Just two days after providing an Apple Watch award for doing a workout on Earth Day, Apple declared yesterday Global Close Your Rings Day and provided a limited-edition award and animated stickers for the Messages app to anyone who closed all of their rings. Apple had a reason to celebrate yesterday because, as Jason Snell of Six Colors noted, it was ten years ago yesterday that Apple started selling the Apple Watch. I closed my three circles yesterday in my absolute favorite way: walking around Jazz Fest. There are lots of great things about New Orleans—the restaurants, the architecture, the history, Mardi Gras, etc.—but one of the very best is the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May every year when the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival takes place. Whether it is local New Orleans artists or international superstars, the music is always great, the food is incredible, there are lots of arts and crafts for sale, and it is almost impossible not to have a great time. Yesterday, my wife and I saw an artist that I expected to be great, and he was amazing—the Cajun fiddler Waylon Thibodeaux—and I saw an artist I had never heard of before, and he was also amazing—the bluegrass artist and multiple Grammy award winner Sam Bush. My Apple Watch wasn’t just used to close circles yesterday. I also made a lot of purchases at Jazz Fest (mostly from food vendors), and it was a delight to use Apple Pay to make each purchase quickly. If you haven’t yet experienced Jazz Fest in New Orleans, now you have something great to put on your bucket list. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Speaking of the Apple Watch, this week Jason Snell of Six Colors discussed sleeping with an Apple Watch. After trying it for a while, he is thinking about stopping doing so. However, I still like wearing mine every night for all of the reasons that Snell discussed as the reasons he tried it out, and I intend to keep doing so. The only real downside is the need to charge it when I wake up, but I find that putting my Apple Watch on a fast charger while I get ready in the morning is almost always enough time for it to recharge.
• If you’d like a new watch band for your Apple Watch, I’ve noted in the past the occasional sales from Woot where you could get a $50 Solo Loop for only $20. Mitchel Broussard of MacRumors notes that Woot is currently running a really interesting sale: you can get three Solo Loop bands (normally $150) for just $20. And you can get two Braided Solo Loop bands (normally $200) for only $30. The catch is that you don’t get to pick the colors. Woot selects the colors, although they promise that you won’t get the same color more than once. I took advantage of the Solo Loop band deal, and I’m interested to see what colors I’ll get. Maybe they will be colors that I would never buy—like Canary Yellow—but at these prices, I’m willing to spin the wheel and see what I get. In fact, I’m thinking of taking advantage of the Braided Loop deal too. I tried out a Braided Loop last year (I returned it when I also returned an Apple Watch model), but as I noted in my review, the Braided Loop is a very comfortable watch band, and my only complaint was the $99 price. But two for $30? Hmm.
• Leander Kahney of Cult of Mac lists numerous ways that an Apple Watch has saved someone’s life.
• We all know that Apple needs to improve Siri, and David Sparks of MacSparky created a short but compelling video that demonstrates why Apple should just buy a product called Perplexity. Check it out to see what this app can do today. David is right: Siri should be doing all of this and more.
• Speaking of AI, one of the best engines for converting audio into text is Whisper, which was created by OpenAI. Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reports that the excellent app that brings Whisper to the Mac called MacWhisper is now available for iPhone and iPad.
• I haven’t seen it yet, and since the reviews have been poor, I’m not sure if I will see it, but Netflix is airing a Dutch movie called iHostage that tells the true-life story of a 2022 event in the Amsterdam Apple Store when a gunman held dozens of people hostage. Whether or not you watch the movie, you should watch the short behind-the-scenes video shared by Hartley Charlton of MacRumors that shows how the the production team recreated an entire Apple Store on a sound stage. Very neat.
• Speaking of the Amsterdam Apple Store, Malcolm Owen of AppleInsider reports that on a day that the store was recently closed, the doors were left open—and instead of chaos ensuing, the folks who discovered it acted responsibly. That’s not interesting enough to be the plot of iHostage 2: Open Doors, but it is nice to see people doing the right thing.
• Stephen Silver of AppleInsider shares a number of interesting iPhone-related stories from police reports and elsewhere, such as a Florida UPS driver accused of stealing 171 iPhones, a thief of a STIHL concrete saw whose crime was thwarted by an AirTag, a false report of an iPhone theft, and more.
• Two weeks ago, I discussed the thorny issue of customs agents demanding to search your iPhone when you return to the United States—especially if you are an attorney with confidential information on your iPhone that you are legally bound to keep confidential. Although this article wasn’t written for attorneys, Lily Ham Newman and Matt Burgess of Wired provide tips for protecting yourself from iPhone searches at the U.S. border.
• Apple released a new Immersive Video for the Apple Vision Pro yesterday. It is an episode of the Adventure series (Apple TV+ link), and it is called “Hill Climb.” In the episode, you ride along with driver Laura Hayes as she races the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
• And finally, Apple released a new video yesterday called Trust Issues that emphasizes the Ceramic Shield that Apple uses on the iPhone 16, which Apple says is two times tougher than any other smartphone glass. The Ceramic Shield was first used with the iPhone 12, and it has become even more durable in subsequent iterations. It is a neat technology because Apple binds nano-ceramic crystals, which are harder than most metals, into glass while still keeping the glass clear.

When Apple announced iOS 15 almost four years ago, one of the features added to Apple Maps was support for immersive walking directions using augmented reality. It’s a neat feature because after you start using the Maps app to walk to a place, you can just hold up your iPhone, and once the camera senses the buildings around you, the iPhone screen changes to a live view of the outside world with directions superimposed on top. This makes it crystal clear which way you need to walk. It is much better than looking down at a 2D map and trying to figure out which way you are currently facing.

When this feature first launched, only a few cities were supported: London, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. I never had both a reason and an opportunity to try out the feature in any of those cities, so I hadn’t used it. But as I noted this past Friday, Apple recently enhanced the Apple Maps data in New Orleans, which is where I live, so I have now had a change to try out the feature. It works really well.

This past weekend, I was at the Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium with my kids, which is right next to the Mississippi River. When we were done, my daughter requested that we get ice cream, so I used Apple Maps and found a store that was close and initiated walking directions. Next, I held up my iPhone, and I could see exactly which way to walk next thanks to large arrows and street names superimposed on the world around me:

Once we got close enough that the store was just across the street, the Maps app showed me exactly where the store was located, making it unnecessary to figure out the precise street address:

And the pin remained there as we got closer:

I realize that this feature is not new to Apple Maps. And I realize that Google Maps also has a similar feature called Google Maps AR Live View. But this was the first time that I tried this feature, and it was nice to use.

While using this feature, I couldn’t help but think about how incredible it would be to have this feature embedded in a future generation of the Apple Vision Pro, one that is compact enough to be the size of a normal pair of glasses. Let’s call it Apple Glasses™. It would be great to be able to look at the world around me just like I always do and also see relevant information—such as Apple Maps directions—superimposed on the world around me. I have no doubt that this is coming in the future. It is just a question of when, and how much it will cost.

A really good album just showed up on the music streaming services: Looziana Wing Dang Doo by the New Orleans band Beau Swank. You should check it out. Okay, I’ll admit to some bias here because this is my father’s band, and he wrote all of the songs. But trust me: he is a very talented songwriter, and these songs are great. If you want to start with just one song, my favorite is probably Track 8, “Back in Thibodaux,” but I also love Track 2, “Marigny Mambo.” Those are Apple Music links, but you can listen to the album on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, Pandora, iHeartRadio, or just about any other streaming music service that is out there. Here is some information on this album and the impressive musicians in Beau Swank. And at the end of this post, I have some bonus links and a video from a live performance.

Looziana Wing Dang Doo!

The album Looziana Wing Dang Doo! from Beau Swank is collection of songs that celebrate New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana. In New Orleans, The Livin’ is Easy (Track 1) on Frenchman Street, where the hipsters meet to do the Marigny Mambo (Track 2). We made it through Hurricane Katrina, and The New New Orleans (Track 3) is our revival. Up Burgundy on a Sunday cruise we meet the Bywater’s daughter, the beautiful Dauphine (Track 4). And on River Road and Oak, we see the Batture Girl (Track 5).

Heading outside of the city, we cruise through Bridge City (Track 6) and Paradis (Track 7) before we find ourselves Back In Thibodaux (Track 8). In Lafayette, we do the two-step as we dance the Lafayette Waltz (Track 9). We pass a good time enjoying the Looziana Wing Dang Doo (Track 10). And of course, we celebrate the voodoo swamp chant ChaQueVuLeMau (Track 11). We finish up our dancing with the Bon Ton Boogie (Track 12). And we finish up the year with a Crescent City Christmas (Track 13).

Beau Swank is a cast of well-seasoned musicians. The band was founded by New Orleans musician Bob Richardson, who wrote all of the songs, plays rhythm guitar, and sings lead vocals on this album. The studio magic was sparked by Buzzy “Beano” Langford (guitarist for The Topcats), who served as co-producer. The other artists on this album include:

• Mike Barras. Barras is a first-call drummer seen on many Jazz Fest stages. He has performed with Amanda Shaw, Jim McCormick, the Joe Krown Organ Combo, Gregg Allman, Aaron Neville, Jimmy Buffett, and many others.
• Zen Crook. Crook is a Nashville cat on the keyboard, and it seems like he played with almost everyone in the 1970s and 1980s including Emmylou Harris, Kenny Rogers, Roy Orbison, and Ricky Nelson. He was also featured on the Grammy-nominated album by Joe Maphis, Flat-Picking Spectacular.
• Ronnie Rauber. Rauber plays bass guitar for Beau Swank. He toured during the 1970s and 1980s with The Roamin’ Togas, a Louisiana supergroup.
• Skeet Stiller. Stiller plays lead guitar with Beau Swank. He has also played with the New Orleans group Pigeon Town.
• Mike Loupe. Loupe played guitar and horns on this album, and he is often seen performing throughout the French Quarter.
• Dwight Breland. Breland played played steel guitar on the song “Lafayette Waltz.” He has played with many other Cajun and rock artists over the years including Waylon Thibodeaux and Beaubassin.

Sit back, open the windows, and smell the gumbo and the sauce piquante. Beau Swank is at the wheel, so you can relax as you enjoy the album.

More from Beau Swank

For more from Beau Swank, an EP called Gras Deux is also available on Apple Music and elsewhere. It features four of the songs on Looziana Wing Dang Doo, but the singer on those tracks is Pete Adams (who was the lead singer of The Roamin’ Togas), so the songs have a different sound. I prefer the versions of the songs on Looziana Wing Dang Doo, but Pete Adams does have a great voice.

There is also a great cover of the song “Back to Thibodaux” that was recorded by the Louisiana band The Abita Stumps on their 2024 album You Know Why I’m Here. (Apple Music link.) They played it as a slow song, which almost makes it sound like a completely different song. It’s a fun change, even though I prefer the original.

And finally, one of my all-time favorite songs that my father wrote and that Beau Swank performed is not available on an album, but there is a YouTube video of the band performing the song live at the famous venue Rock ‘N’ Bowl in New Orleans in 2021. It is called “Mexican Eyes.” The tune is catchy, and it tells a sweet (fictional) story of a man who works making doughnuts in Brownsville, Texas, while daydreaming about a woman he met one night in Tijuana, Mexico. Here is that video, and I’ll end this post with the lyrics:

Mexican Eyes

In a room down the hall
In a hole in the wall
Charlie dreams that he’s south of the border

In a little café
Just down Mexico way
With the brown eyes of Poncho’s sweet daughter

As they danced round and round
To the guitars and sweet harmonies

As he stares at the mixer
that goes round and round
In the backroom of Joe’s Bakery

And he dreams about
A Tijuana night

The moon sung oh so low
And he was high as a Mexican kite

The mariachis played
To the dance of the Mexican flies

Ai yi yi yi
Dreaming of Mexican eyes

Well he’s covered with flour
He works by hour
Across from the Brownsville train station

Yeah he works baking doughnuts
And the job makes him so nuts
He dreams of his one week vacation

With cool margaritas
And sweet senoritas
All Day

The look of surprise
In Maria’s brown eyes
Whenever ‘ol Poncho’s away

And he dreams about
A Tijuana night

And the moon sung oh so low
He was high as a Mexican kite

And the mariachis played
To the dance of the Mexican flies

Ai yi yi yi
Dreaming of Mexican eyes

Yi yi yi yi
Dreaming of Mexican eyes

(c) 1995 Robert Richardson

I was a guest on the latest episode of the excellent Vision Pros podcast hosted by Tim Chaten. I listen to every episode of this podcast, and if you have any interest in the Apple Vision Pro, I think that this is the best podcast out there. For example, I loved Tim’s recent interview of Tom Rettig to discuss what Rettig is doing with The Spatialists, including the astonishing good video it created featuring bluegrass band AJ Lee & Blue Summit. In that episode, Rettig discussed additional spatial videos that they plan to release in 2025, and I cannot wait.

In episode 39 of the Vision Pros podcast, I talk with Tim about how I use my Apple Vision Pro to get work done as a lawyer, why the Vision Pro is so amazing for photos and videos (especially Immersive Video), and how I think that future generations of the Apple’s Vision devices and similar devices from other companies have the potential to be transformative for lawyers—not only to be more productive, but also as a tool to persuade a judge or jury.

You can click here to listen to the podcast. There is also a YouTube version (no video) if you prefer that method of listening to a podcast:

My law firm was closed yesterday for Good Friday, but I went to my office anyway—wearing shorts and an Emory T-shirt instead of a button-down shirt—to record the latest episode of the In the News podcast, and it came out great. Brett Burney and I started by explaining why you should immediately update to iOS 18.4.1, then we discussed the latest news on Apple tariffs and the recent rumors from Mark Gurman about the sequels to the Apple Vision Pro. We also talked about the multiple ways that Apple is celebrating Earth Day on Tuesday, a fun new look for the Apple Pencil Pro, what is so magical about Hex Code #242424, a few great iPhone tips, the latest features of Apple Maps, and nano-texture screens.

In our In the Show segment, we discuss the Apple TV+ shows The Studio and Mythic Quest.

In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for using Focus Mode to adjust your Home Screen, and I explain how and why it can be incredibly useful to create and hide home screen pages.

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:

I love using my Apple Vision Pro, but I know that it is tough to recommend because it is an expensive, first-generation device. (I love my iPhone too, but even I didn’t own the very first one that was released in 2007.) Thus, I’m incredibly curious about where the product might go in the future, not only to make the product better but also to increase its appeal. This week, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reported a rumor that Apple has two new devices in development. And while you need to be a Bloomberg subscriber to read that article, his article has been discussed extensively on other sites, such as this article by Aminu Abdullahi of TechRepublic. Rumor has it that one model will be a cheaper and lighter version of the Apple Vison Pro. That seems obvious to me. Indeed, I always assumed that this first model was called the Apple Vision Pro specifically because there would at some point be something called “Apple Vision” or “Apple Vision Air” that is cheaper and lighter. The rumor is that the second model will be a cheaper device that must be tethered to a Mac to work. I guess the idea is that you leave the two screens in the Vision Pro but that is about it, turning it into a display that is connected to a Mac. It is easy for me to understand how this would work because I routinely use my Apple Vision Pro in Mac Virtual Display mode where I use the keyboard, mouse, and brain of my Mac Mini, and the Apple Vision Pro connects (wirelessly) and becomes a huge virtual screen for my Mac. Indeed, there would be an advantage to tethering: the connection could be much faster than my current wireless connection, which Gurman says would be perfect for low-latency tasks like surgical imagining or flight simulators. These two new versions of the Vision Pro both sound like great ideas, so it seems highly likely to me that Apple has been at least trying to make these two devices. Whether either or both will ever be released as shipping products remains to be seen. And now, the other news of note from the past week:

• Apple released iOS 18.4.1 this week and similar updates for its other platforms. As Marko Zivkovic of AppleInsider reports, this update fixes two security exploits that were actively being used by bad guys. If you have been waiting to update your device, I encourage you to go ahead and do so now.
• The two security flaws Apple patched have the security designation CVE-2025-31200 and CVE-2025-31201. The “CVE” part refers to the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures system, a critically important system used by everyone to identify and address security flaws. The system is maintined by a not-for-profit organization founded in 1958 called The Mitre Corporation, and it is funded primarily by the U.S. federal government. It looked like that was going to change this week when the Trump Administration inexplicably decided to stop funding the CVE program, as reported by Jessica Lyons of The Register. Fortunately, as Lyons reported in a follow-up article, saner heads prevailed at the 11th hour, and the Trump Administration reversed course. Thank goodness, but it is astonishing that this was even a possiblity this week.
• Last week, I discussed the impact of the Trump Administration tariffs on Apple. Jeff Stein, Elizabeth Dwoskin, and Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post report on how Apple CEO Tim Cook worked behind the scenes with the Trump to get an exemption for some of those tariffs, at least for now.
• Earth Day is on Tuesday, April 22. To celebrate, Apple announced that the day will be Global Close Your Rings Day on the Apple Watch. If you close all three Activity rings that day, you will earn a limited-edition award, plus 10 animated stickers and an animated badge that you can use in the Messages app.
• …but that’s not all. From now until May 16, 2025, Apple is running a 2025 Earth Day Promotion. If you go to an Apple Store and turn in an old device for recycling, you can get 10% off the cost of over a dozen Apple items such as Apple Watch bands, the Apple Pencil, iPhone cases, and AirPods 4. The discount doesn’t apply to other popular products like the iPhone, AirPods Pro, or Macs. Details are on this page of the Apple website.
• Ten years ago today, my podcast co-host Brett Burney—who was the chair of ABA TECHSHOW 2015—was on a panel to give a presentation called 60 Sites in 60 Minutes. Brett didn’t know me very well at the time, but I’m delighted to be reminded that iPhone J.D. was one of his 60 Sites. This year, at ABA TECHSHOW 2025, Brett was on a panel called 60 Tech Tips in 60 Minutes, and Danielle Braff of ABA Journal wrote about that session and shared some of the 60 tech tips.
• If you want to get a cable from Apple but you want something more exciting than the color white, Malcolm Owen of AppleInsider reports that this week the Beats division of Apple has launched a line of colorful, premium cables featuring a woven design to avoid tangles and fraying. The colors offered at this time are Bolt Black, Surge Stone, Nitro Navy, and Rapid Red.
• Speaking of colors, ColorWare has long offered the ability to sell Apple products painted with vibrant colors. Marko Zivkovic notes that ColorWare is now selling a custom-painted Apple Pencil Pro that looks like a crayon. They are very cute. I certainly don’t need one, and I suppose that it wouldn’t look very professional to use one in court or in a deposition. But I cannot deny that a part of me really wants one.
• David Sparks of MacSparky has used some interesting home screens for his iPhone in the past, but his latest home screen is particularly interesting and unlike anything I have seen before. He created it using the great Widgetsmith app. Check it out.
• The staff of Wirecutter, part of the New York Times, identified 18 iPhone tips and tricks that you might not know about.
• Last year, Apple released a beta version of Apple Maps that you can access using a web browser. Filipe Espósito reports that Apple Maps on the web is no longer in beta, and it now works on many new devices. You can also now use the service on an iPhone (maps.apple.com), but I’m not sure why you would do so when you can just use the native Maps app. But it is nice that you can share an Apple Maps link and know that someone else can open it, even if they are not using a device with an Apple Maps app.
• Speaking of Apple Maps, I just noticed that the the Look Around service of Apple Maps (which is similar to Google Street View) came to New Orleans in January 2025—just before the Super Bowl took place in this city, although maybe that is just a coincidence. So if you cannot come visit me in the Big Easy, you should now feel free to take a virtual look around. You can tell when Look Around is available for a location because a binoculars icon appears at the bottom left of the Maps app. The images of New Orleans in Apple Maps seem to be from 2023 and 2024, which, for now, makes them a little more recent than the images in Google Maps. But Google Maps has the advantage of including multiple images taken over one or two decades. In my law practice it is sometimes more useful to see what a location looked like many years ago.
• Along with adding Look Around, New Orleans now has the Apple Maps Detailed City Experience, which means that when you are using the Maps app (not the web browser version), there is considerably more detail, such as 3D buildings, trees, crosswalks, turn lanes, etc. And many landmarks have detailed 3D models, such as the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square in the French Quarter. There is a page on the Apple website that identifies 27 cities with a Detailed City Experience, but it doesn’t yet include New Orleans on that list, nor does it include Amsterdam, which was added in October 2024, according to Bogdan Popa of Autoevolution.
• One of the new hit shows on Apple TV+ is The Studio. Russ Milheim of The Direct interviewed co-showrunner Alex Gregory to discuss the show. One thing Gregory noted is that while Apple has yet to pick up the show for a second season, the creators of the show have no specific endpoint in mind, and they can see the show going on for many seasons. Gregory says “I think we’d like to keep doing it indefinitely.”
• I’m a fan of the Apple TV+ show Mythic Quest. The fourth season just ended, and while a fifth season had been planned, Apple apparently decided that four seasons were enough. However, as reported by Joe Ottreson of Variety, an alternative version of the last episdoe of Season 4 was filmed, and that different version of that epside is now being released to provide more finality to the series. I plan to watch that tonight. A four-episode anthology series called Side Quest was also released in 2025, and it is also quite good.
• And finally, certain Apple devices such as the iPad Pro and the MacBook Pro provide the option of purchasing a nano-texture display, which reduces glare. I’ve never felt the need to add it to any of my devices (it is rare for me to use them for long periods of time in the bright sun or a bright light that I cannot avoid), but many people tell me that they love this feature. Apple released a new commercial this week called Low Glare that emphasizes the advances of a nano-texture display. (And for another funny commercial released by Apple this week, check out Up to 24 hours.)

Brett and I start this week’s episode of the In the News podcast discussing the impact of the new U.S. tariffs on the cost of the iPhone and other Apple products. And it’s not just Apple products; products sold by Anker are already considerably more expensive. Next, we explain why you need to be careful when your device offers to update a contact entry, preparing for a potential interaction with U.S. customs agents, and some great tips for using the Goodnotes app.

In our Where Y’at? segment, we discuss two ways in which an Apple Watch can save lives. Then we discuss the Apple Vision Pro and the new Apple TV+ shows.

In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for creating a PDF file on the iPhone or iPad, and I share a tip for the pinch-and-zoom gesture.

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:

I wish I could just talk about useful apps today, but this week, it is impossible to talk about Apple news without talking about politics. For example, Aditya Kalra, Abhijith Ganapavaram, and Munsif Vengattil of Reuters report that Apple chartered planes to bring 600 tons of iPhones to the United States from India to get them in the United States before President Trump’s tariffs began, and I’ve seen similar reports about Apple bringing in more iPhones from China and elsewhere. And yet, that might not make much of a difference. John Gruber of Daring Fireball discusses some math done by Ryan Jones: five freight plans full of iPhones is only 12 days of sales, at most. And it may be even less than 12 days because I’ve heard numerous anecdotal reports that people packed Apple stores this past weekend to purchase iPhones before they became subject to a potential Trump Tax in the event that Apple raises prices to compensate for the tariffs. Raising prices is one of Apple’s options, but Jason Snell of Six Colors notes that Apple has a few other options as well, not that any of them are good. Richard Luscombe of The Guardian reports that the White House asserts that Apple can simply make iPhones in the United States to avoid the tariffs, but experts who actually know what they are talking about have explained that the United States doesn’t have the workforce or the manufacturing capacity to do so, and it would take years for Apple to try to compensate in this way. To be fair, I recognize the need for perspective: the misfortune resulting from President Trump’s executive orders on people who want to purchase Apple products pales in importance compared to what many other people are going through right now as a result of this administration. Nevertheless, this is undeniably the big news for Apple this week. And now, the rest of the news of note from this week:

• One of the recent Trump administration scandals involving the iPhone was when National Security Advisor Mike Waltz discussed plans for an airstrike in Yemen using the Signal app instead of normal governmental channels and then added a reporter, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, to the chat group. We now have an answer for why Goldberg was added to the group. Anthony Ha of TechCrunch reports that the iPhone’s contact suggestion update feature caused Waltz, in the past, to mistakenly add Goldberg’s phone number to his contact entry for Brian Hughes, who is now a Trump spokesman. I recommend that you read this report so that you don’t make a similar mistake when you update one of your own contact entries. As for the even bigger question of why they used Signal to discuss incredibly confidential military secrets, we still don’t have a satisfactory answer to that one.
• Apple is not just dealing with the United States government. The UK government has ordered Apple to break its encryption so that the UK can access confidential information that it deems important about people located anywhere in the world. Moreover, the UK has prohibited Apple from even talking about that order or Apple’s challenge to the order in the courts. Nevertheless, the press found out about it anyway and challenged the confidentiality requirement. James Warrington of The Telegraph reports that media organizations prevailed in their challenge to the secrecy order. As a result, we should be learning more about what Apple and the UK government are arguing and how the UK court ultimately rules.
• One thorny issue for U.S. lawyers who travel outside of the United States is what to do when federal customs agents demand to search your iPhone when you return home. You are likely to have confidential information on your iPhone that is protected by the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, so you don’t want to reveal that information to the federal government as a condition for your returning home. But you also cannot just ignore customs agents. I first wrote about this issue back in 2017, and unfortunately, I don’t have much of a better answer today than I did back then. Attorney Amir Makled recently dealt with this issue, as reported by Tresa Baldas of the Detroit Free Press. Because he had happened to represent someone who had been arrested during a college protest, the attorney’s name was placed on a government list. Thus, when he came home after taking a family vacation out of the country, customs agents stopped him at the Detroit airport, brought him to an interrogation room, and demanded access to his phone. The article describes how Makled responded. If you are a U.S. attorney and you plan to travel outside of the country, I urge you to think about what you will do if you are subject to a similar interrogation so that you will have an action plan in place.
• Mahnoor Faisal of XDA provides three good tips for using the Goodnotes app to take notes.
• The Zens Quattro Charger Pro 4 is an interesting charger that was recently released. It costs $149.99, and it lets you charge four different devices at the same time on two shelves. Zac Hall of 9to5Mac wrote a review, and he is impressed.
• Jason Cross of Macworld explains why he is a big fan of using Comply foam tips with the AirPods Pro. (They are about $20 on Amazon.) I’ve used them and been a fan for many years, for the reasons I explained in this post. I recently went back to using Apple’s tips just to remind myself of the differences. I like that Apple’s own tips do a better job of fitting in the case. However with Apple’s tips, I have had an AirPod fall out of my ears twice over the last few weeks, and for that reason, I am thinking about going back to the Comply tips.
• The latest version of Apple’s HomeKit technology supports robot vacuums. Rajesh Mishra of the Mac Observer recommends specific models that now work with HomeKit.
• Chris Keall of The New Zealand Herald reports on a woman who learned that she had cancer because of her Apple Watch. The Vitals app alerted her that her heart rate had increased substantially, and that prompted her to see a doctor and learn that she had blood cancer that could have killed her within days. She is now receiving treatment.
• Rudie Obias and Danielle Directo-Meston of The Hollywood Reporter note that for the next few weeks, you can sign up for Apple TV+ for only $2.99/month, a 70% savings. That’s a great discount, and with so many fantastic shows on Apple TV+ right now, I encourage you to take advantage of it if you don’t currently subscribe.
• David Snow of Cult of Mac explains why you should watch the Apple TV+ show The Studio. I’ve really enjoyed the first three episodes, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.
• The new show on Apple TV+ that starts today is Your Friends and Neighbors, a dark comedy starring Jon Hamm, Olivia Munn, and Amanda Peet. The early reviews have been quite good. For example, John Powers of NPR calls it “a perfect role for Hamm, who carries with him our memories of Don Draper’s dark-souled charisma, then takes this sort of character in a new direction—funnier, sadder and more sympathetic. He’s never been better.” I’m excited to start watching it.
• Jason Snell of Six Colors identifies his favorite shows on Apple TV+, and he has some great ones on his list.
• There is a new show coming to Apple TV+ on May 16 that looks very interesting called Murderbot. It is a Sci-Fi workplace comedy, which is a genre you don’t see very often, starring Alexander Skarsgård, and it is based on the award-winning book The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac describes the show and shares the trailer.
• There is a new movie coming to Apple TV+ on May 23 called Fountain of Youth. It is from director Guy Ritchie, it stars John Krasinski and Natalie Portman, and it looks to have an Indiana Jones vibe to it. Christoffel describes the show and shares the trailer.
• It is now much easier for an Apple Vision Pro owner to let someone else try out the device, thanks to improvements in visionOS 2.4. Devon Dundee of MacStories explains what is new. I tried out this new system a few times now—including with Brett Burney when I was at ABA TECHSHOW last week—and it works really well.
• At the end of 2024, Apple released Ice Dive, an episode in its Adventure Immersive Video series for the Apple Vision Pro. It shows diver Ant Williams attempting to break the world record for swimming the longest distance under ice with just one breath. As Chance Miller of 9to5Mac notes, the latest episode of the Voices of PR podcast interviews Williams to talk about the making of that video. It is fascinating to learn how the video was created. And as Williams notes, it is incredible to have something like this filmed in an Immersive Video because it allows others to understand what Williams did in a way that a traditional 2D video simply cannot convey. I agree with that 100%, and this is why I believe that, at some point in the future, Immersive Video is going to be an incredible tool for lawyers to use to let a judge and jury understand a setting in a way that traditional demonstrative exhibits simply cannot convey. Of course, because it is such a powerful tool, it also has the potential to be prejudicial, but lawyers have navigated those waters in the past with high-quality photos, videos, accident reconstruction demonstrative exhibits, etc.
• As a reminder, you can find an updated list of all of Apple’s Immersive Videos on this page.
• If a law firm website is something that is of interest to you, my firm Adams and Reese now has a new logo and a new website. While I wasn’t involved in the rebranding, I think it came out really well. On the other hand, here at iPhone J.D., my current plan is to keep using the same banner I created in 2008. It makes me smile to remember my old iPhone 3G and think about how far the iPhone has come since then.
• And finally, this week, Apple released a video called Rick’s Rescue to share the true story of how Rick Sherman used the Emergency SOS feature on his Apple Watch to call for help when he was swept out to sea while swimming off the coast of Australia. For more on this dramatic story, includng details on how the Apple Watch saved his life, here is a 2024 report from ABC News in Australia.

Last week, I attended the American Bar Association’s annual legal technology conference, ABA TECHSHOW 2025. It was the 40th year of this conference, and in light of that anniversary, there were parts of the conference that looked back on how far legal technology has come over the decades. But as always, the core focus was on how technology can improve the practice of law today and in the future.

Unsurprisingly, AI was a major theme of this year’s conference. There were tons of educational sessions specifically devoted to that topic. Even in the sessions with a different focus, there was often at least some reference to AI. And on the Expo floor, almost all of the vendors were talking about how they were incorporating AI to make their products better. Seeing one topic become so predominant throughout the conference reminds me of 2009, when the iPhone was just taking off and there was so much excitement at TECHSHOW about the best iPhone apps for attorneys, and 2013, when so many attorneys were starting to understand the promise of the iPad and so many of the TECHSHOW vendors were emphasizing how well their services worked on an iPad. Of course, nowadays, being able to use a legal technology product on the iPhone and iPad is virtually a given, so much so that the only thing considered remarkable is when an offering lacks iPhone/iPad support.

Last week, one of the sessions that I taught was a fast-paced, jam-packed hour-long session on tips and tricks for being more productive with an iPhone and iPad in a law practice. There was so much to discuss, and I could have easily gone for at least another hour.

The other session that I taught, along with Prof. Kenton Brice of the University of Oklahoma College of Law, focused on the newest technology from Apple—the Vision Pro—and explored not only how lawyers can use this product today but how future VR and AR technology will allow lawyers to represent their clients more effectively, especially in litigation.

The keynote address was delivered by technology activist Cory Doctorow. It was incredibly thought-provoking and addressed numerous topics that are at the intersection of technology and the law, such as antitrust regulations and user privacy. I don’t agree with everything that Doctorow said, but he made a lot of good points and delivered them eloquently.

As always, there were lots of interesting sessions and not enough time to see everything, but I enjoyed the sessions that I did see. Here are Texas attorneys Mark Unger and Mitch Zoll discussing ways to use AI in a law practice:

Here is my podcast co-host Brett Burney along with Tara Cheever of Lit Software presenting a slide to discuss the exciting technology of USB-A. (Just kidding; they were talking about presenting evidence at trial using an iPad.)

On Thursday night, Brett and I hosted a fun dinner at the Italian restaurant Petterino’s. We were joined by North Carolina attorney Shaunis Mercer, Prof. Savanna Nolan of the University of Georgia School of Law, Atlanta attorneys Mike Dunham and Gregory Jacobs, San Antonio attorney Mark Unger, Ian O’Flaherty of Lit Software, and Cleveland attorney Paul Schumacher. In this picture, we are joined by Bill Vance (CTO of my law firm, Adams and Reese) and his wife who shared some laughs with us during the evening.

Friday morning, Brett Burney and I recorded the most recent episode of the In the News podcast from the Expo floor. It is rare to have the chance to record while we are in the same room, and it was especially nice that we had some guests on the podcast, including Vance and Washington, D.C. attorney Michael Eisenberg.

Friday night, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of TECHSHOW, there was a 1980’s-themed party. A few folks at the party looked like they were still in the 1980s, including Barron Henley and Gina Roers-Liemandt, and I got a chance to use a cellphone that was about the same size as the one that my father used in the 1980s.

Reid Trautz of the American Immigration Lawyers Association wore items from TECHSHOW 1998 and TECHSHOW 2011.

Here is Steve Embry, one of the co-chairs of TECHSHOW 2025.

The Expo floor was very active this year, with vendors showing off the latest and greatest in legal technology. I found it valuable to talk directly to many of these companies about their products, and I saw quite a few things that I hope to soon have at my own law firm so that I and others can use them. Unfortunately, I was too busy to spend any time in the Puppy Lounge sponsored by Clio, but I did enjoy watching the puppies march in Friday morning as Brett and I were recording the podcast. (Check out the video at 52:37.)

Finally, it was fantastic to talk to so many iPhone J.D. readers and In the News podcast listeners at TECHSHOW—some of whom I have met in the past and others who I was meeting for the first time.

I’ll end with this post with a picture of some of the past chairs of ABA TECHSHOW from the 1990s to today: Brett Burney (2015, 2026), David Bilinsky (1998, 1999), Natalie Kelly (2014), Tom Mighell (2008, 2018), Paul Unger (2011), Roberta Tepper (2021), Dan Pinnington (2007), Jim Calloway (2005), Debbie Foster (2010, 2018), Allan MacKenzie (2021), Catherine Sanders Reach (2020), Cynthia Thomas (2024), Ivan Hemmans (2022), Reid Trautz (2012), and Steve Best (2016).

I hope to see many of you in Chicago next year at ABA TECHSHOW 2026, which will take place March 26-28, 2026.

Brett and I recorded this week’s episode of the In the News podcast on the Expo floor of the ABA TECHSHOW conference in Chicago. Unfortunately, the sound is not as good as our normal episodes because we had bleed through from one microphone to the next one. I apologize that it is a little distracting when you first start to listen, but my hope is that you will get used to it pretty quickly and then you can just enjoy the episode. And there was so much to talk about this week from iOS 18.4 and the other big software updates of the week and some of the latest developments in the world of legal technology. Thank you to special guests Michael Eisenberg of The Tech-Savvy Lawyer, Bill Vance of Adams and Reese, and a bunch of cute puppies for joining me and Brett during the podcast.

In our In the Know segment, Brett discussed the QR code feature of LinkedIn, and I discussed using the Shared With You feature on the iPhone and iPad, especially in Safari.

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: