I'll mention it again.  When you purchase a subscription to PDF Expert, you gain the ability to create a custom toolbar containing the tools that you find most useful in the order that you find most useful.  In all of the screenshots above, you can see me using my Favorites tab as I add my annotations.  I have pre-selected the pen widths that I find most useful, the colors that I prefer to use, and the other tools that I use most often.  This makes me much more efficient when I annotate documents. 

For me, the custom toolbar is the #1 reason to pay for the subscription.  It makes this app a custom annotating tool that is configured exactly the way that I find it most useful.

Add a stamp

There are many reasons to add a stamp to a PDF document.  You might want to identify a document as an exhibit.  Perhaps you want to note that this is a draft document.  Or perhaps you want to put some other marker on it.  The stamp tool in PDF Expert has useful pre-made stamps, but it also makes it easy to create a custom stamp.

To add a stamp, just hold your finger down on part of a document to bring up the pop-up menu.  The fourth option is to add a stamp. 

If you tap the left tab in Stamps you can pick from among 20 ready-to-use stamps.  Here are the choices:

Simply tap the stamp that you want and it will be inserted into the document.  Note that the last stamp show above, the REVISED one, automatically includes the date and time. 

If you select the second tab, called Custom, you can create your own stamp.  There are two ways to do so.  You can create a Text Stamp, which contains whatever words that you want to type with a green, red, or blue gradient background — either just the text, or you can include the date and/or time.  You can create an Image Stamp, which just converts any image in your Photos library into a stamp. 

For example, I have a simple image of an exhibit sticker that I turned in to a PDF Expert stamp.  I can tap my exhibit stamp, place it wherever it belongs on my document, and then use the standard PDF Expert text tool to put a number or a letter on top of the sticker.  When I export that PDF file with the annotations flattened, the exhibit sticker becomes a part of the document.

I learned while I was preparing this post is that another advantage of having a subscription to PDF Expert is that you can add any specific stamp to your custom toolbar.  I just added my exhibit stamp to my toolbar, so now I can simply tap that tool — which even looks like my exhibit sticker — to place the stamp on a page.  Then I just move the stamp to the bottom corner of a document and add an exhibit number, and I am done.

Conclusion

While these are some of the PDF Expert tips and tricks that I use the most often, there is so much more that this app can do.  As I just noted, I just discovered a feature that was new to me as I was preparing this post — the ability to put a custom stamp in the toolbar.  Working with PDF files is such an important part of every lawyer's practice that you need to have a top-quality app for working with PDF files.  I encourage you to download the free PDF Expert app to see how this app works.  Once you start to use the app, you will see the advantage of paying for a subscription to access all of the advanced features that this app has to offer.  Thanks again to Readdle for creating such a perfect app for lawyers and for sponsoring iPhone J.D.

Click here to get PDF Expert by Readdle (free): 

Click here to get PDF Expert by Readdle (free): 

Twelve years of iPhone J.D.

There are twelve months in a year, twelve hours on a clock face, twelve jurors in a jury, twelve major Gods in Greek Mythology, twelve disciples of Jesus, twelve items in a dozen ... those who are interested in numerology have lots of reasons to be excited about the number 12.  I published the first post on iPhone J.D. on November 17, 2008, which makes today the 12th anniversary. 

A milestone always seems like an appropriate time to step back and take a look at where you have been, so I do that every year around this time on iPhone J.D.  As I look back at the almost 2,000 posts on iPhone J.D., I'm amazed at how far the iPhone and iPad have come, and I especially appreciate how useful they were during this past year.  For example, when the pandemic made it necessary for my wife and two kids to spent 24/7 in the same house for many months, it was wonderful to pick up my iPad and my Apple Stylus and go find a quiet corner of the home where I could be productive.  And with the vast reduction in face-to-face encounters, the communication capabilities of the iPhone and iPad have been more important than ever.

Popular posts this year.  Every year on the birthday of iPhone J.D. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), I find it interesting to look back and see which posts over the prior 12 months were the most popular.  The fact that these posts were so popular often sheds some light on what has been on the minds of attorneys and other folks using an iPhone or iPad.  Here, in order, are the top ten most viewed posts published in the last 12 months:

1. Microsoft Teams on the iPad and iPhone for videoconferences.  Because of limitations on seeing each other in person, videoconferencing has become so much more useful during the pandemic.  Thus, I suppose it should not surprising that a post about videoconferencing was the most popular post during the last 12 months.  I have used videoconferences to meet with with others at my law firm, meet with clients and potential clients, attend trial court and appellate court hearings, and visit with family members.  During the past year, "Zoom" has become a generic word.  But for much of my professional work, I use Microsoft Teams.  Teams on the iPad and iPhone is not quite as powerful as Teams on the computer, but the core features are there, and I have found it to be incredibly useful, whether I am using the videoconferencing feature or the chat feature.
2. How to make your Apple Watch speak the time out loud -- or not do so.  I usually keep my Apple Watch completely silent, although as I have been working at home even more during the pandemic, I've found myself turning sounds on more often.  This post focused on one trick for using sound on an Apple Watch.
3. GoodNotes vs. PDF Expert / GoodReader.  GoodNotes and PDF Expert get more use on my iPad than almost any other app.  However, they both have the ability to do similar things, and in this post, I discussed how to choose the best app for specific tasks.
4. AirPods Pro issue with crackling or static sounds.  I love my AirPods Pro, and that made it frustrating when I started to occasionally hear crackling or static sounds when wearing them.  In this post from August, I discussed the problem and how I requested a replacement from Apple.  As I noted earlier this month, Apple recently created a formal replacement service program because so many folks have experienced this same problem.  It's a shame that this problem cropped up, but it is nice that Apple has made it so easy to get replacements.
5. How to add memory foam to AirPods Pro.  Depending upon the shape of your ear, you may find AirPods Pro to be even more comfortable if you add memory foam to them.  I did so this past January, and I continue to use my AirPods Pro that way.
6. Review: Logitech MX Keys -- full-size Bluetooth keyboard for computer, iPad, and iPhone.  My review of the Logitech MX Keys was very enthusiastic, and I continue to love this keyboard.  It is a fantastic keyboard to use with a computer, and that alone is a reason to get it.  But in addition, you can tap a key to quickly switch between the computer, iPad, and iPhone.  When it is this easy to use the keyboard that is already in front of me with my iPad and iPhone, I do so more often, and that makes my iPad and iPhone even more useful.  For example, when I am using my computer and iPad to get work done and I need to chat with someone using the Messages app, I use my iPhone to do so and I tap one key on the keyboard so that I can type my text message using a real keyboard.  This makes it faster and easier to text in complete sentences.  And of course, using a keyboard with an iPad is useful for lots of reasons.  Even if you don't think that you are in the market for a new keyboard, I strongly encourage you to think about checking out this keyboard.  It is wonderful.
7. Review: eero Pro 3-pack -- blanket your home with fast Wi-Fi.  Wi-Fi is always important to have no matter where you are, but the pandemic made it clear that it was time to upgrade the Wi-Fi in my house, and I'm so happy that I did.  The eero Pro has worked incredibly well for me and all of the members of my family.  A new version, the eero Pro 6 was announced after I wrote that post, so I went back and updated the post about two months ago to explain what is new.  Keep in mind that the eero Pro 6 may be overkill for many right now.  For example, Texas attorney Tom Mighell recently posted a thread on Twitter warning that you can only take advantage of the increased speed of an eero Pro 6 with the newest devices, such as an iPhone 11 or iPhone 12.  Having said that, starting this week, you can get an eero Pro 6 3-pack for $100 more than the eero Pro, and you might want to spend the extra money to future-proof your system.  But whether you get the regular eero, the eero Pro, or the eero Pro 6, this is a fantastic mesh Wi-Fi system that I highly recommend.
8. Why lawyers will love the new iPad Pro (2020 editions: 12.9" 4th Generation and 11" 2nd Generation).  The iPad Pro is already an incredible device, and it gets better every time Apple updates it.  I wrote this post earlier this year when Apple released the 2020 version of the iPad Pro.  However, if you are currently thinking about getting a new iPad Pro, I actually encourage you to think about whether you can wait a little longer.  When Apple announced the iPad Air (4th generation) two months ago, Apple did such a good job of making the iPad Air almost as good as the current iPad Pro that I have to think that the next update to the iPad Pro is going to be significant so that there is, once again, a big reason to pay more for the iPad Pro.
9. Review: Anker PowerLine+ III USB-to-Lightning cable.  A good Lightning cable is always a useful iPhone accessory, and the newest edition to the Anker line of cables is an impressive product.  I've been getting a lot of use out of my Anker PowerLine+ III cable and I love how durable and useful it is.  Having said that, Anker sells lots of other Lightning cables too, which offer different features at different price points.  In this post, I explained what is different between each of the different types of Anker cables.
10. Why lawyers will love the new iPad Air (4th generation).  As much as I love my iPad Pro with its large 12.9" screen, if you want the medium-size iPad, this iPad Air has received rave reviews.  It is a great device.

Visitors to iPhone J.D.  Every year, I use this post to share some statistical information on iPhone J.D. visitors, to the extent that I can figure it out using the tools at my disposal — specifically, the Google Analytics service.

During the past 12 months, about 55% of readers visited iPhone J.D. from an iOS device, 22% used a Mac, and 16% used a PC.  What about the other 7%?  With some minor exceptions (such as 17 people who used a BlackBerry to read iPhone J.D.), virtually all of the remaining visitors during the past year used Android.  Perhaps some of them are current Android users who are thinking about making the switch to iPhone.  Safari was by far the most popular browser used to access iPhone J.D., which comes as no surprise, but about 28% used Chrome, which was higher than I expected.  Firefox is my browser of choice on my PC and my Mac, but only about 2% of iPhone J.D. readers in the past year used Firefox.

About 57% of iPhone J.D. visitors during the past year were in the U.S., which is the lowest percentage I ever remember seeing.  Over 10% of readers are in the U.K.  Canada (6%) and Australia (4%) make up another 10%.  Virtually all of the other countries are less than 1% each.  Suffice it to say that the lawyers and others who use an iPad or iPhone live all around the world.  And I always love it when lawyers from other countries reach out to tell me about how they are using an iPhone or iPad in their law practice.

Every year, I also look at the top cities for the folks who visit iPhone  J.D.  New York has been #1 every year except for 2015, when there were a few hundred more visitors from London.  This year, London is back on top again, once again just barely beating out New York by just a few hundred visitors during the past year.  Australia has two spots on the Top 10 list with Sydney and Melbourne in 4th and 5th place.  The State of Texas is also well-represented with Dallas and Houston taking 9th and 10th place:

1. London
2. New York
3. Los Angeles
4. Sydney
5. Melbourne
6. Chicago
7. Singapore
8. Toronto
9. Dallas
10. Houston

Other cities that have previously made the Top 10 list, but did not this year, include Atlanta (#11 this year), San Francisco (#12), and Washington D.C. (#17).  I live in New Orleans, which dropped to #53 this year, just below Edmonton, Canada, and just above Raleigh, NC on the list.  #1000 on the list is Manchester, England.  #2500 is Saint-Eustache, Canada.  This year, the seaside resort of Rimini, Italy — which Wikipedia tells me was founded by the Romans in 268 BC — is at the bottom of the list, with only 7 visitors in the past year.  I had actually planned to take a vacation in Italy this past summer, but my wife and I had to cancel the trip due to the pandemic.

Thank you to all of you, from around the world, who have posted a comment, sent me an email, stopped me to say hello, or who have just been regular visitors of iPhone J.D. over the past year.  Hopefully, the next twelve months will be better for all of us!

20 iPhone tips for lawyers in 2020

I was recently invited by the Monroe County Bar Association in Rochester, NY to participate in a CLE panel discussion called Phone Tips for Mobile Lawyers.  That gave me an opportunity to come up with a list of some of my favorite iPhone tips for 2020.  New York attorney Nicole Black, a lawyer and Legal Technology Evangelist with MyCase law practice management software, joined me to present iPhone tips.  Android tips were provided by Pamela Gratzer, the President/CEO of Mindware Connections, and New York attorney Steven Feder of Pirrello, Personte & Feder.  In today’s post, I’m sharing the iPhone tips that I discussed along with some of the tips that Niki described.  And a few of the tips shared by Pam and Steven have relevance to the iPhone as well, so I’ve included some of them.  Here are 20 iPhone tips for 2020:

(1) Use widgets to create a custom iPhone and iPad home screen.

Widgets are my favorite new feature of iOS 14, and I discussed how useful they are for lawyers in this post.  I love widgets because they provide the information that I need at a quick glance on my home screen.  And since I look at my home screen countless times every day, I am constantly receiving that key information without having to open an app first.

To create a widget, press down on an empty space on the home screen to enter “jiggle mode,” then press the + at the top left corner.  Choose an app, choose a widget size, and place the widget on the home screen.  After you place a widget, you may want to rearrange your icons around that widget.

You can create multiple widgets from a single app, and you can stack widgets and enable Smart Rotate.

(2) What’s My Update?

Ask Siri "What's my update" to get a personalized update of your weather, reminders, upcoming calendar items, and the latest edition of the news from NPR (updated hourly).  If you don’t want the news in your update, you can tell Siri “remove news from my daily update.”

(3) Read the fine print.

Your iPhone works great as a magnifying glass whenever you want to read the fine print, whether it be in a contract or a menu.  To use this tip, you need to enable using the side button for the magnification feature by Settings -> Accessibility and then under Vision turn on Magnifier.  Next, in Settings -> Accessibility, under General, set the Accessibility Shortcut to Magnifier.

Now, you can triple-press the side button on your iPhone to launch the Magnifier. You can slide the button along the bottom to change the amount of magnification. Once the text is in focus, you can (optionally) tap the big circle to maintain that focus.

(4) Move the cursor around on the iPhone while you are typing.

This is an oldie but definitely a goodie.  Hold down on the space bar for a second, and then the keyboard changes to a trackpad.  Then you can move the cursor wherever you want it in the text that you have already typed so that you can make edits.

(5) What’s that song that goes…

If you are trying to figure out what a song is and all that you remember is a line from the lyrics, fear not, even if you don’t remember the name of the artist.  You can just ask Siri.  For example, you can say: “Hey Siri, what’s that song that goes ‘all my troubles seemed so far away?’” and Siri will quickly tell you that the song is Yesterday by the Beatles.  Siri will also present you with a card that you can tap to bring up the song in the Music app.  

You don’t need to use Siri to do this.  You can also use the search bar in Apple Music to type a line of lyrics and the search results will include songs with those lyrics.

A related tip is to have your iPhone identify any song that is playing.  Go to Settings -> Control Center and then add Music Recognition (using the Shazam service) to your Control Center.  Now, if a song is currently playing, you can just swipe down and tap one button to identify the song.  I often use this if I’m watching a TV show or movie and a song starts to play that I like but I cannot identify.

(6) I’m almost there.

If you want to let someone know that you are on your way, you can certainly send them a quick text message and then give them an estimate of where you are located and how long it will take you to get someplace.  But if you want to be more precise, the Messages app has two helpful features.

First, you can type “I’m at” and then hit the spacebar. The iPhone will give you a suggestion of sending your current location on the map. Note that as soon as you tap the current location suggestion it immediately gets sent, even before you hit the blue send arrow.

Second, you can type “I’ll be there in” and then hit the spacebar.  If the iPhone thinks it knows where you are going (for example, if you are using Maps to navigate or you recently looked up a location), the iPhone will suggest how long it will take you to get there.  Just tap the suggestion and the other person will know where to expect you.

Another option is to let the person track you on the way there.  In Messages, tap the face(s) at the top so that you can see the info button at the top right, then tap the info button, then tap Share My Location.  You can share for one hour, until the end of the day, or indefinitely.  This is a useful feature if you are spending the day working with someone else such that it will be helpful for you to each to know where each other is located, and you don’t have to worry about remembering to turn off the feature when the day is over to maintain your privacy.

(7) Where have I been?

Trying to remember the name of that restaurant you went to last week in Boston?  Or trying to figure out how long you were at a location such as a courthouse, to help you to do your time sheets?  Your iPhone keeps a log of many of the places that you visit, and how long you were there.  Sometimes it is useful for you to go back and see where you have been.  But whether you use this feature or not, you should know that it is there in case someone else gets access to your iPhone and you don't want them to know where you have been.

Go to Settings -> Privacy -> Location Services -> System Services [all the way at the bottom] -> Significant Locations.  Your iPhone will confirm your identity before going to the next screen, which is a nice privacy check.  On that next screen, when Significant Locations is turned on, you will see a list of many (although probably not all) of the cities that you have been to recently.  Tap a city to see specific locations with the city and the specific times that you were there.  Sometimes it is missing items, and I wouldn't say it is 100% accurate.  But it is typically accurate enough.

Your iPhone uses this log of significant locations for providing location-related information to some of the built-in apps on the iPhone.  Apple tells you in the Settings app that "Significant Locations are encrypted and cannot be read by Apple."  Nevertheless, if you find this feature to be more creepy than useful, feel free to turn off Significant Locations.

(8) Back Tap.

This is an accessibility tip that anyone might find useful.  iOS 14 allows you to assign specific functions to a double-tap or triple-tap on the back of your iPhone.  I’ve learned that it isn't very hard to accidentally trigger the double-tap feature so I haven’t been using that one, but I find the triple-tap feature useful and I have never activated that one by accident.

Head to Settings -> Accessibility -> Touch -> Back Tap.  There’s a set list of system and accessibility functions you can assign to double or triple taps, such as taking a screenshot or activating Siri.  Better yet, you can assign any shortcut in your Shortcuts app, which opens up the feature to all kinds of powerful capabilities.  You can make a Back Tap turn on the camera in video mode.  You can use the Back Tap to open a specific app.  You can use it to send someone a specific message.  And there are countless other useful shortcuts that you can trigger.

(9) Long-press back button.

If you are many menus deep in an app and you want to go back to the top, it used to be that you would have to tap the back button in the upper left again, and again, and again, to get back to the top of the menu structure.  With iOS 14, you can press and hold the standard upper-left Back button to get a list of all the previous pages.

(10) Fixing a bad connection.

If you have trouble getting a good Wi-Fi or cellular connection, here are two tips that will sometimes fix it.  First, put your iPhone in Airplane Mode, wait about 10 seconds, and then turn Airplane Mode off again.  Second, if you are having trouble with a Wi-Fi connection, go to Settings -> Wi-Fi and then locate the name of your network.  Don’t tap the network name, but instead tap the info button (the “i” in a circle) to the right of the network name.  Then tap Forget this Network.  Now, connect to the same network again, which means entering the password.  This will often fix the problem you were previously having with that Wi-Fi network.

(11) VIP notifications.

I don’t let my iPhone or Apple Watch notify me every time I get a new email.  If I did, the notifications would often be non-stop.  But there are always a few people in my life who are important to me, and for them, I want to know right away if they send me a message.  My wife is always on that list.  And depending upon what project I’m working on, a client or another attorney may end up on that list for a period of time.  You can tell your iPhone to notify you only if those VIPs send you an email, and you can always add or remove folks from the VIP list depending upon the circumstances.

In Settings -> Notifications -> Mail, you can adjust how you want to receive mail notifications, both from normal new messages in your Inbox and from a VIP.  You can make someone a VIP by tapping on their name at the top of an email and then making them a VIP.  From your List of Mailboxes, if you enable the VIP mailbox, you can tap the information button to see a list of all of your VIPs.

(12) CarPlay icons.

You can control which icons appear on which screen of your CarPlay screen by going to Settings -> General -> CarPlay -> [your car name].  I put all of the apps I use on my main screen, and move the ones that I never use (such as the built-in app for my car) to the second screen.  And the apps that I use the most, such as Now Playing and Overcast, are on the left side of the screen so that they are easier to reach from the driver's seat.

(13) Mail previews.

In my Mail app, when I am looking at a list of messages, I prefer to just see the sender and the subject line, so that I can see even more messages on the screen at one time.  I know that others prefer to also see a preview of the beginning of the message.  You can adjust what you see in Settings -> Mail -> Preview [under Message List] and then select from None to 5 Lines.  Mine is set to None.

There are lots of other things that you can control in Settings -> Mail such as whether to organize your emails by thread, swipe options, etc.  Spend a little time poking around there to configure your Mail app in a way that makes the most sense for you.

(14) Use a parking app.

If you live in a community in which there is an app that you can use to pay for parking on a public street, download that app and configure your payment information so that it is ready to use whenever you want to use it.  These apps are useful while parking, but they are especially useful if you start to run out of time on your meter because you can add more time using the app, without having to go back to your car.  No need to take a break in a deposition to go feed the meter.

The app that I use in New Orleans is called Park Mobile, and it works in a large number of other cities.  Two years ago, I used the app to challenge and successfully beat a parking ticket.

(15) Use a Bluetooth keyboard that lets you quickly switch devices.

The device that Pam recommended during our CLE was the Logitech K480, which is a small, compact keyboard with a slot to hold up an iPad.  The one that I prefer is a full-size keyboard called the Logitech MX Keys (my review).  When you use this keyboard with your computer (PC or Mac), you can press a button or flip a switch to quickly have the keyboard start working with your iPad or iPhone.  This is one of my favorite purchases of 2020.

(16) Tap to Top.

When you are looking at a list of items on your iPhone, such as a long list of emails or most any other list, you can quickly jump to the top of the list by tapping the middle of the top of the iPhone screen.

(17) Take a photo while you are taking a video.

The videocamera on the iPhone is incredibly powerful, so much so that I no longer see a reason for most folks to purchase a stand-alone videocamera.  But sometimes, while you are taking a video, you also want to take a photo of whatever your iPhone is seeing.  To do this, just tap the camera button on the screen while you are taking a video, which appears next to the shutter button.

(18) Change Siri’s accent.

In the Settings app, go to Siri & Search -> Siri Voice.  You can select a Male or Female voice, with accents of American, Australian, British, Indian, Irish, or South African.

(19) Stop apps from asking for ratings and reviews.

Does it annoy you when one of your apps asks you to rate and review the app in the App Store?  You can turn that off.  Go to Settings -> App Store and turn off In-App Ratings & Reviews.

(20) Offload apps.

Your iPhone gives you the ability to remove an app from your device while keeping all of your documents and data associated with the app.  That way, if you don’t use an app very often, you can save space on your iPhone, but you can always restore the app later when you are ready to use it again (unless the developer removes it from the App Store).

You can have this process happen automatically by going to Settings -> App Store and then turn on Offload Unused Apps.  Or you can do it manually for an app by going to the Settings app, tap General and then tap iPhone Storage.   You will see all of your apps listed, sorted by how much space each app takes.  Tap on the app at issue and then select Offload App.  

Another reason to offload an app is to stop your iPhone from giving you the error message that "This app is no longer shared with you," as I discussed in this post.

BONUS TIP:  Use a password manager.

You need to use complex passwords for all of the online services that you access.  Otherwise, a hacker can guess your password.  And you need to use unique passwords for every service.  Otherwise, if a hacker learns about your password from one website, the hacker can use it to access your account on another website.  But nobody can remember a large number of complex, unique passwords.  That’s why you need to use a password manager.  Not only does it remember your passwords, it can create complex ones for you, and it can automatically enter the passwords on your iPhone (and iPad and computer) so it actually saves your time.

The password manager that I use and recommend is 1Password.  You may have seen me mention it on iPhone J.D. in the past, such as on 1/22/13, 2/3/14, 2/11/15, 6/18/15, 2/27/16, 5/2/17, 6/1/17, 7/20/17, 7/26/18, 5/6/19, and/or 6/17/19.  You know, just a few times.  Use a password manager! 

-----

This article won the BlawgWorld Pick of the Week award on November 24, 2020. The editors of BlawgWorld, a free weekly email newsletter for lawyers and law firm administrators, give this award to one article every week that they feel is a must-read for this audience.

In the news

Starting today, the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max are now available for purchase, which means that you can now buy any of the four models in the iPhone 12 family.  And when you do so, there is now a new option for getting and setting up your new iPhone.  But first, a little background.  In 2000, Ron Johnson joined Apple and became Apple's Senior Vice President for Retail.  As the guy responsible for the creation and original roll-out of the Apple Stores, he had incredible success.  In 2011, he left Apple to become the president of JC Penny, where he was far less successful and was fired after two years.  In 2014, he started a company called Enjoy, a company that changes the shopping experience by bringing a store to you.  An Enjoy employee goes to your house to help you set up a new device.  And the employee has additional accessories available for purchase.  Michael Steeber of 9to5Mac reports that Apple is now working with Enjoy for the iPhone 12, which means that Ron Johnson has gone full-circle and is now helping to sell Apple products again.  If you purchase an iPhone 12 using the Apple website or the Apple Store app, in select cities you can select Delivery with Setup during checkout and an Enjoy employee will bring your new iPhone to you and spend 30 minutes helping you set up your new device.  (Or, you can talk to the Enjoy representative via FaceTime for extreme social distancing.)  My understanding is that Enjoy is paid by Apple so there is no additional cost to you, and it looks like the service is available in 54 cities in the United States, plus locations in Canada and the UK.  This looks like an interesting alternative to visiting an Apple Store to purchase and have someone help you get started with a new iPhone.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Back in 2006, when I was living in New York City after Hurricane Katrina, I had a chance to chat with Ron Johnson at Apple's Fifth Avenue store.  Here is a picture of us.  I'm the one on the right — the one who didn't make hundreds of millions of dollars working at Apple.
• In an article for TidBITS, Glenn Fleishman wrote the best article on 5G that I've seen.  He explains how it works, why it matters, how to get it (in the U.S.), and what it may become in the future.
• Using AirPlay to mirror an iPad screen on a TV without wires is incredibly useful, making it easy to give a presentation.  For a long time, you could only do this with an Apple TV, which starts at $180.  But now, you can use AirPlay with an inexpensive Roku connected to a TV, which starts at $40.  Jared Newman of TechHive describes the experience of using AirPlay on a Roku, and he said that it works incredibly well.
• Jim Darlymple of The Loop wrote a detailed and interesting review of Apple's new HomePod mini.
• Emma Baccellieri of Sports Illustrated explains how MLB is using iPads in stadiums to recreate the sound of a crowd for baseball games played in empty stadiums.
• Jason Cross of Macworld reviews the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
• Travel photographer Austin Mann brought an iPhone 12 Pro Max to Zion National Park in Utah to show off what the camera can do.  His pictures are stunning.  And at the end of his article, he created a very helpful decision tree to help you to decide which model of the iPhone 12 is best for you.
• Bradley Chambers of 9to5Mac explains how HomeKit devices saved his car from being stolen.
• When I was a kid, my brother and I would spend countless hours playing the Atari 2600, and one of the things that I loved about it was the joystick.  In a recent episode of his YouTube show Will It Work, Niles Mitchell shows how he managed to connect (wirelessly) an Atari 2600 joystick to an iPhone so that he could play old Atari 2600 games on it, such as the Activision game Pitfall.  If you feel the same nostalgia for the Atari 2600 that I do, then you should check out the video.
• Apple has published its 2020 Holiday Gift Guide.  It's worth checking out just to see the fun design of that web page.
• And finally, while I don't think that the new MagSafe Wallet from Apple is for me, photographer Peter McKinnon is a fan of this product.  He prepared a compelling video to explain and show what is great about the MagSafe Wallet:

iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max -- the initial reviews are in

Although Apple started to sell the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro on October 23, 2020, that was only half of the iPhone 12 family.  Apple is now taking pre-orders for the other two phones:  the iPhone 12 mini and the iPhone 12 Pro Max.  The new phones go on sale this Friday.  Apple provided review units to select journalists, and their initial reviews were posted yesterday.  If you are trying to decide if these new phones are right for you, these reviews may help you to make your decision.  The reviews convinced me that the medium size was best for me, but I'm sure the small and large sizes will be attractive to lots of folks.  It is great that you now have so much to choose from in an iPhone family.

iPhone mini

The iPhone mini does everything that the iPhone 12 does.  It's just smaller and $100 cheaper.  For many, smaller is a really "big" deal because it makes it easier to hold the iPhone, use it in one hand, and fit it in a pocket.  Note, however, that it also means that the battery is smaller, and the initial reviewers found that you need to keep an eye on how much you use it if you want the battery to last all day.  The iPhone mini is a little bigger than the iPhone 5, and a little smaller than the iPhone 6, which makes it noticeably smaller than the iPhone 12. 

Here are some of my favorites of the initial reviews:

• Dieter Bohn of The Verge.
• Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal.
• Matthew Panzarino of TechCrunch.

iPhone 12 Pro Max

Two things make the iPhone 12 Pro Max special.  First, it is big.  Really big.  And that makes it heavier and harder to hold in one hand.  Reviewers tended to find that it was either too big or right at the end of feeling too big in your hand — which is precisely why I know that it is not for me.  But if you can get past that, you get the largest screen ever available in an iPhone.  Heck, it is almost like a smaller iPad.  And you also get more battery life.

Second, the extra $100 that you spend for the 12 Pro Max over the 12 Pro gets you a slightly better camera system.  The normal camera (which Apple calls "wide") has a larger sensor than the other phones in the iPhone 12 family.  As a result, it captures more light with less noise.  If you are in bright sunlight, no big deal.  But if the light is dim, your pictures with the iPhone 12 Pro Max will have more detail and will look better.  There are situations in which the iPhone 12 Pro would use Night Mode because of the low light but the iPhone 12 Pro Max can take a normal picture without resorting to Night Mode, resulting a more detailed and overall better quality picture.  Also, if you shake your hand while you are taking a picture or video, the 12 Pro Max has a different system that does a better job reducing the vibration.  And finally, the telephoto camera can zoom a little bit more than the iPhone 12 Pro (2.5x instead of 2x) and can do so with a little less light.  It is worth noting that, overall, most of the reviewers didn't find the camera improvements to be substantial over the iPhone 12 Pro.  But the improvements are there if you look for them.

Here are some of my favorites of the initial reviews:

• Nilay Patel of The Verge.
• Justine Ezarik of iJustine, who created a great video that goes back and forth between the different lenses.
• Matthew Panzarino of TechCrunch.
• Chris Velazco of Engadget.
• Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal.

Bonus tip:  Wall Street Journal and Apple News+

If you click on one of the Wall Street Journal links above and you don't subscribe to the Journal, you probably cannot read the articles (although you can still watch the great video that Joanna Stern included with her iPhone mini review).  But if you subscribe to Apple News+ (which I do, now since I signed up for the Apple One Premier account), here is a workaround that seems to work with any Wall Street Journal article:

First, open the article in Safari on an iPhone or iPad.  Second, tap the share button at the top right (the box with the arrow pointed up).  Third, in the row of app icons, scroll across until you find the News icon.  (If you don't see it, tap More, and then you will find it.  Better yet, tap More and then tap Edit to add News to your normal list of icons and to avoid the need to tap More in the future.).  Tap the News icon, and the article will open in the Apple News app.  And because you can read full Wall Street Journal articles in the News app if you subscribe to Apple News+, you will be able to read the entire article.

In the news

Apple released iOS 14.2 and iPad OS 14.2 yesterday. The most noticeable change is that it adds support for the new 2020 additions to the Emoji character set.  Jeremy Burge of Emojipedia shows and describes each of the new Emoji characters, such as Smiling Face with Tear, Disguised Face (with Groucho Marx glasses), new animals, new objects, and more.  And California attorney David Sparks discusses some of the other new features in iOS 14.2, as does Alex Guyot of MacStories.  One noticeable addition is the ability to add Shazam (Apple calls it Music Recognition) to your Control Center (the thing you access by swiping down from the top right on an iPhone with FaceID).  Another interesting new feature is that you can now ask Siri "What's my update" to get a personalized update of your weather, calendar, reminders, and the news, as noted by Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Starting today, you can pre-order an iPhone 12 mini or an iPhone 12 Pro Max.  Chance Miller of 9to5Mac links to some reviewers who have already posted initial impressions.
• You can improve security on your Wi-Fi router if it supports HomeKit.  If you use an eero or eero Pro, you can take advantage of this, as I noted in my recent review.  Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories reviews HomeKit security on the Linksys Velop Mesh WiFi Router System.
• Glenn Fleishman of Macworld explains how the Wi-Fi button in the Control Center works.
• Juli Clover of MacRumors compares the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro.
• Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac reviews Apple's new Leather Wallet with MagSafe.
• I'm a big fan of the Material Dock by Studio Neat, which I reviewed back in 2016.  It gives you a central location to charge an iPhone and Apple Watch, and I use one on my bedstand.  The one I use works with a Lightning cord to charge the iPhone, but Studio Neat now has a new version that works with MagSafe if you want to just place your iPhone down instead of plugging it in.
• Jason Cross of Macworld reviews the new iPad Air.
• Apple is now offering the AppleOne bundle.  If you get the Premier Plan, you get 2TB of iCloud storage.  What if you need more than that?  Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac explains that you can now add an additional 2TB of iCloud storage for another $9.99/month.
• Have you ever noticed a small orange or green dot at the top of your iPhone and wondered what it means?  Benjamin Mayo of 9to5 explains what the dots mean.  They show that the videocamera or the microphone on your iPhone is in use — a good security measure to watch out for in case you don't realize that an app is using the camera or microphone.
• If you are looking for a new show to watch on Apple TV+, I really enjoyed the first season of Tehran.  It's a spy thriller set in Iran, full of suspense and with twists and turns.  Much of the dialogue is not in English so you have to watch subtitles, but the show is totally worth it.
• So far, I've been unimpressed by 5G.  Michael Simon of Macworld notes that 5G can be incredibly fast on the iPhone 12, if you are lucky enough to be in the small area in which an mmWave tower is providing a signal.  He also says that sub-6GHz 5G can still be faster than 4G LTE; I'm sure that can be true, but it hasn't been true in most of my tests in New Orleans.
• And finally, if you want to learn more about 5G, I did enjoy watching this YouTube video in which Justine "iJustine" Ezarik interviews Francesca Sweet of Apple to discuss 5G on the iPhone:

Apple begins service program for AirPods Pro with inappropriate noises

About two months ago, I wrote about a problem that I was having with my AirPods Pro.  I would occasionally hear a strange crackling or static sound when I was using either noise cancellation or pass through mode.  Or sometimes, if there was a noise in the outside world, it would be even loader in one of my AirPods than it should be.  The problem was especially obvious when I was on a treadmill.  I noticed it with my left AirPod about four months after I started using them, and I noticed it in my right AirPod about eight months after I started using them.  Both times, I reached out to Apple, and Apple sent me a free replacement.

A few weeks ago, I started to notice the problem again with my left AirPod — the one that Apple had replaced about seven months earlier.  I figured that meant that I would need to go through the process of requesting a replacement again, and because AirPods have a one-year limited warranty, I knew that I would have to do it before the one-year anniversary of my purchase. 

However, on October 30, 2020, Apple launched a new AirPods Pro Service Program.  Apple now acknowledges that "a small percentage of AirPods Pro" that were "manufactured before October 2020" — in other words, any AirPods Pro currently in use — "may experience sound issues."  Apple says that one symptom is "[c]rackling or static sounds that increase in loud environments, with exercise or while talking on the phone."  Another symptom is "Active Noise Cancellation not working as expected, such as a loss of bass sound, or an increase in background sounds, such as street or airplane noise."  That describes my problem to a tee.  As a part of this new program, Apple will now replace an affected AirPod for up to two years from the date of purchase — double the original warranty.

To take advantage of this program, Apple says that you can visit an Apple Store, but with the risk of COVID-19, I wasn't interested in risking exposure to others in the small and traditionally crowded Apple Store located in the Lakeside Shopping Center near New Orleans.  Fortunately, that wasn't necessary.  Using the Messages app on my iPhone, I initiated a chat session with Apple support.  I began by simply typing "AirPods Pro support."  A bot immediately responded by asking me to provide my serial number and then I was quickly connected to a real person. 

I told the person about the problems that I was having with my left AirPod, and I was asked the following questions:

• Are your AirPods fully charged?
• Have you tried cleaning the AirPods case?
• Are there any nearby sources of interference?
• Does this happen with more than one device, like another iPhone or iPad, etc.?
• Have your AirPods and/or charging case experienced any accidental or liquid damage?
• Have you tried resetting them?

After I answered all of those questions, the support representative set up a replacement for me.  Apple sent me a pair of new AirPods (even though I was only experiencing problems with the left one — so far, at least).  I wasn't sent a new charging case; just the individual AirPods.  They each came in a separate box, and it only took 48 hours for the AirPods to show up via FedEx. 

I put each old AirPod in the same box, exposed the self-addressed return label, and dropped them off at a FedEx location for a free return.  (Apple put a hold on my credit card for the $198.92 cost of a replacement AirPod, but I know from my prior experiences that Apple will cancel that hold once they receive the return.)

As for the new AirPods, I put them in my current case (first the old left one with the new right one, and then later the new left one with the new right one), and I waited about 10 minutes.  Then I removed the memory of the prior AirPods from my iPhone (Settings -> Bluetooth ->  AirPods Pro -> Forget This Device), held down the button on the back of the case with the case open until the white light flashed on the front, then I paired my AirPods with my iPhone again.

So far, the new AirPods Pro work great.  Not only do I no longer experience the bizarre noises, but I'm actually finding that the noise cancellation function works a little better than it ever did before.  It seems like it is keeping out even more outside noises.  Also, when I run the Ear Tip Fit test within the Settings app, I'm virtually always getting the "Good Seal" test result:

With my prior AirPods Pro, that test failed for me almost every single time, as I noted in my review.

I have no idea what was originally causing this problem and what Apple did to fix it.  And at this point, I obviously don't know if I will start to experience new problems in a few months.  But for now, I'm very happy, and hopefully, Apple has really fixed it this time.

If you use AirPods Pro and you occasionally experience some of these bizarre noises, I encourage you to take advantage of the new AirPods Pro Service Program.  AirPods Pro are amazing — one of my favorite Apple products — and I use them every single day.  It is great to have them performing at their best 100% of the time.