iPhone J.D.

Review: Eggtronic Power Bar -- wireless power station + portable power bank

Wireless charging has been a feature of the iPhone since the introduction of the iPhone X in 2017.  Nevertheless, I haven't used it very much, in part because I have never been very inconvenienced by using a cord, and also, I like that charging an iPhone with a cord is much faster.  But for the last few weeks, I have been trying out the first wireless charger that has peaked my interest because of its impressive versatility:  the Eggtronic Power Bar. (The division of Eggtronic that makes this device is Einova, so I sometimes see this referred to as the Einova Power Bar.  A review unit was sent to me at no charge.)  This device does so many different things that I think it has a lot of appeal.  But it also has some drawbacks to consider as you compare this product to a traditional portable battery.

A wireless power station

The first of the many functions of the Power Bar is to serve as a wireless power station.  There is a USB-C port on the side of the Power Bar.  You can either use the included USB-C to USB-C cable or your own cable to provide a charge to the Power Bar.  Note, however, that the Power Bar doesn't come with the charger that plugs into a wall outlet with USB-C on the other end, so you need to purchase that separately, use one that you already have, or connect to the USB-C port on a computer.

With the Power Bar connected to power, you can use this single device to charge three different products at the same time.  There are two 7.5W Qi charging spots.  You can use them to charge two iPhones at the same time, which could be useful if you are traveling with another person.  (Note that if both iPhones are larger, such as the "Plus" size models, they may be too big to fit side-by-side on the two charging spots.)  I used the second charging spot for the case for my AirPods Pro.  Just press the button on the side to turn on wireless charging and place your iPhone, your AirPods case, or both on the Power Bar to charge them.

The 7.5W speed means that you cannot charge as quickly as you can with the $30 Apple MagSafe Charger, which will charge up to 15W for most iPhone models (12W for the iPhone 12 mini), as long as you are using a 20W power adapter.  But of course, if you are trying to charge as fast as possible, using a USB-C to Lightning cord with a 20W power adapter will charge about twice as fast as the Apple MagSafe Charger and about four times as fast as the Power Bar.  Wireless charging is never about speed.  It is about convenience.  Just set down your iPhone and it starts to charge; pick it up and you are good to go.

The third charging spot provides 5W wireless charging for an Apple Watch.  It works best if you use your fingernails to raise the charging spot — not a very elegant solution, but it works.  You can use it without raising the charging spot, but the raised charging spot does a better job of holding the Apple Watch in the correct orientation to receive a charge, especially when a band is attached to the watch.

There is another shortcoming of the Power Bar as compared to the Apple wireless charging options sold by Apple:  no magnet.  Apple's MagSafe charger contains a magnet to connect to the iPhone and, perhaps more importantly, ensure that the iPhone is in the correct orientation for charging.  On the PowerBar, the Apple Watch charger has a magnet, so it works the same way.  But the two Qi charging spots do not, so I sometimes I find that I would place my iPhone down and then have to move around the iPhone a bit until I hear the "ding" to tell me that the iPhone is in the right spot for wireless charging.

If you put the Eggtronic Power Bar on your desk with a USB-C cord connected to a charger or a computer, you will always have a place on your desk to charge all three of the Apple devices that support a wireless charge:  the iPhone, the AirPods, and the Apple Watch.

A portable power bank

The Eggtronic Power Bar has another trick up its sleeve.  You can disconnect the USB-C cord from the Power Bar and it still provides power.  It can do this because it contains a 10,000 mAh battery.  And thanks to the 30W USB-C port, you can recharge the Power Bar more quickly than many other portable batteries.  Three blue lights next to the USB-C port tell you how much power the device has:  Full to two-thirds, two-thirds to one-third, or one-third to almost empty.

There are actually two ways to use this as a power bank.  First, you can use three wireless ports that I just described. When you use the Qi charging ports, a green light corresponding to that port will blink so that you know that power is being provided to that port.  Second, you can use the USB-C port on the side to plug in a cable.  That way, you get the speed advantage of charging via a cord — about four times the speed of charging with these Qi charging ports.

The Power Bar comes with two 3-foot cables that allow you to make three types of connections.  First, as mentioned above, the device comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable.  You can use that cord with the Power Bar to charge an iPad Pro or a laptop computer.  Second, the Power Bar includes a USB-C to Lightning cable for charging an iPhone and accessories that support Lightning.  Third, the Power Bar comes with a small USB-C to USB connector.  This connector is useful for when you want to charge the Power Bar itself but all you have is a traditional USB charger or computer port, not a newer USB-C charger or USB-C port on a computer.  It is faster to charge the Power Bar using a USB-C charger, but if you only have access to a slower USB charger, you can use this small connector to make that work.

Charging with a cable works well.  For example, I used a fully-charged Power Bar to charge my iPad Pro 12.9" (3rd generation).  When I started, I had 13% power.  About an hour later, during which time I continued to use my iPad Pro, my iPad Pro had 70% power and the Power Bank was empty. 

And that is a very realistic use case for me.  I have had times in the past when I was at a day-long CLE or deposition without easy access to a power outlet.  And if I use my iPad Pro extensively throughout a morning, I can be down to 13% or something similar by the early afternoon.  With this Power Bar, I can keep working on my iPad and add another 50% or more or power to it, which is more than enough to get me through the end of of a day, even a day with extensive use of the iPad.

If you are charging an iPhone, the 10,000 mAh battery should be enough to recharge most iPhones almost three times. 

There is a shortcoming of the Power Bar versus similar batteries:  size and weight.  I recently reviewed the Anker PowerCore 10000 PD Redux.  Like the Power Bar, that Anker PowerCore has a 10,000 mAh battery with a USB-C port on the side.  But the PowerCore is more easily portable, weighing just under 7 ounces and with dimensions of 4” by 2” by 1”, with curved sides making it easy to hold.  The Power Bar weighs just over 13 ounces and has dimensions of 7.3" by 2.67" by 1.02".  Of course, it needs to be bigger to have wireless charging, a feature that is not included with the Anker PowerCore.  But whereas I have carried around the Anker PowerCore in a pocket many times, the Power Bar is really too big for that.

Conclusion

The Eggtronic Power Bar is very different from other portable batteries.  If all you want is a portable charger, then I think that you would prefer something like the $40 Anker PowerCore so that you have a power source that is as small and light as possible.  But if you want the ability to charge up to three devices at once, the Power Bar is better — although also three times more expensive.  The Power Bar is also better for the conveniences of wireless charging.  You can just put a Power Bar on a table and place an iPhone on it and start charging, without dealing with any wires that take up additional space on the table and get in your way.  And you can charge an Apple Watch without having to use the special Apple Watch charging cord.  Moreover, while the Anker PowerCore will go unused when you don't need portable power, the Power Bar can remain useful by staying plugged in at your desk, ready to provide wireless charging throughout the day whenever you want it.

Click here for the Einova/Eggtronic Power Bar from Amazon ($119.99).

[NOTE: Shortly after this review was posted, the price on Amazon went up to $149.99.  It also increased on the Einova website.  I'm not sure if this is a temporary change or not.]

In the news

The 2021 version of the iPad Pro will be out a week from today, and I recently received a notice from Apple that mine has shipped from China.  But for now, the newest Apple device is still the AirTag, and there were lots of stories about the AirTag this week as more folks have started to try them out.  For example, Kirk McElhearn of Intego ran an AirTag through some stress tests — extreme heat, extreme cold, the washer and dryer — and reports that they are very durable.  I do fear that there is now some small part of me that actually wants to lose my keys or some other item just so that I can use the Find My app on my iPhone to relocate the item in a game of hide-and-seek.  And now, the other news of note from the past week:

• If you read the original version of my review of ExhibtsPad earlier this week, you should take a second look at the bottom of the post because I added to the end of the post a bunch of new information provided by Ian O'Flaherty, who created the app.
• Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories reviews a new feature in the Darkroom app called Clarity that lets you use a single slider to make a picture pop, or in the other direction, smooth out details and make the picture appear more flat.
• Juli Clover of MacRumors wrote about some of the new holders for an Apple AirTag.
• David Price of Macworld UK wrote a good review of the AirTag.
• David Price of Macworld has some pretty good ideas for how Apple might improve the AirTag.
• Luke Dormehl of Cult of Mac notes that Atlanta is the 29th location to gain support for the Look Around feature in the Apple Maps app.  Thirty years ago yesterday, my wife and I graduated from Emory in Atlanta, so we took advantage of the new Look Around feature on my iPad last night to take a virtual stroll through campus.  I'm embarrassed to admit that I got disoriented a few times because the campus has changed so much since I was there.  It is annoying how some things change when you are away for a few decades.
• In a video for CBS Sunday Morning, David Pogue goes behind the scenes on the creation of emoji.
• Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reviews the Belkin Wemo Stage Scene Controller ($50 on Amazon), a small remote that you can use to control HomeKit accessories in your home without needing to use an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch.
• I saw an interesting post on the Mac Power Users forum this week of a new way for a restaurant to handle the check.  Mitch Wagner of San Diego posted that instead of bringing a normal check, the waitress brought a paper receipt with a QR code.  Scanning that code with an iPhone launched the App Clips feature — meaning that his iPhone immediately downloaded a tiny version of an app for the restaurant.  In that App Clip, he could see his full itemized receipt, add a tip, and pay the bill.  Sounds like a nice way to handle a restaurant check — fast and easy.
• Dave Mark of The Loop notes that your iPhone has a feature where the iPhone can describe out loud what it sees in the camera lens.  The feature is designed as an accessibility feature, but it is also just a neat use of technology.
• Bryan Wolfe of iMore shows of Apple's newest bands for the Apple Watch.
• Sam Whiting of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that legendary architect Art Gensler passed away this week.  Apple users know his work because he and his firm designed the first 100 Apple Stores. 
• And finally, in a fun video for the Wall Street Journal, tech reporter Joanna Stern compares Apple's new AirTag with a drug-detection dog to see which could find an item faster:

[Sponsor] Nota -- IOLTA software for small law firms

Thank you to Nota for its sponsorhip of iPhone J.D. this month.  Nota is a no-cost IOLTA management solution powered by M&T Bank.  It was built by working directly with solo and small law firms and is designed to help simplify trust account management.

Nota’s cloud-based intuitive design uses real-time information directly from your bank accounts making it seamless for you to adhere to accounting requirements.  Forget using a spreadsheet to track your individual client balances.  All money in and out of your IOLTA account can be assigned to a client, and reconciled down to the penny.

Features include one-click reconciliation reporting, custom transaction alerts and virtual client sub-accounts with smart tagging.

I had a chance to see a comprehensive demo of how Nota works, and I was impressed.  You access Nota by using a web browser on your PC or Mac, and the interface is clean and straightforward.  The service makes it easy to create and manage virtual sub-accounts for each of your matters with no limit to the number of client matters.  Nota closes the loop between your bank account, checkbook, and client ledger to help you to minimize IOLTA management headaches.  After all, you went to law school to be a lawyer — not to be an accountant.

Nota is currently available to attorneys whose offices are located in and who are practicing law in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Florida, and West Virginia and to whom the rules and regulations for IOLTA accounts are applicable.

Click here to learn more about Nota.  Terms and conditions may apply.

Review: ExhibitsPad -- an electronic exhibit binder for factfinders

LitSoftware has been creating iPad apps for lawyers for over a decade.  The company is well-known for its TrialPad, TranscriptPad, and DocReviewPad apps.  A few days ago, Lit Software released ExhibitsPad, its latest app.  The idea of this app is interesting:  replace the exhibit binders that a trial litigator passes out to a judge, jurors, arbitrators, or other factfinders.  Instead of giving them bulky binders that are difficult to handle and a pain to create, you hand each one of them an iPad.  That way, they can view and zoom in on an exhibit that they are holding in their hand, without having to squint to read a monitor across the room or a paper document that can be hard to read.  Of course, an entry-level iPad costs $329, so with 12 jurors, a judge, counsel, etc., the initial cost of this approach can add up.  But binders can also be expensive to create and difficult to update, and that cost repeats for the next trial, whereas you can buy the iPads once (even older models at a discount) and then use them again and again.  Plus, viewing an image of a document on a screen can be much more effective than a piece of paper in a binder, so for the right kind of trial, a litigator may decide that it is worth the expense.

Since this app is brand new, I have not yet had a chance to try it out in trial.  But I know that the folks at Lit Software have used this in sample trials, and they tell me that it has worked well for them.  Read on to see how this app works so that you can decide whether it makes sense for you to use it yourself in a trial, arbitration, mediation, deposition, etc.

[UPDATE:  A few hours after this post went live, the head of Lit Software, Ian O'Flaherty, reached out to me to share some additional thoughts.  I've added them to the end of this post, and they are worth reading.]

How to load exhibits

To use this app, you will need to have one or more iPads that you will provide to the factfinder(s).  The only app that you need to install on each of those iPads is the ExhibitsPad app, which you can download from the App Store.  Once installed, you can — and probably should — take advantage of Apple's Guided Access feature so that the factfinder cannot exit the ExhibitsPad app.  For example, you don't want a juror using Safari to search the Internet during trial.

You yourself will need to have a single paid copy of ExhibitsPad.  And you don't pay for ExhibitsPad on its own; it is included at no extra charge as a part of the Lit Suite subscription (which I discussed in this post), the subscription that gives you access to all of Lit Software's apps.  Normally, a Lit Suite subscription gives you permission to use each app on up to three devices.  But for ExhibitsPad, the license allows you to use the app on up to 26 devices, which should be enough for a full jury, alternates, judge, counsel, etc.

Once the ExhibitPad app is on each device, you create a case name and install the exhibits.  The best way to do that is to use an external thumb drive.  That way, you can place all of the exhibits on the thumb drive and then connect the thumb drive to each iPad to load the exact same exhibits on each iPad.  To connect a thumb drive to an iPad, you may need a connector, depending upon whether the iPad has a Lightning or USB-C port and depending upon whether you are using a USB or a USB-C thumb drive. 

Thus, the best way to use the app is for all of the trial/arbitration/mediation/etc. exhibits to first be pre-marked for all parties.  Then, all exhibits for all parties would be placed on a single thumb drive, and then loaded onto each iPad.  This is the same procedure that you would use for a standard trial binder. 

I presume that many folks will work with PDF files, but you can also load videos or audio recordings as exhibits.

There is an alternative way to use ExhibitsPad, a way that would work well in a deposition.  In some depositions, you don't mind giving all of the exhibits to the witness at the outset.  But other times, you only want to provide the exhibit as you are using the exhibit.  For this, you can give the witness an iPad running ExhibitsPad with no exhibits loaded.  Then, every time you want to show an exhibit to the witness, you can AirDrop the exhibit to the witness (and opposing counsel).  If you want to highlight something on the exhibit, do so on your iPad and then just AirDrop it again.  I haven't tried this yet myself, but my understanding is that every time that you AirDrop a new exhibit, it replaces the other exhibit.  In other words, the witness only has one exhibit at a time — much like a real deposition.

Viewing exhibits

After you preload all of your exhibits and provide the iPad to the factfinder, the factfinder will see a list of all of the exhibits — either listed by name, or in a thumbnail format.  Note that in the following images, I'm using a bunch of one-page exhibits, but you can also use multi-page PDF files.

Tap on any file to open it to full-screen.  The user can use standard pinch commands to zoom in and out on the document.

This is a feature that makes ExhibitsPad unlike any other way of presenting evidence to a juror or other factfinder because they have control.  If they are having trouble reading something small, they can zoom in to look closer.  You are literally putting the exhibits in the hands of the juror in a way that is easier to see and handle than providing exhibit binders.

What if a juror wants to annotate a document?  To do so, the juror zooms in or out and then presses the camera button at the top right, which creates an image of the screen.  The juror can then use the standard iPad tools with a finger to write, highlight, annotate, etc.  Those snapshots are stored locally on the iPad and not shared with others so they are personal to the juror — just like when a juror takes notes during trial.

A factfinder can delete a snapshot (swipe to delete), but a factfinder cannot delete or change the actual exhibit.

Conclusion

ExhibitsPad is a fascinating idea for an app.  I can see many jurors and other factfinders appreciating the ability to be closer to the exhibits, making the exhibits more powerful.  But I can also sit pitfalls, such as if you have a juror who is unfamiliar with technology and uncomfortable using a touch screen.  Also, if the factfinder is allowed to use ExhibitsPad during a presentation, the factfinder might get distracted by one exhibit and not pay attention to the next exhibit that the lawyer is discussing.  But you could address this by only providing the iPads when the factfinder begins deliberation.  I can see this being a particularly appropriate tool in an arbitration.

Apps like TrialPad and TranscriptPad have been around for so long that lawyers have found lots of interesting ways to use those apps, and the apps have evolved over time.  ExhibitsPad is just starting its life this week, and I'm sure that creative lawyers will come up with interesting ways to use this app that I'm not yet thinking about.  Moreover, I'm sure that the app will receive updates to make it more powerful in the future.  But after playing with this new app for the last few days, the more that I think about this app, the more excited I am about the different ways that this app can be used by a litigator to make the best possible presentation to factfinders.

Click here to get ExhibitsPad: 

- - - - - - - - - - - -

FROM IAN O'FLAHERTY OF LIT SOFTWARE:

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for taking the time to review our app.

We wanted to allow the owner of ExhibitsPad to be able to restrict the end user to only be able to use ExhibitsPad, and you described how that can be done using Apple's Guided Access which is built into iPadOS. As you said, this feature can limit the end user to one app, preventing a juror doing their own research on the internet. We also wanted to make sure the juror or witness couldn't get back to the Home Screen of ExhibitsPad and delete the exhibits, or somehow try to add more exhibits. We accomplished this by adding a Password setting in the Settings app of ExhibitsPad. When a password is enabled, the user has to enter this password in order to get back to the Home screen in ExhibitsPad. This feature, combined with Guided Access, makes sure that when you hand the iPad to the juror or witness, they stay within the guardrails!

I thought your readers might also be interested in the background behind the creation of ExhibitsPad. We've all heard the maxim, "necessity is the mother of invention" and ExhibitsPad is proof of this saying.

Recently, during the height of the COVID 19 pandemic, we were tasked with a way to hygienically distribute documents to all the parties in a federal trial. This was a hybrid trial where evidence was being presented using TrialPad on the screens in the courtroom, and over Zoom at the same time. Some witnesses were appearing remotely via Zoom, but others would appear in person, and both sides and the judge would be in the courtroom and needed the ability to review the documents being discussed.

This could have been accomplished with binders, but because it was many thousands of pages, it would have been a lot of binders! Additionally, there would need to be a new clean set of binders for each witness. And as the trial progressed, more exhibits would be admitted. This seemed like an overwhelming task for paper, but an ideal use of the iPad, a glass surface that can be easily wiped clean and disinfected. Both parties and the judge agreed to this novel approach.

Knowing that the iPad would be the ideal medium, we looked at various apps that might accomplish this in an easy and efficient way. We obviously considered our own TrialPad and DocReviewPad as ways for users to review evidence. Both of these apps are very powerful and easy-to-use tools with specific purposes, but neither was an ideal solution to be given to the parties as a way to review documents and videos. There needed to be a simple app specifically designed to distribute exhibits.

It became obvious that if we created an app like this it could have many other uses in legal proceedings. Besides being used by the judge and parties during this trial, iPad devices could be loaded with all the evidence introduced during the trial, and given to jurors to review during deliberations. Each juror could use an identically prepared court-issued iPad with all the exhibits, while remaining socially distanced, and not having to share paper and binders.

As you mentioned Jeff, the initial costs of purchasing iPad devices would soon turn into a cost savings over purchasing multiple binders for every matter, and the associated printing costs. Loading and preparing iPad devices would also be much faster than printing and organizing binders, with the added benefit of knowing that the evidence on one iPad was an exact mirrored copy of the evidence on the other iPad devices.

Even after the pandemic, when we're vaccinated and feeling safe enough to interact with others again, this type of app would still be useful to distribute evidence to jurors for deliberations. Besides containing all the documents and color photo exhibits that can be zoomed in on; it can also include audio recordings, video depositions, and other multimedia files that each juror can play, pause, rewind, or scrub through.

We evaluated other simple PDF apps available on the App Store but there was something with each app that didn't make it suitable for a legal proceeding. We decided we had to make an app ourselves, but it required some important features and capabilities:

• A court employee had to be able to load evidence into the app easily and quickly. [We decided in making a USB drive the main way this is accomplished.]
• The court employee loading the evidence needed a way to confirm that every iPad had the exact same set of exhibits. [We accomplished this by having a document, page, and multimedia count on the Home Screen of ExhibitsPad.]
• There couldn't be any possibility that exhibits from a previous matter could get left in the app and get mixed with the new case being deliberated. [Every import of exhibits will completely replace the exhibits of any previous import.]
• It had to be easy to use for non-technically proficient users to review the evidence. [We decided on text buttons or simple icons, with large touch targets.]
• The app had to be very intuitive with a minimum learning curve, not requiring a manual or training. [We kept everything to one screen with a flat hierarchy so that users, with different comfort levels when it came to technology, couldn't get lost within the app.]
• There had to be a robust and easy search capability to find an exhibit, even if hundreds of exhibits were part of the case. [A larges search field is always at the top of the screen.]
• The search should search the file names (i.e. exhibit numbers or parts of names), but not search the OCR data to prevent a juror from using the power of the iPad to mine the data. [As a user types in the search field the files are filtered to only show documents or multimedia files that contain those characters.]
• The end user shouldn't be able to exit the app, possibly accessing the internet or using other apps. [Accomplished with Guided Access and a password is required to get to the Home Screen.]
• The end user should be able to take a snapshot of a particular page of a document to be able to reference it later. [A snapshot tool stores any snapshots in a dedicated Snapshots area in the app.]
• There should be some way for the user to annotate a snapshot of an exhibit without altering the original exhibit. [Any snapshots that are taken can be annotated with Apple's familiar markup tools.]

These requirements drove the development of ExhibitsPad, an easy-to-use, single-purpose app designed to allow the end user to review exhibits, whether they be documents or multimedia.

As you discussed Jeff, ExhibitsPad can be used just as easily in deposition, with the questioning lawyer arriving with an iPad, or multiple iPad devices, loaded with the exhibits they intend to discuss. Or have ExhibitsPad empty, and then AirDrop exhibits one at a time for the witness to review as they're being discussed, controlling the delivery and pace of the exhibits without giving anything away at the outset of the deposition.

In the news

The CDC says that fully vaccinated people can "[v]isit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing."  But how does a venue know whether people coming indoors are fully vaccinated?  About a month ago, I linked to an article by Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post in which he describes vaccine passport apps from states such as New York.  I live in New Orleans, and this week, Louisiana became the latest state to provide digital proof of COVID-19 vaccination on an iPhone so that you can prove vaccination to any establishment asking for that verification.  It is part of the LA Wallet app, which I reviewed back in 2018, an app that you can use as a substitute for your physical driver's license.  That app is especially useful if you forgot to pick up your wallet before you jumped in the car; as long as your iPhone is with you, you still have your driver's license.  You can now use that same app to verify through the State of Louisiana Department of Health that you have been vaccinated.  Using the app, you can show others, in a verified way, the date that you were vaccinated.  (For two-dose vaccination, it lists the date of the second dose.)  Time will tell when and where proof of vaccination will be necessary, and I realize that some states, such as Florida this week, are going the opposite direction, banning bars, businesses, schools, and government entities from asking anyone to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination — at the same time that Florida is enacting other laws that leave me, and other fans of democracy, rolling our eyes.  But for those folks who desire to prove that they are vaccinated, and for those establishments that want to take advantage of that to provide a safer environment for patrons, Louisiana and other states now have a mechanism in place.  And now, the other news of note from the past week:

• In the latest episode of the Mac Power Users podcast, California attorney David Sparks and his co-host Stephen Hackett discuss apps that you can use to be productive with an iPhone.  It's a great episode full of lots of tips.  As they noted in the podcast, because of the small screen of the iPhone, it is often not the platform of choice for most tasks (although there are a few where it excels).  But when you are away from your computer and iPad, the iPhone is so powerful that you can get lots of serious work done with the right app, sometimes with the aid of an external keyboard.
• Legal technology consultant Brett Burney discusses Apple's newest iPad and the other new product announcements in a post and accompanying video on the Apps in Law website.
• This week, the trial between Apple and Epic regarding the removal of Fortnite from the App Store began before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the Northern District of California.  Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories wrote this overview of the issues in the trial before the trial began.
• Unlike Tile and other manufacturers of tracking devices, Apple has emphasized privacy as a part of its development the AirTag and thus has many methods in place to discourage the improper use of an AirTag to track another person.  Nevertheless, Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post reports that there are still ways that an AirTag can be used to track another person without their consent, at least for a period of time.  Apple has the ability to update the AirTag, so I would not be surprised to seek Apple update AirTag settings over time as it improves its privacy protections.
• Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac posted this review of the AirTag.
• This week, Apple issued an important security update for the iPhone (iOS 14.5.1) and other platforms.  It fixes a flaw in Webkit, used by Safari and other apps, and Apple is aware of a report that the flaw had already been exploited by someone.  If you haven't updated your devices yet, do so now.  Roman Loyola of Macworld has more details on the update.
• Juli Clover of MacRumors reviews the Brydge 12.9 MAX+, a cheaper alternative to Apple's Magic Keyboard for iPad.
• James Titcomb of The Register reports that Apple could be working with a UK company to develop a way for the Apple Watch to monitor blood sugar and alcohol.
• Amber Neely of Apple Insider reports that a woman recently gave birth to a baby on an airplane.  Fortunately, there was a doctor on board to help the premature newborn.  And fortunately, there was an Apple Watch on board because the doctor used it to keep tabs on the baby's heart rate.
• And finally, a person on YouTube who calls himself AirTagAlex mailed an AirTag to himself in the Netherlands to see how the device would track the journey through the mail system, and created this interesting video:

Review: Apple AirTag -- find lost items

This past Friday, Apple started selling its latest new product, the AirTag.  An AirTag is the size of a small button, 1.26 inches in diameter.  And like a button, it weighs virtually nothing, less than half an ounce (0.39 ounce).  Place an AirTag in an object like a briefcase or a purse, and the AirTag can help you to locate that item if you lose it.  A single AirTag costs $29, or you can purchase a four-pack for $100.  I've been trying out four AirTags for the last few days, and I'm very impressed with how well this system works.

This post addresses four aspects of the AirTag.  First, how to store it with an item.  Second, how to find if it again if it is far away from you.  Third, how to find its precise location once you are close to it.  And fourth, how to use Lost Mode if you cannot find an AirTag.

Where to put an AirTag

An AirTag is a little larger than a quarter, about the size of a half-dollar coin.  It is almost as thick as an iPhone in the middle, but it seems much thinner because of the curved side and the fact that it weighs almost nothing.  It feels like a button on a jacket.

The point of an AirTag is to have it attached to, or somehow part of, an item that you might lose.  For something that has a compartment like a purse, briefcase, or backpack, you can just slip an AirTag into a compartment, and you are done.  I think that an AirTag is too thick to fit into a typical wallet that goes into a back pocket, but perhaps there are some wallets out there (or in development now) that could fit an AirTag.

I suspect one of the most misplaced items for many folks is keys, so adding a AirTag to a key ring makes perfect sense.  You simply need a case for the AirTag that can attach to a key ring.  Apple sells a $35 leather key ring case that comes in three colors. 

To attach an AirTag to other items, like the handle on a piece of luggage, you can use a loop.  Apple sells a polyurethane version for $29 that comes in four different colors and a similar version in leather for $39. 

Instead of the Apple key ring and loop, I purchased versions sold by Belkin, which only cost $12.95.  Both come with the same holder, two pieces of plastic (black, blue, or pink) in which you place an Air Tag in one half, place the other half on, and then twist the two parts to lock.  The Belkin key ring product comes with a key ring to connect to the holder.  The Belkin strap simply fits through the loop at the top of the holder and doubles around itself.

Creative folks are coming up with many other ways to attach an AirTag to an item.  For example, Moment has a Stretch Fabric Mount that uses an adhesive that attaches to any fabric.  Elevation Lab makes a waterproof case for an AirTag.  And I'm sure that we will soon see many more products that work with an AirTag.

For those who don't mind paying top-dollar for a luxury item, Apple has long had a partnership with Hermès, and that partnership continues to the AirTag.  For example, Apple itself sells a $349 Hermès Key Ring and a $449 Hermès luggage tag.  And if you buy directly from Hermès, you can get a $699 travel tag:

A luggage tag that costs more than the luggage itself is certainly extravagant, but the point is that you can find a wide variety of products to connect an AirTag to an item.

Once you figure out how you are going to associate an AirTag with an item, put an AirTag close to your iPhone and you will be given the option to claim the AirTag as yours and give the AirTag a name and an icon.  Once an AirTag is affiliated with your Apple account, another person cannot pick it up and start using it with their account.

Note that the AirTag contains a standard CR2032 battery.  Apple says that the battery should last about a year.  I see that Amazon currently sells a 6-pack of Energizer CR2032 batteries for $7.99, so they are inexpensive to replace.

How to Find an AirTag when it is not in your vicinity

Each AirTag works with the Apple Find My service, which you can tap into using the Find My app.  I discussed the history and current version of that app almost a month ago in this post, and I recommend that you start with that post if you are thinking about getting an AirTag. 

Each AirTag has a Bluetooth radio in it, which means that it can talk to other Bluetooth devices that are within the vicinity (typically about 30-50 feet).  The AirTag sends out a number, that changes from time to time, and if another iPhone passes within Bluetooth range of that device, it will notice the AirTag number and notify Apple that a certain AirTag number was seen at a certain place and time.  That way, if you use the Find My app to search for an item, you can get the location if another iPhone has passed by it.  With over a billion iPhones now in active use, hopefully there is a good chance that an iPhone will pass by your AirTag.

For example, this past Saturday, I attended a championship middle school track and field meet with my daughter.  (She did very well, including getting first place in one of her events!)  I took the key fob for my car but left the rest of the key ring including the AirTag in my car.  About four hours after I last saw my keys, I asked the Find My app to find them.  It did so quickly, letting me know that another iPhone had passed by them just six minutes earlier — I presume someone else walking to their car in a parking lot who passed by my car, where my keys were in the glove compartment.  The app then gave me directions for getting to my keys.

 
If multiple AirTags are in the same location, you will see the icons associated with the first two AirTags, and then an indication of how many more are also located there.  Thus, when I was in my office in downtown New Orleans with four AirTags with me, here is what I saw:

The Find My system will not work 100% of the time.  If an item with an AirTag attached is located in a remote location such that no other iPhone would ever be anywhere near it, then the AirTag won't be found.  The alternative would be to use a tracking device with GPS so that it could always be tracked, but this is more expensive and the tracking device needs to be somewhat larger.  For example, T-Mobile has just introduced a GPS tracking device called the SyncUP TRACKER.  You need to pay $5/month for the TRACKER service, and then you pay $60 ($2.50/month) for 24 months for each SyncUP TRACKER.  (It is unclear to me if you own the device after paying $60 or if you need to continue paying $2.50 every month.)  And perhaps most annoying, the SyncUP TRACKER only lasts for a few days before it needs to be recharged.

How to Find an AirTag when it is in your vicinity

What if you are reasonably close to an AirTag that you are trying to find, either because you found it on a map and then got close to it or because you know that the AirTag is somewhere close — such as in your own house — but you just don't know exactly where it is located? 

First, you can make the AirTag play a sound.  (This tweet from Apple includes a short video with examples of all of the AirTag sounds.)  If you can hear it, hopefully you can find it.

Second, when you are within Bluetooth range of your own AirTag, your iPhone can direct you to the precise location of the AirTag using a large arrow.  This only works if you are using an iPhone with a U1 Ultra Wideband chip, such as the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max that Apple released in 2019 as well as most of the more recent iPhones.

 
Using one or both of these approaches, you should able to find your item with the AirTag, even if it is in a somewhat hidden location in your house or another location.

David Flynn of Executive Traveler wrote an interesting article about using an AirTag to locate luggage in an airport.  Some of the interesting points that he noticed:

• You cannot use an AirTag to find the precise location of your luggage on a luggage carousel because an AirTag needs to be in a fixed position for Ultra Wideband chip to work.
• You can use an AirTag to confirm that your luggage made it to the same airport as you.
• You can use an AirTag to determine the precise location of your luggage if someone has taken it off of a carousel and moved it to a specific location, which often happens after you go through customs and immigration.
• Putting an AirTag inside of luggage versus using a strap and putting it outside of the luggage did not make a difference for range or tracking accuracy.

I'm sure we will see more reports like this in the coming weeks and months.

Lost Mode

If you have lost an item connected to an AirTag and cannot find it using the Find My app, you can put the AirTag in lost mode.  Once in this mode, if another iPhone passes near the AirTag, you will receive a notification that the AirTag was located.  You can also choose to leave a phone number and a message so that if someone else finds the AirTag, they can hold it close to an iPhone or Android device to see the message.  Hopefully, this person will contact you and help you to recover your lost item.

This is the same system that Apple has used for years for a lost iPhone or iPad.  There are no guarantees that someone will find it and contact you, but at least with the AirTag you have a chance of recovery.

Conclusion

Do you have an item that you don't want to lose, and are you willing to spend $25 to guard against that?  Then the AirTag may be right for you.  The hope, of course, is that you will never have a need to use an AirTag.  But if you ever do need it — either because an item is lost inside of your own house or is lost somewhere in the outside world — you'll be glad that you have it.

Click here to get an AirTag from Amazon ($29, or four for $99).

Legal tech presentation for Legal Hackers Manila and Abogadong Pinoy

This past weekend, I was delighted to give a short presentation as a part of a seminar with speakers from around the world hosted by two large organizations for lawyers in the Philippines:  Legal Hackers Manila and Abogadong Pinoy.  The title of the seminar was More Than Word:  Apps and other Legal Technology Tools for the Modern Lawyer.  The seminar was streamed on Facebook Live, and the recording is still available to watch.  Many of the topics of this seminar would be of interest to any lawyer, no matter where in the world you practice law.  For example, after I spoke about the iPhone and iPad, legal technology consultant Brett Burney of Apps in Law also gave some advice for mobile computing, and then two speakers talked about a product that uses artificial intelligence in contract negotiations.

The speakers and topics (with the approximate time-stamps if you want to jump to a particular section) are as follows:

0:00:00 — Welcome remarks by Joan de Venecia-Fabul (Manila), PLDT Deputy Chief Counsel and Vice President

0:01:55 — Results of Filipino legal technology survey of  by Jeifan-Ira Dizon (Manila), Dizon + Ross

0:09:53 — Speaker introduction by Quito Nitura (Manila), ACCRALAW

0:10:27 — iPhone and iPad Tips for Lawyers by Jeff Richardson (New Orleans), Adams and Reese • iPhone J.D.

0:33:32 — Mobile Apps in a Legal Practice by Brett Burney (Ohio), Apps in Law

1:01:43 — Artificial Intelligence in Contract Negotiations by Tracy Van Heer (Melbourne) and Mike Alford (San Francisco), LexCheck

1:28:27 — Digitization and Innovation in the Legal Services Industry by Alain Charles Veloso (Manila), Quisumbing Torres - Baker McKenzie

1:59:15 — Closing Remarks by Mars Veloso (Manila), Legal Hackers Manila • Apptitude

Thanks to all of the great folks with Legal Hackers Manila and Abogadong Pinoy for the invitation!

In the news

In a normal year, we would now be starting the second weekend of Jazz Fest in New Orleans, one of my favorite times of year in this city.  The live music is varied and excellent, there is fantastic food, and there is an interesting art market.  Of course, none of that can happen right now (although they are trying to do it this October instead).  But in the meantime, the New Orleans radio station associated with Jazz Fest, WWOZ, is doing its second year of Jazz Festing in Place, in which they are playing recordings of some of the best live performances at Jazz Fest from 1970 to 2019.  Artists include Dr. John, Henry Butler, Miles Davis, The Meters, Carole King, James, Taylor, Trombone Shorty, Richie Havens, Joe Cocker, Irma Thomas, Al Hirt, Kermit Ruggins, Willie Nelson, Allen Toussaint, and so many more.  Click here for a PDF grid showing who is playing and when.  Jazz Festing in Place started a week ago, but that doesn't matter because WWOZ always offers a two-week archive, so you still have time to listen to any of it that you may have missed.  Or if you want to listen to the main stream as it is happening, you can do so from the WWOZ website or the WWOZ iPhone app.  If you are looking for something good to listen to this weekend, WWOZ has you covered.  And now, the news of note from the past week.

• It is hard to believe it, but we are getting close to the end of the school year for many students.  It's been a school year in which mobile technology has been more important than ever — much like the last year of many law practices.  Jade Cunningham of WWL reports on a viral video showing how students at Loyola Law School in New Orleans thanked their environmental law professor, Rob Verchick, for making it through this difficult year.
• Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories reviews the latest version of 1Blocker, which adds a firewall feature to block even more obnoxious ads.
• Today, Apple has started to sell the 2021 version of the iPad Pro.  After I wrote about this latest iPad, I heard from several of you who were upset that the Magic Keyboard for iPad wasn't going to work with this newest iPad.  Not to worry; Jason Snell of Six Colors reports that the previous version of the Magic Keyboard for iPad will work with the new iPad Pro, but it will be a snug fit — especially if you use a screen cover.  The new version of the Magic Keyboard for iPad has slightly more space to accommodate for the slightly more thick new iPad Pro, but if you bought the prior version, it looks like your keyboard will still work with the new iPad Pro.
• If you ordered an AirTag when that product first went on sale last week, you should be getting Apple's latest product at some point today.  And starting today, you can also buy them on Amazon, either a single AirTag for $29, or a four-pack for $99.  I ordered a four-pack.
• Harry McCracken of Fast Company reviewed the AirTag.
• Although the AirTag is not very expensive, if you feel the need to spend more on the product, Parker Ortolani of 9to5Mac discusses the $699 AirTag travel tag from Hermès.  When you are using a travel tag that is more expensive than the suitcase to which it is attached, you won't want to lose it.  Good thing it works with AirTag.
• What might you want to track with an AirTag?  Kirk McElhearn of Intego came up with a pretty good list of 23 items.
• In an article for Macworld, Snell discusses how it was that Apple made so much money in its most recent financial quarter.  (Yesterday, I provided my report on that incredibly impressive quarter.)
• One of the new additions in iOS 14.5 that I did not mention earlier this week is that users can now report hazards, speed checks, accidents in Apple Maps, just like you can with other maps apps such as Waze.  Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac describes the new features in Maps.  I presume that when enough people report something, an alert will show up in the Maps app for other folks, but I haven't seen this yet myself.
• Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reviews the SanDisk 2-in-1 flash drive, which lets you transfer large files between an iPhone, computer, and iPad because it features both Lighting and USB-C.
• Juli Clover of MacRumors reports on a new HomeKit-compatible device called the Eve Energy Smart Plug, which can not only control a device (like a lamp) that it plugged in to it, but which also can act as a Thread router.  A HomeKit mini can also act like a Thread router.  My hope is that, in a few years, the cross-platform Thread standard will really take off, improving the capabilities of lots of different smart home products that you might use.
• Just in case you are curious, yes, there are Apple Watches in space right now.
• In an article for Macworld, Dan Moren speculates on some of the upcoming products that Apple may be working on.
• And finally, one of the features of iOS 14.5 that has been getting a lot of press is the App Tracking Transparency.  Here is a video from Apple that explains how it works and why you may want to take advantage of it to protect your privacy.

Apple 2021 fiscal second quarter -- the iPhone and iPad angle

Yesterday, Apple released the results for its 2021 fiscal second quarter (which ran from December 27, 2020, to March 27, 2021) and held a call with analysts to discuss the results.  Unlike Apple's Q1 which contains all of the holidays sales, Apple's Q2 is usually not a particularly interesting quarter.  Apple's best Q2 ever had been in 2018, when Apple posted revenue of $61.1 billion.  But I think it is fair to say that Apple beat that record this time, posting jaw-dripping revenue of $89.6 billion during the quarter.  That's a number that you would only expect to see in a Q1 with holiday sales, such as Apple's 2020 Q1 with revenue of $91.8 billion thanks to the holiday sales at the end of calendar year 2019.  Apple had a very, very good financial quarter.  If you want to get all of the nitty gritty details, you can download the audio from the announcement conference call from iTunes, or you can read a transcript of the call prepared by Jason Snell of Six Colors.  Apple's official press release is here.  Here are the items that stood out to me.

iPhone

• iPhone revenue for the quarter was $47.9 billion, a record for a fiscal second quarter.  iPhone revenue was up 66% compared to this time last year. 
• Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the iPhone 12 model is the most popular, but the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are also very popular.  He did not specifically mention the iPhone 12 mini, and my sense is that it is the least popular product in the iPhone 12 line.
• People seem to like their new iPhones.  Apple CFO Luca Maestri stated:  "In the U.S., the latest survey of consumers from 451 Research indicates customer satisfaction of over 99% for the iPhone 12 family."
• To give you a sense of how impressive the increase in iPhone revenue was this past quarter, here is a chart showing the year-over-year percentage change since Fiscal 2013 Q1, which is when Apple started reporting this type of revenue in this form.  There were some great quarters in 2015, but last quarter was even better.

iPad

• iPad revenue was $7.8 billion, which is 79% higher than a year ago.
• Maestri said that there are shortages in the semiconductor industry that have affected many companies, and these shortages are having an impact on how many iPads that Apple can make.
• Here is a chart to show the year-over-year percentage change in iPad revenue since Fiscal 2013 Q1, which is when Apple started reporting this type of revenue in this form.  As you can see, the increase in iPad revenue was even more impressive than the increase in iPhone revenue when you compare this most recent quarter to all of the prior quarters.

Other

• Apple Watch sales continue to expand, with 75% of Apple Watch customers during the quarter purchasing their first Apple Watch.  And Cook believes that there are many more Apple Watch sales to come, remarking that he thinks "we're in the early innings on the Watch" and "this is a long way from being a mature market."
• Apple TV+ shows have received 352 award nominations and had 98 wins.

iOS 14.5 adds many new features

Yesterday, Apple released iOS 14.5 for the iPhone along with similar updates for the iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.  This was a major update with lots of new features.  If you want to go deep on every single thing that is new, I recommend this extensive article by Federico Viticci of MacStories.  But here are my four favorite new features.

Unlock your iPhone while wearing a mask

For the past year+ of the pandemic, I've envied my wife's iPhone with Touch ID every time that I tried to unlock my Face ID iPhone while wearing a mask.  It is annoying to want to look at my iPhone in a grocery store, elevator, and many other places and needed to type in my (long) passcode to unlock my device.  Ugh.  But that is now over for folks with an Apple Watch (Series 3 or later, running watchOS 7.4 or later).

With iOS 14.5, you can turn on the option to unlock your iPhone automatically when you are wearing a mask and an Apple Watch.  But first, you need to turn this feature on.  Here is how you do that.

In the iPhone's Settings app, tap Face ID & Passcode.  Next, enter your passcode.

 
Next, scroll down to the new section called Unlock with Apple Watch.  Turn on that switch, and you will see an explanation of how the feature works.

 
That's it.  Now that you have this feature turned on, here is how it works.

When you try to unlock your iPhone and the iPhone senses that you have a mask on — specifically, when it senses that your mouth is covered — your iPhone checks to see if you are wearing your Apple Watch.  If so, it checks to see if the reason that your Apple Watch is unlocked is that you did so by entering the passcode on the Apple Watch.  If yes, then your Apple Watch tells your iPhone that you are already authenticated, and the iPhone unlocks.  The whole process takes a second or less.  At the same time, your Apple Watch taps your wrist to give you an alert that the watch has just unlocked your iPhone:

There are lots of safeguards built-in to this process.  For example, if your Apple Watch taps you to tell you that it just unlocked your iPhone and that is not what you intended, you can quickly tap the button on your Apple Watch screen.  That will immediately lock your iPhone, and at that point, it can ONLY be unlocked by entering your passcode, not with Face ID — either with or without a mask.

Also, this whole process only works if your Apple Watch is on your wrist and your iPhone is fairly close.  My son tested this feature with me last night.  When he tried to unlock my iPhone by holding it on the other side of the room from me, it was too far from my Apple Watch to work.  But when he got within 6-7 feet of my watch, it worked.  So if you have this feature enabled, you do need to pay attention if someone is close to you and picks up your iPhone.  But if they steal your iPhone and run away, the Apple Watch won't unlock it.

Another security feature is that if the reason that your Apple Watch is unlocked is that you used your iPhone to automatically unlock your watch, then your watch cannot also automatically unlock your iPhone.  It is only when you unlocked your watch with your passcode that this works.  I enter the passcode every morning when I put on my Apple Watch, so if you do it the same way, you are ready to go.

I'm very excited to have this feature, and in my tests yesterday, it worked great.  Of course, I look forward to a day when I don't have to wear a mask at all, but this new feature will make it much easier in the interim.  I just wish that Apple had added this feature last year.

App Tracking Transparency

In iOS 14.5, if an app wants to track your activity and then share it with other apps, the app now needs to ask for your permission before doing so.  Facebook and some other companies have opposed this feature strenuously, taking the position that they ought to be able to track you without telling you about it, and they complain that if they have to ask for permission, people will say no.  But the fact that many people will say no when given the choice seems more like an argument for the Apple approach over the Facebook approach.

For an excellent overview of this feature, watch the video at the top of this article by Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal in which she discusses the feature with Apple executives Craig Federighi.

I haven't actually seen one of these requests from an app yet, but I presume I will soon.  I like the fact that Apple is trying to do what it can to enhance privacy and put the control back in the hands of the user.

New emoji

There are a few updated and changed emoji in iOS 14.5.  For example, there are three new faces:  Exhaling Face, Face with Spiral Eyes, and Face in Clouds:

Also, the Syringe emoji no longer has blood in it, making it more appropriate to use to indicate vaccination:

On the iPad, it is now easier to search for emoji because you can do so by name on the iPad, just like you have been able to do on an iPhone.

Share lyrics

There are a number of new features in the Music app, but here is my favorite.  Apple Music already had the ability to show you the lyrics to most songs, but now you can share lyrics — the specific lines that you select.  When you are looking at the lyrics in a song, just press down on one line of lyrics.  You will then have the option to select additional lines of lyrics, and then you can share a card showing just those lyrics with someone else, such as via the Messages app.  The recipient will see the lyrics that you selected.  And if they tap the image, they will start playing the song at the point where those lyrics are being sung.

I presume that both parties need to subscribe to Apple Music for this to work on both sides.  Nevertheless, this is a very fun way to quote lyrics to someone else.

Support for items in the Find My app

I discussed the expansion of Find My to include items earlier this month.  And after I wrote that post, Apple introduced its own AirTag product, so there are now both third-party and first-party products that can work with Find My.  But you need iOS 14.5 to make it work.

I ordered an AirTag 4-pack this past Friday, and they are supposed to be delivered to me this Friday.  If you also have plans to use an AirTag or similar products from third-parties, make sure you are running iOS 14.5.

Conclusion

Apple's WWDC conference is coming in June, and I'm sure that Apple will use that opportunity to preview iOS 15 before it is released later this year.  But even with iOS 15 now perhaps just four to five months away, I'm glad that Apple is still adding new features to iOS 14 so that we can start using these new features today.