iPhone J.D.

In the news

I'm excited to use iOS 14 and iPad OS 14, which Apple should release in a few months.  Both have lots of new features that will improve the experience of using an iPhone and an iPad.  If you want to try out those features without having to wait, yesterday, Apple released public beta of both operating systems.  I don't recommend installing a beta version of an operating system on the same iPhone or iPad that you use to get work done, but I will sometimes install the beta version on an extra iPhone or iPad.  If you want to try out the beta, Jason Snell of Six Colors wrote a good overview of the iOS 14 beta for the iPhone, as did Jim Dalrymple of The Loop.  And Dan Moren of Six Colors wrote a good overview of the iPadOS 14 beta for the iPad, as did Federico Viticci of MacStories.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• In the latest episode of the TechSavvyLawyer.Page Podcast (Overcast link), D.C. attorney Michael D.J. Eisenberg interviews legal technology expert Brett Burney to discuss the best apps for attorneys, tips for production of evidence from an iPhone during discovery, and apps that are underutilized by attorneys.
• In an article for MacStories, Illinois attorney John Voorhees discusses the new Widgets and App Library features of the upcoming iOS 14 home screen.
• Adam Engst of TidBITS compares the AirPods to the AirPods Pro, and he recommends that most people get the AirPods.  He makes some good points; I love and prefer to use my AirPods Pro, but there are some specific features of the regular AirPods that I do miss.
• Joseph Keller of iMore discusses the improvements to the Shortcuts app in iOS 14.
• Patrick Lucas Austin of Time gives tips for looking better on a videoconference.  His first tip is better lighting.  A few weeks ago I recommended getting this $30 Lampat LED Desk Lamp that you can purchase on Amazon for your home and/or office, wherever you might be doing a videoconference.  It's made a big difference for me when I've used Zoom or Microsoft Teams, plus it is a great lamp, plus it gives me a place to plug in and charge my iPhone. 
• Another helpful tip for appearing in court on a videoconference:  wear a shirt.
• Abner Li of 9to5Google reports that the Gmail app for the iPad finally supports split view multitasking.
• As John Gruber of Daring Fireball points out, multitasking is a feature that was introduced with iOS 9 back in 2015.  It is remarkable that a company with the resources of Google took half a decade to add an important feature to one of the most popular apps in the App Store — an app that a huge number of people use every single day.
• And finally, last weekend, the movie to watch at home was Hamilton on Disney+, and my family loved it.  I've been hearing great Hamilton songs in my head all week.  Today, the new Tom Hanks movie Greyhound debuts on Apple TV+.  The movie was destined for a theatrical release, but in light of COVID-19, Hanks made a deal with Apple to premiere the movie that he wrote and stars in, along with a star-studded cast.  Here is a short inside look narrated by Hanks that doesn't appear to contain any spoilers:

Review: eero Pro 3-pack -- blanket your home with fast Wi-Fi

The recent stay-at-home portion of the pandemic that began in the United States in March taught all of us many lessons about sharing a home, 24/7, with family members.  One of them is the value of having good Wi-Fi at home.  With my wife and I both using the Internet to get work done at the same time that my kids were streaming video to attend virtual classes, bandwidth became a valuable commodity in my home.  And with all of us spending so much time together, it became even more important, from time to time, to search for that semi-private corner of the home to hole up for a period of time.  Of course, the corners of a home are the very places that Wi-Fi sometimes doesn't reach.

I did a major upgrade to the Wi-Fi in my home five years ago when I hired someone to run Cat 6 cable from the front room on the second floor of my house (a study) to the back room on the first floor of my house (a TV room) and I purchased two Apple Airport Extreme routers for each location.  I described that upgrade in this post, and for a long time it worked very well.  Nevertheless, there were still parts of my house where the Wi-Fi speed was low.  And since my devices use much more bandwidth now than they did five years ago, those spots became much more annoying.  For example, I have a dining room table that should be a perfect place to work, but when I was getting less than 1-3 Mbps of download speed while I was trying to connect to my work network, the Wi-Fi problems interfered with my productivity.  It was time for an upgrade.

eero Pro routers

After researching the options, it became clear that unless you have a small house for which the signal from a single Wi-Fi router can reach everywhere, the best option is a mesh router system with multiple units.  And one of the consistent favorites of numerous sites, including Wirecutter, is the eero Pro system.  The specific configuration that Wirecuter recommends is a system with 1 eero Pro and 2 eero Beacons for $399.  But for me, it made more sense to instead get only eero Pro units, which Amazon sells in a set of three eero Pro units for $499.  (Amazon bought the company that makes eero devices in 2019.) 

Here is why it was worth it for me to spend an additional $100 to get a system with three eero Pro units.

First, eero Beacons are simple to use because you just plug them into a wall outlet, and as an added bonus they contain night lights, but they don't contain any Ethernet ports.  An eero Pro has two Ethernet ports.  Since I have a (fast) Cat 6 wire connecting two of the rooms in my home, I wanted to have an eero Pro in both locations so that I could plug into Ethernet in each location.  As fast as Wi-Fi can be, it is not as fast and consistent as a wired connection over Ethernet. 

Second, the eero Pro allows for faster Wi-Fi, especially if you have a fast Internet connection.  (I have Gigabit Internet at my home.)  An eero Beacon has a limit of 350 Mbps.  An eero Pro is designed to support Gigabit Internet.  Also, an eero Pro is a tri-band router, which means that it can work with devices that support the older 2.4 GHz band, it can work with devices that support the faster 5 GHz band, and it adds a second 5 GHz band and can manage connections on all three bands to maximize the speed.  For example, if you have multiple devices at your home using Wi-Fi, a tri-band system helps to prevent any one device from hogging all of the bandwidth and slowing down other devices — assuming that you have enough overall Internet speed for all of your devices.

Although those were the two primary reasons I opted for eero Pro, there are other advantages with the more advanced Pro system.  For example, two months ago, eero Pro gained support for Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) in the U.S. and Canada, which improves the speed and reliability of Wi-Fi.  Click here for an explanation of how this works on the eero Pro.

Note that the Wirecutter article by Joel Santo Domingo that I referenced above agrees that an eero Pro 3-pack is the "fastest and best Eero kit" and reports that "it performed better in our tests than one Eero Pro with a pair of Beacons," but nevertheless concludes that an eero Pro with two eero Beacons is better because the eero Pro 3-pack costs "nearly twice as much."  Perhaps that was true when the Wirecutter article was written, but it certainly isn't true today.  The eero Pro 3-pack is currently $499, which is only $100 more than spending $399 on the Eero Pro with two eero Beacons.

Setup

As much as I love technology in general, computer networking is never something that I have enjoyed fiddling with.  I just want a system that works without me needing to tend to it, and that's why I used to love Apple's Airport devices back when Apple was still making them.  The different eero devices have long had a reputation of being the easiest Wi-Fi devices to set up, and based on my experience, that is absolutely true.  The eero app on the iPhone walks you through every step of the process. 

First, I connected one eero Pro in my study, where my cable modem is located, and connected the Internet to one of the ports on the eero Pro.  In a few minutes, the iPhone eero app had downloaded the latest firmware and confirmed that everything was working.  Then I used the second Ethernet port on the eero Pro to connect to a small and inexpensive NETGEAR 5-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch that I've used for a few years.  It connects to devices like my iMac, a Drobo, an HDHomeRun (which gives me TV on my iMac), and it connects to the cord that runs downstairs to the TV room at the back of the house.

In my TV Room, I connected the second eero Pro to the Cat 6 cable, followed the directions on the eero iPhone app, and before long, that unit was up-and-running.  I used the extra port on the back of the second eero Pro to connect to my Apple TV.  I didn't need to do that — the Apple TV works fine with Wi-Fi when the Wi-Fi router is just a few feet away — but after doing some tests, I found the speed to be a little higher and more consistent with a wired connection between the eero Pro and the Apple TV.

At that point, with just two eero Pro units, the Internet throughout my house was already better than it had ever been with the Apple AirPort Extreme setup that I had been using.  But then I added the third eero Pro in the middle of my house.  I plugged this one into a wall, and it communicates wirelessly with the other eero Pro units, switching between them whenever necessary to get the fastest possible connection.  That third eero Pro had two unused Ethernet ports, so in one of the ports I plugged in my Lutron Caséta Smart Bridge (which controls the lights in my home).  That way, the bridge is now in a central location in my house.

Speed and coverage

My goal was to blanket my entire house in fast Wi-Fi, and this system with three eero Pro units truly delivers.  That table near the middle of my house where I had been seeing 1-3 Mbps now frequently gets over 100 Mbps.  Perhaps more importantly, the fast speed is consistent.  In a corner of my house where there is a big cushy chair, the Wi-Fi speed used to be so slow that I would just turn off Wi-Fi whenever I sat there so that I could use a faster LTE connection on my iPhone — which was an OK solution on my iPhone, but my iPad doesn't have cellular.  Now, I get great speeds in that spot on any of my devices without having to change any settings.

The speed is so good and the range is so wide that I even get reasonable Wi-Fi speeds in the very back corner of my backyard.  (Eero says that a system with three eero Pros can cover up to 6,000 square feet.)

Frankly, I wish I had purchased the eero Pro back in March so that I could have taken advantage of this system during those months when I was working from home every day.  I'm currently working back in my office again, but given the state of the pandemic, I realize that could change at any point.  For now, I appreciate the better Wi-Fi on the weekends and weeknights, and if I have to start working from home again during the week, the eero Pro will make that much better.

Note that the eero system is expandable.  You can start with one or two units and then add additional units over time if you want to extend the Wi-Fi to additional parts of your house.  These three eero Pro units are perfect for my house and at this point, I don't see any need to add more in the future.  However, I could have started with just a single eero Pro device for $199 and then added more later.  (By buying a three-pack, you save $100 versus buying three individual units.)

iPhone app

I mentioned above how the iPhone app makes it incredibly easy to configure eero devices.  It also gives you a powerful way to check the status of your system and the devices connected to it, and it is much more advanced than Apple's AirPort Utility software that I previously used to work with my AirPort Extreme routers.  The eero iPhone app received an extensive update in November 2019.

When you open the app, the green color instantly tells you that everything is working well.  You can see the status of your Internet, the status of each of your eero devices, and then you see a list of every item that is connected to your Wi-Fi or connected via Ethernet to an eero.

 

The eero app does a great job of figuring out what each device is — correctly knowing, for example, the difference between an iPhone X and an iPad Pro 3.  But you can tap on each device and give it a more specific name such as Jeff iPad Pro 3.  I love seeing everything that is connected to my Internet.  I use a complex password so I wouldn't expect a neighbor or someone else to be connected to my network, but it is reassuring to be able to confirm that in the eero app.

If you tap on any item, you will get more information.  For example, if you tap on Internet, eero can run a speed test to tell you your upload and download speeds.  It can also provide you with some statistical information such as your fastest download and upload speeds in the past week.

 
If you tap on a device connected to the Internet, you can see additional information about that specific device.

You even have the ability to pause the Internet on any specific device.  I've tested this feature to confirm that it works, but I haven't had a need to use it.  I could see some parents using this feature to pause Internet access for a child.

The eero app also allows you to configure guest access.  This allows you to create an additional Wi-Fi network with a unique name and password that you can provide to a guest who is at your house.  The guest will get Internet access, but will not have access to any files on your network and will not be able to control your smart devices.  Guest access also blocks streaming audio; I'm not sure why it does that, except perhaps to limit bandwidth use.

Updates and eero Labs

Another nice thing about eero devices is that they get regular updates to add new features and other improvements.  The iPhone app manages that.

In the eero Labs feature of the app, you can even preview upcoming new features as they are being beta tested.  For example, I'm currently testing a feature called Band Steering, which improves performance by encouraging capable devices to connect to 5 GHz when they can do so — which provides faster speed than the older 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi technology.  Another eero Labs technology is WPA3, which provides additional security for the newer devices that support the standard.

Another interesting feature in eero Labs is called Optimize for Conferencing and Gaming.  If one of the devices in your network is in a videoconference — something I have been doing much more frequently since the pandemic started — eero will ensure that the device in the conference gets sufficient bandwidth, even if it means that another device might be just a tad slower as it is loading websites.  It does the same thing to improve game performance.

HomeKit

One of the tabs in the eero app is called Discover, and it allows the eero to go beyond just a traditional Wi-Fi network.  For example, eero Labs is located under Discover.  The Discover tab is also where you can find HomeKit support, which was added to eero earlier this year.  Apple's HomeKit technology allows numerous smart home devices to work with an iPhone and other Apple hardware.  For example, I mentioned the Lutron bridge above, and I have numerous Lutron dimmers and other light controls throughout my house. 

With the new HomeKit support in eero, each HomeKit device can be given only the network access that it needs, as approved by the manufacturer.  Thus, you don't have to worry about some rogue device getting access to your entire network or to some other HomeKit device.  It also protects against an attack on a HomeKit device from an outside source, and protects against one hacked HomeKit device infecting other parts of your network. 

In an article last year for Computerworld, Johnny Evans explained the security risks associated with connected smart devices in a home and how using a router secured with HomeKit can protect you from the risks.  Apple also has a page on its website explaining why this new security technology is recommended.  It is nice to know that Apple and eero worked together so that my eero Pro can act as a traffic cop to make sure that my HomeKit devices do what they are supposed to do, and only what they are supposed to do.

eero Secure

When you purchase an eero, you get a month of free access to eero Secure, a $2.99/month service that eero started in 2019.  It includes advanced parental controls (such as filtering content for certain devices on your network), ad-blocking, protection against certain unsafe sites on the Internet, and other services.  There is also an eero Secure+ service that adds a subscription to 1Password, the encrypt.me VPN service, and MalwareBytes antivirus software.

If my kids were younger, I would be interested in eero Secure for the parental control options.  The protection against unsafe sites also seems helpful, but I haven't yet decided if I will subscribe.

Conclusion

The eero Pro is everything that I hoped for and more.  It blankets my house in fast Wi-Fi so that there are no more dead spots.  It also manages the Wi-Fi to maximize the Wi-Fi speed for all of the devices in my house.  I also love all of the features in the iPhone app.  Additionally, I'm delighted to see that eero has done such a good job adding new features over time, such as recently adding increased security for HomeKit devices.  I look forward to my eero system getting even better over time as more features are added.

You can pay less for other mesh networking systems, but you get fewer features and less speed.  If you decide that eero is right for you, you should consider whether the 1 eero Pro and 2 eero Beacons for $399 is sufficient for your needs.  If the considerations that I noted above apply to you — such as a desire to connect two eero devices with an Ethernet cord and/or a desire to get the most out of fast Internet service — then the eero Pro gets my highest recommendation.  This is a fantastic system.

Click here to get the eero Pro 3-pack from Amazon ($499)

In the news

It's a three-day weekend for many of us here in the United States.  I'm looking forward to watching Hamilton with my family on Disney+, and something tells me that I won't be the only one doing so.  I strongly suspect that my daughter knows every line of the lyrics to every single song, which hasn't happened since she was a much younger girl watching Frozen.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Legal technology expert Tom Mighell explains why Apple's announcements at last week's WWDC conference should appeal to many lawyers.
• According to a post from a Microsoft engineer on the official Microsoft Teams feedback forum, Teams will soon support a 7x7 grid with 49 participants on the screen at one time.  And not just for the computer; Microsoft is "targeting full availability including mobile clients for iOS and Android by early September."
• Speaking of videoconferences, Joel Stein of the New York Times writes about people who have a "Zoom shirt" that they use to look professional when on a video call.
• Jason Cross of Macworld explains how Siri will change later this year in iOS 14.
• Scott Stein of CNet interviews Kevin Lynch, who is in charge of the Apple Watch at Apple, to discuss the sleep tracking feature that is coming to the Apple Watch later this year.
• Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reviews the Fi smart dog collar, a device for your dog that uses GPS and LTE-M so that you can always track your dog using your iPhone.
• Dennis Sellers of AppleWorld.Today announces that if you sign up for a new Apple Card and use the credit card to pay for an Apple service, you will get $50 in Daily Cash.
• J.R. Bookwalter of Macworld reviews Camera FrontBack, an interesting $1 iPhone app that lets you take a video with the back camera while also embedding in the video a picture of you and your reaction using the front camera.
• Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac reports that an Apple Watch helped to save the life of a California anesthesiologist when it discovered a critical heart disease.
• Julie Cornell of KETV in Omaha, Nebraska explains how an Apple Watch saved the life of a 92-year-old farmer after he fell from a ladder.
• Nick Statt of The Verge reports that Apple has closed more than 25% of its U.S. retail stores due to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases.
• And finally, here is a new promotional video for Apple TV+ that provides an overview of some of the best shows currently on the network, plus some that are coming soon — such as the Tom Hanks film Greyhound, which debuts on Apple TV+ on July 10:

Review: Studio Neat Simple Syrup Kit -- make and store your own simple syrup

Today, I'm here to recommend an inexpensive kit for making your own simple syrup and, in the process, give you a never-before-published cocktail recipe.  That's not a typical topic for iPhone J.D., but I have three good reasons for doing so.  First, the kit I'm discussing is made by Studio Neat, a company well known in the iPhone and iPad community.  The Canopy, which I reviewed in 2018, is a great cover for an Apple Magic Keyboard that turns into a stand to prop up your iPad when you are typing.  The Glif, which I reviewed in 2017, is a fantastic device for attaching your iPhone to a tripod for taking pictures and video, and when paired with Studio Neat's Hand Grip makes it much easier to hold an iPhone relatively steady for a long period of time while you are taking a video.  And the Material Dock, which I reviewed in 2016, is a nice dock to keep on a nightstand to charge your Apple Watch and other devices overnight.  The second reason it makes sense for me to discuss Studio Neat's Simple Syrup Kit is that iPhone J.D. comes to you from New Orleans, the birthplace and spiritual home of the cocktail.  And third, all of us have now made it halfway through 2020, which means that we all deserve a good drink.

Simple syrup is a key ingredient in many cocktails, including my favorite cocktail, the Old Fashioned.  The version I make was passed on to me by my father and to him by his father, and I believe it to be the best version of this classic cocktail.  (The recipe is below.)  I'd never thought about making my own simple syrup for that recipe.  For as long as I can remember, I've mostly used the version sold by Pat O'Brien's (a famous bar in New Orleans) which sells for about $5.00 a bottle.  But my wife and kids surprised me with the Studio Neat Simple Syrup Kit for Father's Day this year, and it's been great fun to use.

Included in this $25 kit are five items.  a bottle, a funnel, a pour spout, a cap, and a dry erase marker.

The star of the kit is the bottle.  It has lines printed on the side which makes it super easy to add the correct amount of the two ingredients:  sugar and water.

Put the funnel on top of the bottle, and then add the two ingredients up to the designated lines.  First, you add the sugar.  You can use any type of sugar that you want, and Studio Neat encourages you to try different sugar types for slightly different tastes.  My wife was a pastry chef before she went to law school, so it won't surprise you that we have many different types of sugar in my house.  In this next picture, I'm using organic sugar, which is why it has more of a blond color instead of the extreme white of refined sugar.

Next, add the water to the wavy water line.  Given where the lines are located, you might think that you are adding less water than sugar, but these lines are designed to give you a 1:1 ratio.  (The water fills up some of the area where the sugar is located.)  Studio Neat notes that you can adjust these ratios to taste, such as using half as much water to get a richer simple syrup.

With the two ingredients added, you remove the funnel, add the pour spout and cap, and shake until the sugar is dissolved.  Using the dry erase marker, you can add the date to the side.  (Store the mixture in a refrigerator and it will last one to three months.)

I was surprised that all you need to do next is shake.  I always assumed that you would have to heat the ingredients on a stove to make a simple syrup, but this method works well.

Studio Neat created a fun stop-motion animation video to illustrate the process that I just described:

So now you have your simple syrup.  What do you do with it?  The kit comes with a recipe for Whiskey Sour, so I tried that out first.  Although the recipe is super easy, when you combine a fresh lemon with whiskey and this simple syrup, the result was great, one of the best versions of the Whiskey Sour that I've ever had.

The pour spout is particularly good in this kit, and Studio Neat brags about it on its website:  "The pour spout allows for a clean, slow pour.  The problem with most bottles is the spout gets all gummed up and crusty over time.  We searched far and wide to find a pour spout that avoids this problem."  The spout made it easy to pour just the right amount in a nice, slow, fashion. 

Last weekend, I used the homemade simple syrup to make an Old Fashioned.  It was fantastic.  Sitting on a rocking chair on my back porch with my wife, enjoying cocktails and trading stories, is a fantastic way to pass the time.

Did the cocktails taste different using homemade simple syrup instead of a store-bought brand?  In my mind they did, but I'll concede that might just be because everything seems to taste better when you make it yourself.  It was definitely easier to use than a standard bottle of simple syrup because of the fantastic pour spot, which gives you a slow and steady pour.  With a standard bottle, the simple syrup will sometimes come out too fast, and then you have ruined the drink.  It is also nice to know that I never need to worry about running out of simple syrup in my house.  Sugar and water are always available in my house, so I can always make more whenever I need it.  Additionally, using simple syrup that I made myself was fun.

Richardson Old Fashioned

As promised above, here is the Old Fashioned recipe that has been in my family for three generations — and in a few years when my kids are old enough, I suspect that it will be a fourth-generation recipe.  This version of the Old Fashioned is big on flavor and is on the sweet side.  (When I'm in the mood for a somewhat similar but less sweet drink, I make a Sazerac.)

• Ingredients

An orange and a lemon

Angostura bitters

Simple Syrup — see above

Bourbon Whiskey.  For this recipe, I prefer to use Jack Daniels Old No. 7, the traditional back label version.

Maraschino cherries

Sugar

Water

Ice.

An old fashioned glass.

• Instructions

Add 1.5 teaspoons of sugar to an old fashioned glass.  (Some folks call this a rocks glass.)  Next, add three dashes of Angostura bitters.  (Yes, I realize that Peychaud's bitters are from New Orleans, and that's what I would use in a Sazerac, but I prefer the taste of the Angostura bitters for this drink.)  I'm generous with those three dashes; if you are more timid with your dashes, increase that to about five or six.  Next, add a very small amount of water, about a fluid ounce or less.  Mix those three ingredients very well in the glass using a spoon.

Next, add 3-4 ounces of bourbon whiskey.  For me, that means I fill up my shot glass (technically, a double shot glass) almost to the top, twice.  Next, add almost an ounce of simple syrup.  Mix with your spoon.

Next comes the fruit.  Cut an orange in half (top to bottom).  Now cut a wedge from the half of the orange.  Depending upon the size of your orange, your wedge should be big enough that you get about five wedges per half of an orange.  Squeeze that orange wedge into the drink to add some fresh orange juice, and then drop the wedge into the drink.  Now do the exact same thing with a lemon — squeeze the wedge and then drop it into the drink.  Next, take your jar of Maraschino cherries and get about one teaspoon of juice from the jar, and add that to the drink.  Mix with your spoon.

Next, add enough ice to bring the drink close to the top of the glass.  I often prefer crushed ice to keep the drink extremely cold while drinking it; a cold cocktail on a hot New Orleans day is refreshing.  Crushed ice does melt more quickly, but there is enough flavor and sweetness in this drink that it remains delicious even as the ice melts.  However, I also frequently make this drink with regular ice cubes, preferably store-bought (which looks better in the glass) but the ones that your freezer makes will also work.  And sometimes I use a single large cube made using a Tovolo Inch Large King Craft Ice Mold.  Using a single large ice cube is pretty and gives the drink a fun look, although it is not quite as cold.

Finally, add a single Maraschino cherry.

• The more the better

One Old Fashioned is good, but having a second one and sharing with friends is even better.  I will typically make a number of these drinks at one time because it doesn't take much more time to make two to four of these than it does to make one of these, and that way you don't have to wait to serve a second round.  When you are making drinks to save for a little later, just stop right before you get to the ice stage.  Then, when you are ready to serve another one, add the ice and you are ready to go.

If I am having a larger number of people over and I know I will be serving a number of these cocktails over a period of time, I'll follow the above instructions but I'll pour the ingredients for six to ten drinks into a single pitcher instead of individual glasses and I'll stop just before the fruit stage.  That way, the bourbon, water, sugar, and bitters are already prepared when someone is ready for a drink.  From time to time, I'll stir the ingredients in the pitcher using a wooden spoon.  When it is time to make a drink, I'll stir again, and then pour that mixture from the pitcher into an old fashioned glass.  At that point, all I need to do is cut and add the orange and lemon wedges and the cherry + juice and some ice.  Using this method, the person gets fresh cut wedges in their drink, and by only having to do the last few steps, I can make each new drink in under a minute.

Conclusion

No matter what cocktail you use it for, the Studio Neat Simple Syrup Kit is fun and easy to use.  It makes the process of creating a cocktail even more enjoyable.  If I had known how much I would enjoy this product, I would have purchased it for myself a long time ago. 

Click here to get the Simple Syrup Kit from Studio Neat ($25).

In the news

Apple's WWDC conference is going on this week.  As a result, all week long, Apple has been sharing a ton of information about what is coming to future versions of Apple software, and that is the focus of most of the links that I am sharing today.  I realize that I probably feel this way every year at this time, but the news of this week has me incredibly excited for how much better my iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and even AirPods will be in a few months.  So let's get to it, the news of note from the past week:

• One of the new features in iOS 14 is the ability to double-tap or triple-tap the back of your iPhone to trigger some action.  California attorney David Sparks shows off in a video how to use the Shortcuts app to make these actions trigger the flashlight or open the Camera app.  This sounds useful and I could see myself doing this myself once iOS 14 comes out.
• In an interesting article in ABA Journal, San Francisco attorney David Lowe discusses how he prepared for a Zoom trial, including why he had to use his PC instead of his iPad.
• Timothy Lee of Ars Technica reports that the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that it violates the Fifth Amendment for the police to force someone to unlock an iPhone.  As noted in that article, the courts are split on this issue.
• If you want to see what iOS 14 looks like (at least, the current beta of it), Dieter Bohn of The Verge prepared a good video overview.
• Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal also prepared a good video overview of some of Apple's announcements at its Keynote.
• Ryan Christoffel of MacStories discusses the new features to Apple's Notes and Reminders apps coming in iOS 14 and iPad OS 14.
• Christoffel also discusses what will be new in tvOS 14.
• Christoffel also discusses some of the minor, but interesting, new features announced this week.
• Dan Moren of Six Colors similarly discusses some of the little stuff.
• Jason Snell of Six Colors discusses a WWDC session focused on the new cursor in iPadOS.
• Snell also discusses the new App Clips feature in iOS 14.
• Joe Rossignol of MacRumors explains how iOS 14 will be able to detect the position of your hand or your body pose to trigger actions.
• Juli Clover of MacRumors notes that a new feature of iOS 14 is that it gives you an alert when an app reads the clipboard.  And folks running the beta version discovered this week, as a result of that feature, that the TikTok app was reading the clipboard every few seconds.
• Michael Simon of PCWorld discusses features in iOS 14 that are improvements upon similar features in Android.
• Raymond Wong of Input wrote a similar article comparing iOS 14 to Android.  In that article, he writes:  "I think it’s inevitable someone creates a double-tap Shortcut to launch the camera app, which would put it on par with Android’s double-tap on the power button to activate the camera."  Obviously, Wong has yet to see the video from David Sparks, linked above, in which David has already done that.
• Many law firms and other companies use Mobile Device Management (MDM) to manage and protect secure information on iPhones and other mobile devices.  Bradley Chambers of 9to5Mac reports that Apple purchased one of the MDM companies, a company called Fleetsmith.
• Chance Miller of 9to5Mac shows how sharing Apple Watch faces will work in watchOS 7.
• In this 90-minute video episode of The Talk Show, John Gruber interviews Apple executives Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak to discuss the announcements at WWDC this week.  Even if you don't watch the whole video, watch at least a few minutes to see how beautiful Apple Park is as a background behind Federighi and Joswiak.
• Ben Keough of Wirecutter recommends his favorite mobile scanning apps.
• Andrew Cunningham and Thorin Klosowki of Wirecutter pick 1Password as the best password manager.
• Jonathan Mann created a silly music video called I Just Go Into Jiggle Mode by using clips from the Apple keynote earlier this week.
• This has nothing to do with technology, but since I'm talking about music, I also enjoyed watching this one.  Andry Greene of Rolling Stone shares a video of Paul McCartney, Dave Matthews, Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), Elvis Costello, Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Nathaniel Rateliff, Irma Thomas, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and others signing When the Saints Go Marching In.  Paul McCartney on the trumpet is something that I haven't seen before.
• And finally, Serenity Caldwell of Apple has been producing some great videos at the end of every day of WWDC this week to highlight the big announcements of each day.  Here are the videos for Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4.  (I'll update this post with links when she posts more.)  Each video is short and worth watching.  Here is the video for Day 1:

Why lawyers will love watchOS 7

As a part of Apple's WWDC conference that is taking place this week, Apple previewed the next version of the operating system for the Apple Watch called watchOS 7.  The Apple Watch has an important role in my law practice — especially because of notifications, reminders, and the calendar — and is also a big part of my life outside of work — especially because of the fitness features and its ability to play music and podcasts.  There will be some nice changes coming in watchOS 7 that will make the current Apple Watch even better.  (And of course, Apple might also release new Apple Watch hardware this year with even more new features.)  Here are the new changes in watchOS 7 that I think will be most valuable to lawyers and others.

Watch Face Improvements

Although there are many useful apps that run on the Apple Watch, the Apple Watch is often most useful when I can just glance down at the face of the watch.  It is already possible to create many different types of watch faces with different types of complications, but there will be even more than you can do in watchOS 7.

First, a single app will be able to have multiple complications on the same watch face.  (Right now, each different watch face can only have one complication from each different app.)  Thus, if you have a calendar app that works really well for keeping you on track during your day, you can have a single watch face that uses multiple complications that all come from the same calendar, such as one complication that tells you what the next appointment is, another that gives you a sense of your overall day, etc.  Or if you want to have a watch face that is focused on the weather, you can have multiple different weather indicators on the same watch face.  In this example, a watch face for parents with a new baby features multiple complications from the Glow Baby app:

Second, watchOS 7 lets you share watch faces.  Once you take the time to tweak a watch face so that it is perfect for some specific purpose, you can share that watch face with someone else so that they can use it without going through all the work of getting it configured.  Better yet, the App Store will offer faces recommended by the App Store editorial team, and watch faces can be shared on websites.  This is a great idea because I know that most folks don't take the time to configure many watch faces, not only because it takes time but also because they don't have a good idea for how to make it better.  It will be great for all of us to take advantage of the curated work done by others in creating fantastic watch faces that we can use right away or tweak further without starting from scratch.  I look forward to the ability to share great watch faces right here on iPhone J.D.

Third, there will be some new face designs that you can customize.  For example, if you just want to have the time and that one important complication as large as possible, the X-Large face includes the option to add a rich complication.

Fitness improvements

Apple frequently adds new workout types to the Workout app, and in watchOS 7, Apple adds Core Training, Dance, Functional Strength Training, and Cooldown.

Apple also redesigned the iPhone app that works with the Workout app.  The app currently called Activity is changing its name to Fitness, and it provides more information in a more streamlined view.

Shortcuts

The Shortcuts app on the iPhone can be used to trigger lots of complex actions with a simple trigger.  In watchOS 7, the Shortcuts app will come to the Apple Watch — or perhaps I should say will return to the Apple Watch, because Shortcuts is based on an app called Workflow that Apple purchased a few years ago, and Workflow worked on the watch until Apple turned off that feature.  I used to use Workflow on my watch to trigger some type of automated task, and I imagine that this will also work with Shortcuts on the watch.  In watchOS 7, you can create complications that trigger a specific shortcut.

Sleep tracking

Sleep tracking is a new feature that intrigues me, but I have my doubts on how useful it will be.  It is already possible to use a third-party sleep tracking app on the Apple Watch.  I've tried them before, but I have never really found the information that they provide to be all that useful to me.  Plus, if you wear your watch all night long, you need to make sure you built-in time to your schedule to charge your watch.  I found that charging while I prepared to go to work made a big difference but wouldn't get me all the way to 100%.

But now that this will be a built-in feature designed by Apple, I suspect that sleep tracking will be even more powerful and efficient.  If sleep tracking is already something that you find useful, then you'll definitely want to check out this new feature.

Also, to make it easier to charge your Apple Watch at a time other than overnight, when your Apple Watch is charging, your iPhone can alert you when it has reached 100%.

Automatic handwashing detection

Proper handwashing techniques are critical as we protect ourselves and others from COVID-19.  Having said that, I think I have the whole handwashing thing figured out and I'm not sure that I need my watch to remind me how long it takes to properly wash my hands.  Having said that, I don't see anything wrong with getting some help from the watch — I guess it will save me from singing Happy Birthday to myself twice — and the way that Apple has implemented this feature seems fun.

In watchOS 7, the Apple Watch will be able to tell when you are washing your hands based on the motion sensors and the microphone listening for the sound of running water and soap.  When it senses you are washing your hands, it initiates a 20-second countdown timer, along with a whimsical timer graphic and optional noises.  If you stop washing your hands too early, your watch will prompt you to continue washing.  Moreover, when you get home, your watch can remind you to wash your hands, and you can use the Health app on the iPhone to show the frequency and duration of your handwashing.

...and the rest

And of course, that is just the tip of the iceberg.  Other features include the ability to use Siri on the watch to translate words into another language, great features for folks who use a bike such as bike-friendly courses recommended by Maps, new noise-detection features, optimized battery charging so that the battery lasts longer, and more.

I'm also happy to see that Siri requests will be processed on the watch itself.  This should make the Apple Watch even more responsive when you talk to it, and will hopefully eliminate the delays that occur when I talk to my watch and it needs to take some time to use the iPhone to figure out what I said.

I've also seen some initial reports that the Apple Watch works much faster with watchOS 7.  Everything is much more responsive.  I know that there is only a tiny processor in the Apple Watch, and it is great that Apple is figuring out how to get the most out of it.

Finally, I've seem reports that Force Touch is removed in watchOS 7.  That's the gesture where you push down on the screen and then push down even more to trigger a second function.  This will be replaced by a long press.  This is similar to what Apple did on the iPhone, where 3D Touch was replaced with a long press.  My guess is that Apple is removing this feature so that it can remove the Force Touch sensor in future models of the Apple Watch, which gives Apple more space for a larger battery or another new feature — or allows Apple to make the Apple Watch even slimmer.  We'll see.

Put this all together, and I'm very much looking forward to watchOS 7.  I presume that it will be available in a few months.

Why lawyers will love iOS 14 and iPad OS 14

Yesterday, Apple gave a Keynote address to kick off WWDC, its annual developer conference.  There were lots of announcements about lots of different types of products, but today I'm going to focus just on the next version of the operating system for the iPhone and iPad called iOS 14 and iPad OS 14.  (My guess is that both will be released around October 2020.)  There are a lot of improvements coming, and I'm very much looking forward to this update.  Here are the new features that I am most looking forward to and which I think will be the most interesting to attorneys and other professionals who use an iPhone or iPad.

Widgets on the iPhone Home Screen

In addition to showing apps on your iPhone home screen, you can also place widgets of different shapes and sizes around your app icons.  This looks like a great way to show useful information in a place where it is easy to see the information.

You can stack up to 10 widgets in a single location.  You can swipe through to find the widget you want.  And if you select the Smart Stack widget, Apple will place the most relevant widget on top based upon the time of day, your location, and what you are doing — such as News in the morning, your calendar during the day, and the Activity widget at night.

The new widgets will also be available on the iPad, but it appears that you don't have the flexibility to place them wherever you want on the screen, which seems like an odd omission.  Instead, they all go on the left side of the first screen, just like the current today view.  You do gain the ability to put two smaller widgets side-by-side in that same space, and you can arrange and stack widgets within that part of the iPad screen.

App Library on the iPhone

I have a large number of apps on my iPhone.  On the first two screens, I remember where the important apps are located.  Beyond that, I don't really know where any app lives.  Is it on page 3 or page 5?  Top or bottom?  I don't know, so I just have to hunt for the icon or do a search.

With the new App Library, you decide how many initial screens you want to manage – for me it would probably be just two — and then everything after that can be on a hidden screen.  How do you find them?  After swiping past the first screen or two (depending upon how many you keep) you then see the App Library.  Apps are sorted by category into folders, and the apps you use the most are near the top, but there is a big search bar at the top making it easy to just search for the app you want.  And when you search, the iPhone shows you a big long list of every app listed alphabetically, giving you a quick way to locate the app you need.

This looks like a great feature and I cannot wait to use it on my iPhone.  Unfortunately, it appears that the App Library will only be available on the iPhone, not the iPad.

Compact Calls

Currently, if you are using your iPhone and someone calls you, the entire iPhone screen shows you that someone is calling.  In iOS 14, the notification is less obnoxious.  A small banner notification appears at the top of the screen with buttons to accept the call or hang up, but you can continue to see almost all of your iPhone screen while the banner is up there.

This feature is also on the iPad, so if your have your iPad configured to take calls from your iPhone, the notification is less obnoxious.  The same compact notification is used for other apps like FaceTime and certain third party apps.

Better search

The App Library feature makes it easier to search for an app on an iPhone.  But Apple has also improved the general Search feature on both the iPhone and iPad to take up less screen space and to provide many more useful suggestions, presented as you are typing your search terms. 

iPad interface improvements

On the Mac, there are many apps that have a sidebar on the left to show additional controls.  For example, in Photos on a Mac, the Sidebar gives you a place to click to see Photos, Memories, Favorites, People, Places, Recents, Imports, Recently Deleted, and many different albums.  In iPad OS 14, many apps will gain a similar sidebar.  This should make it much faster and easier to use these apps, and if you don't want the sidebar you can just dismiss it.  Apple says that this Sidebar is coming to the apps Photos, Notes, Files, Music, Shortcuts, Voice Memos, Contacts, Mail, and Calendar.  (Some iPad apps like Files and Notes already feature a sidebar, but it looks like it will be improved in iPad OS 14.)

Another feature inherited from the Mac and PC are toolbars with pull-down menus in certain situations.  And instead of using the small date picker from the iPhone, the iPad now has its own date picker with a full-size calendar.

With these and other improvements, the iPad interface will be more powerful and also easier to use.

Improved Apple Pencil support

I love using my iPad Pencil to take notes and annotate documents on my iPad Pro, and support for the Pencil will get even better in iPad OS 14.

First, Apple is added a feature called Scribble that lets you write by hand in any text field.  Thus, when your Pencil is already in your hand and you need to enter some text, you don't need to put down the Pencil and then type on the on-screen keyboard or an external keyboard.  You can just handwrite in the text field and the iPad will automatically convert your handwriting to text.  When I saw the demo of the feature, it reminded me of what the Apple Newton always wanted to achieve in the 1990s, although the technology of the time wasn't quite up to the task. 

I think that this is going to make a big difference for me whenever I sit down with my iPad Pro and my Apple Pencil to annotate documents — something that I do just about every day in my law practice.  My Pencil will already be in my hand for the purpose of highlighting and scribbling notes in the margins, and seems very efficient to use that same stylus whenever I need to enter a quick word or two.

Apple also made it easier to work with handwritten notes.  You can d0uble-tap to select a word or double-tap again to select a line, very similar to the gestures that you would use when working with printed text.  Or you can select an entire paragraph.  Apple uses advanced machine learning to make sure that just the words are selected and not the drawings next to the words. 

After you have selected one or more words, you can paste them elsewhere as typed text.  And if Apple recognizes the type of data that you handwrote — such as an address, phone number, etc. — Apple will give you appropriate options to work with that data.

Apple says that you can also circle a word to select it or scratch a word to delete it.  I'm not sure if this is just for handwritten text or if it also works on printed text.

iPad OS 14 also gives you better handwriting.  Well, sort of.  If you draw a shape, like a line, and then keep holding your Pencil down, Apple will turn your handwritten line into a perfectly straight line.  The new technology can handle a line, curve, square, rectangle, circle, oval, heart, triangle, star, cloud, hexagon, thought bubble, arrow (an outlined arrow, a line with an arrow at the end, or a curve with an arrow at the end), or a continuous line with 90º turns.  Apple also made it easier to add space between two areas where you have writing, moving things down so that you can write above them.  

These look like great features, and I presume that they will be implemented in third-party apps like GoodNotes.  For example, in GoodNotes, you can currently draw a perfect square by first tapping the shapes tool and then drawing a square and then tapping the pen tool to go back to your regular pen.  It would be nice to switch from handwriting to drawing shapes without having to change tools.

Pinned Conversations in Messages

iOS 14 and iPad OS 14 will introduce lots of new features in Messages, but the one that looks most useful to me is Pinned Conversations in Messages.  Currently, your most recent conversations go to the top of the Messages app.  This is nice, but often when I open Messages I want to text someone like my wife or my son, and it is a pain to have to search for where I last texted them.  With this new feature, I can pin my conversation with my wife to the top of Messages so that it is always quick and easy to send my wife a message, even if she was not the last person with whom I texted.

Translation tools

iOS 14 and iPad OS 14 will make it easier to communicate with people who speak a different language and easier to work with webpages in a different language.  Safari will add the ability to translate a webpage in seven different languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese).

A new app called Translate gives you and another person the ability to have a conversation with the iPhone acting as a translator.  You can even download a language directly on the iPhone so that all translation is done on the phone itself, keeping the conversation private and away from a server.  Apple's new Translate app sounds very similar to Google's own Translate app, and I look forward to comparing them to see which one works best.

AirPods improvements

I use my AirPods all the time with my iPhone and iPad, but it is a pain to have to switch them between those two devices.  Last year I shared a tip for using the Shortcuts app to ease this process, and I still use that shortcut almost every day, but I still wish there were a better way.  in iOS 14 and iPad OS 14, Apple says that AirPods will automatically switch over to whatever device you are using.  That sounds amazing, and I cannot wait to see how it works in practice.

Apple also described a Spatial Audio feature for the AirPods Pro that will make it seem like sounds are in certain locations around you.  For example, something on your left will only play in the left ear ... unless you turn your head, in which case it will switch to both ears or the right ear so that the sound seems like it is continuing to come from the same location.  It will be interesting to see what Apple does with this technology.  It could provide a richer experience for watching a movie, it could be used for interesting 3D-audio experiences, and it could be used in connection with other directional technology like Maps or the widely rumored AirTags to help you to go in the right direction to find something.

AirPods are such a fantastic accessory, and I love that Apple is coming up with creative ways to make them better.

Shortcuts improvements

If you use the powerful Shortcuts app on your iPhone or iPad, there will be lots of improvements in the next few months.  You will be able to organize Shortcuts into folders, disable confirmation dialog boxes, copy and past actions, use new automation triggers, and more.  And it also works on the Apple Watch.

...and the rest

These new features are more than enough to make me excited to use the new software, but this is truly just the tip of the iceberg.  Apple lists the major new features for the iPhone on this page and for the iPad on this page.  Apple also has a more detailed list for the iPhone and a more detailed list for the iPad.  On those pages, you can learn about Siri improvements, Maps improvements, improvements to the Home app for having a better smart home, using your iPhone as a car key to unlock your car, CarPlay improvements, Camera improvements (such as shooting photos 90% faster at up to four frames per second and better Night Mode), a new technology called App Clips, improvements to Photos (including captions), improvements to Reminders, improvements to Notes, on-device dictation to improve privacy, the ability to search for emoji, and much more.

It's nice knowing that, in just a few more months, our iPhones and iPads will get some major improvements.

Apple to announce new products today at WWDC

Today is the first day of Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference, known as WWDC.  Due to COVID-19, developers will not come to California for the conference this year, and instead Apple is hosting a virtual conference.  WWDC always starts up with a keynote address today at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern, and Apple always uses the occasion to announce new products.  Sometimes there is new hardware, but Apple typically uses WWDC to show off the next major version of the operating system for iPhone and iPad.  Major announcements from past WWDC keynotes have included iPadOS (2019), improved notifications, group FaceTime, and Shortcuts (2018), drag-and-drop and the Files app (2017), split screen in Safari on the iPad and Memories in the Photos app (2016), and slide-over view and side-by-side apps (2015). 

What will Apple announce today?  Nobody knows for sure, but lots of people are guessing.  Mark Gurman of Bloomberg predicts the ability to use your iPhone to unlock a car, a new feature similar to Google Translate, and the ability to change the default mail app and default browser from Mail and Safari to a third-party app.  He also predicts that the Apple will shift Macs from using Intel processors to using the same Apple-made processors that Apple uses on the iPhone and iPad, new faces for the Apple Watch, minor upgrades to Apple TV, and updates to the HomePod speaker.  I've also seen predictions that Apple will unveil a long-rumored product called AirTags that will let you attach a small object to things like keys so that you can use your iPhone to find them.

You can watch the WWDC keynote today on the Apple website.  And if you are looking for something to read or watch before the Keynote, yesterday John Dickerson of CBS had an interesting interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook.

In the news

It was a big week at the United States Supreme Court, and one person who was happy with the decisions is Apple CEO Tim Cook.  After Monday's decision in Bostock, Cook — the most prominent gay CEO in the world — tweeted:  "Grateful for today’s decision by the Supreme Court. LGBTQ people deserve equal treatment in the workplace and throughout society, and today’s decision further underlines that federal law protects their right to fairness."  The other big decision this week was in the DACA case Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of Univ. of Cal.  After the decision was announced yesterday, Cook tweeted:  "The 478 Dreamers at Apple are members of our collective family. With creativity and passion, they’ve made us a stronger, more innovative American company. We're glad for today’s decision and will keep fighting until DACA’s protections are permanent."  Apple submitted amicus briefs in both of those cases, so Apple certainly helped to contribute to those victories.  With everything else going on in the world nowadays, it's certainly nice to see good decisions coming out of Washington, D.C.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Virginia attorney Sharon Nelson of Ride the Lightning discusses preparing for what happens to your digital life after you die.
• Last month, I reviewed the Photos Field Guide, created by California attorney David Sparks of MacSparky.  This week, David announced that he added transcripts to the Field Guide.  This is actually a very big deal and makes the already great guide even more useful.  First, you can quickly skim the transcript of a lesson to decide if you want to watch it.  This is really a visual guide so reading the transcript alone doesn't tell you everything that you need to know, but it certainly tells you enough to help you decide if you want to watch a video.  Second, the guide now includes a single PDF transcript of the entire course.  You can look at the PDF file from within the course, or better yet, you can download it to your PDF app of choice, which makes it easier to work with.  You can use that full transcript to search for a needle in the haystack.  I mean that literally; when I searched for "needle" I see that David uses the phrase "needle in a haystack" in § 6.10, in which he discusses searching for photos on an iPhone or iPad.  Thus, you can search for the part of the course that discusses any topic that you want.  This is especially useful after you have finished multiple lessons and cannot remember which one included the discussion of some specific topic.  As I am typing this, you can still sign up for the Photos Field Guide (2nd Edition) for only $24, but David is just about to raise the price, so act quickly if you want it.
• David Sparks also discusses an update to the Grammarly app for the iPad, a grammar checker.
• Earlier this week, I discussed the new update of Fantastical to version 3.1.  David Sparks also shared his thoughts (and some videos) on the update.
• Ryan Christoffel of MacStories also discusses the new update to Fantasical.
• This week, Apple announced a new program that gives you 0% financing on a new iPad, AirPods, Mac, and other products when you purchase using an Apple Card — which also gives you a 3% cash back.  For example, if you want to buy a 12.9" iPad Pro with 256GB, the cost is $1,099.  But instead of paying that all at once, your Apple Card can automatically pay $91.58 a month for 12 months, at which point you will have paid for the device without paying any interest.  And along the way, Apple will pay you $32.97 for the 3% cash back — which makes you feel better about the extra $100 you spent to get the 256GB model instead of the entry-level 128GB model.
• Speaking of money, Apple also announced this week that the App Store ecosystem facilitated over half a trillion dollars of commerce in 2019.  And in case my wife is reading this, I promise that only a small part of that was from me.
• If you want to learn about great apps that you can use for task management, calendars, and note-taking on your iPad, you should check out the recent Episode 27 of the Adapt podcast in which Federico Viticci and Ryan Christoffel discuss a large number of the options.  I enjoyed listening to this one.
• I'm always interested to learn about new smarthome technology that works with the iPhone.  Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac reviews Flo by Moen, a device that monitors the plumbing in your home and can shut off your water if it detects leaks or burst pipes.
• Speaking of water, here is a really cool slow motion video that shows how the Apple Watch uses its speakers to eject water.
• And finally, Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal created an interesting video to show how the iPhone and other smartphones have become a tool over the last decade to tell the story of police brutality:

Fantastical update embraces videoconferences -- and a quick rave review of the Logitech HD Pro C922 webcam and the Lampat LED Desk Lamp

One of the most noticeable changes to my law practice since the COVID-19 pandemic began was the vast increase videoconferences that I have attended.  Instead of driving across the city for an appellate argument or across the state for a hearing on a motion for summary judgment, I attended court via Zoom.  Instead of attending a meeting with the members of the Appellate Team at my law firm, we talk to each other using Microsoft Teams.  And instead of flying across the country for a client development opportunity, I have introduced myself to people via a webcam.  A large number of the events on my calendar are videoconferences, and that's a big change that you may be noticing as well.

Because a calendar is so important to lawyers and other professionals, many people like to go beyond the features of the built-in Calendar app on the iPhone and iPad by using a third-party calendar app.  One of the most popular choices is Fantastical, which has been my primary calendar app since I first reviewed it in 2012.  This week, Fantastical was updated to version 3.1, an update that is focused on making the app more useful for folks who have videoconferences on their calendars.  This is a great update that reminds me how much I appreciate this app.

Fantastical 3.1

The new version of Fantastical takes advantage of the fact that when you add a videoconference to your calendar, the calendar invite includes information for joining the videoconference.  Fantastical has learned how to interpret these invitations so that it knows what kind of videoconference you will be attending.  Specifically, the app now recognizes Zoom, Webex, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting, RingCentral Meetings, BlueJeans, and Skype for Business.  When it sees one of these videoconferences, it adds a special icon to your calendar.

For example, there were times last week when literally every other entry on my calendar was some type of videoconference.  With the new version of Fantastical, things like Zoom and Teams meetings are easy to recognize thanks to the icons that Fantastical places right next to the meeting time.  Here is what it looks like on an iPad:

Here is what it looks like on an iPhone:

Just having the visual indications is nice enough because it helps you to prepare for what is coming next.  But when you are ready to join the meeting, if you will be doing so from your iPad or iPhone, Fantastical can help with that too.  When you tap the calendar entry, Fantastical places an obvious link at the top that you can tap something like "Join Zoom Meeting" to join the meeting:

And better yet, when it is close to the time to join a meeting, Fantastical places a blue "Join" button right in the calendar so that you can click a button without having to even open the calendar entry:

I like this feature because I sometimes find it annoying to have to search through the calendar invite to locate the specific link that I need to click to join the meeting.  Now, it is easy with Fantastical. 

And of course, you can use services like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc. for audio conferences as well as a videoconference.  Thus, these services can substitute for the conference call numbers that we have all been using for years.  With this update to Fantastical, it is easier to connect to an audio conference on your iPhone.

I prefer to have Fantastical mirror the same calendar used by the built-in Calendar app on my iPhone and iPad.  That way, I can easily switch between looking at my calendar in either app.  But if you want to use Fantastical as a stand-alone calendar client, you can manually subscribe to calendars such as Google, Exchange, Office 465, Outlook.com, Yahoo!, etc. — and with this update, you can use Fantastical to subscribe to a Zoom calendar.

Since we are talking about videoconferences, I have two more suggestions for you.

Lampat LED Desk Lamp

First, one of the most important things that you can do to improve the way that you look on a videoconference is to adjust the lighting.  I'm sure you know that you don't want to have something bright right behind your head, such as a window without a shade.  But even with just the typical overhead light in your office, you won't look your best. 

You can easily spend lots of money on fancy external lighting to make your face well-lit.  Television studios and folks who make their living on YouTube have been doing this for years.  But an inexpensive solution that I like is this $30 Lampat LED Desk Lamp that you can purchase on Amazon.  I've used one for many years just as a desk lamp in my home office, but I discovered over the past few months that it also works great to light up a face during a videoconference because (1) it has a long strip of LEDs so it provides even light across your face, (2) you can tilt the lamp up so that it shines light on your face, and (3) you can adjust the brightness and the light temperature to provide more natural light on your face.  When I use my iPad to join a videoconference, I turn on this lamp and adjust it so that my face looks much better.

I recently bought a second one of these lamps to keep on the desk at my office at my law firm.  Overhead fluorescent lights in an office are not great sources of lighting.  Now, whenever I'm at work and I have a videoconference, I can easily get much better lighting on my face.

And when you are not on a videoconference and you just want a nice lamp, this is a fine lamp.  Because it is an LED lamp, it doesn't get hot.  I like that you can adjust the brightness and temperature so that it provides just the right amount of light to a document or whatever else you are reading.  It also has a handy USB port on the side, giving you an easily-accessible location to charge an iPhone or other device using a cord.  The other day, my Apple Watch didn't charge overnight for some reason, so I used the lamp to bring my watch up to 100% while I was typing an appellate brief.  And if you don't need to use the lamp, the arm folds down so that it takes up very little space.

Logitech HD Pro C922 webcam

Second, you will look better on your videoconferences if you use a nice camera.  The built-in front-facing camera on the iPhone is good, but the screen is too small for me to use in a videoconference unless I have no other option.  The built-in front-facing camera on most modern iPads is decent enough.  But what if you are using a computer?  As Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal recently reported, even if you are using a new laptop such as a MacBook Air or a Dell, all of the cameras are bad.  And if you use an external monitor with your laptop — that's the setup I use in my office with my PC — there won't even be a camera on the monitor.

I recently purchased a Logitech HD Pro C922 webcam, and I've been very happy with the video quality.  It is better than the built-in camera on the iMac that I use in my home office, and it is much better than the built-in camera on the Dell PC that I use for work. Sites that review webcams such as PC World, The Gadgeteer, and Wirecutter have raved about the quality of these Logitech webcams, and whenever I have been in a videoconference with someone else using this model, I've been very impressed.  Best of all, this thing is light and can sit anywhere on top of a monitor, so I can select the best place to put it on top of my external monitor so that I am looking right at the camera — and thus right at the court or my clients — when I'm using it. 

I will warn you that webcams have been incredibly hard to find ever since the COVID-19 pandemic started, and that is still true.  Even if you try to order directly from Logitech, this model has been sold out for months.  The link I'm providing is an Amazon link to a search result to give you more merchant options.  As I type this, for example, one of the options is the C922x (the same model that I have but without an included, tripod, which I don't need anyway) for $150, which is about $50 more than you would normally pay for a camera like this if there were not a pandemic.  But if you don't mind paying a little extra, you can get one now.  I was able to get mine because a partner at my law firm placed two orders with two vendors months ago, and when the second one finally came in, he sold it to me for the $100 he paid.  Hopefully, it won't be long before it is much easier to purchase these webcams.

I think that a webcam is a good purchase because even after the pandemic is over — and PLEASE LET THAT DAY BE SOON — I suspect that attorneys and other professionals will be doing a lot more videoconferencing now that we have all gotten used to it.  By purchasing a light and a nice webcam, you will be prepared for the future.

To return to the main reason for this post, I love this new update to Fantastical.  If you already use the app, look out for these new features.  If you don't, you can use many features in the app for free, and you can upgrade to a premium subscription if you want to take advantage of additional features for $5/month or $40/year.

Click here for Fantastical (free): 

Click here for the Lampat LED Desk Lamp from Amazon ($29.99)

Click here for the Logitech HD Pro C922 webcam from Amazon (price varies)