iPhone J.D.

In the news

I believe that we are on the cusp of some big changes in the world of iPhone and iPad.  We know for sure that Apple will announce new products in a few days on April 20.  I don't know what Apple will announce, but I suspect that we will see a big step forward on the iPad Pro.  We are also about to see iOS 14.5.  I look forward to being able to unlock my iPhone while wearing a mask by virtue of the fact that I will be wearing an Apple Watch.  Also, the new App Tracking Transparency feature will certainly be interesting, for the reasons noted at the end of today's post.  I look forward to learning more about all of this next week, but for now, let's take a look back at the news of note from the past week:

• I've been using the TranscriptPad app from Lit Software extensively over the past few weeks to work with deposition transcripts, and that is an essential app in my law practice.  Thus, it has worked out well for me that the app received new bookmark features this week, as Lit Software explains on its blog.  You can use bookmarks within the app to make it easier to jump to a part of the transcript.  But what I find even more useful is the inclusion of bookmarks in the PDF file when I create a report; the app automatically places a bookmark every time a new issue begins.  Thus, I can work with a single report in an app like PDF Expert and use the Outline tab in PDF Expert to jump directly to a specific part of the report.  This is one of those features that I didn't know that I wanted, but now that I'm using it, I can't imagine living without it in the past.
• If you want to track the food that you eat, California attorney David Sparks of MacSparky recommends the FoodNoms app.
• I'm a fan of Apple's Fitness+ service, and even my wife is now using it.  Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories describes some of the new features coming to Fitness+ next week, including workouts for pregnancy and workouts for older adults.
• There is a fascinating story in the Washington Post by Ellen Nakashima and Reed Albergotti about the security firm that hacked the iPhone for the FBI that was used by the San Bernardino shooter back in 2016.
• I've often heard a Tesla car referred to as an iPhone with wheels.  Jason Snell of Six Colors used a Tesla for a week and wrote an interesting story about his experiences.
• Developer David Smith describes a new free Apple Watch app that he released called Ian's Awesome Counter that could be useful for anyone who needs assistance maintaining focus.
• Zac Hall of 9to5Mac has advice for making an Apple Watch less intrusive.  I don't go as far as Zac does, but I also like to limit how much my Apple Watch interrupts me.  I have all sounds turned off and very few apps can alert me — which means that when I do get alerts, I know that they matter to me.
• If you want a HomeKit-compatible device that is weather-proof and can be used outside, there are not many options on the market.  I use the iHome iSP100 Outdoor Smart Plug, which I reviewed in 2018, and it works very well for me.  Christopher Close of iMore discusses a new device called the meross Outdoor Smart Plug, which has three independently-controlled outlets and only costs $35, and thus looks like a better deal than the iHome device that I use.
• I love the Memories feature on my iPhone and iPad because it does a great job of surfacing fun pictures from my past.  I've had times when it surfaced a picture of a loved one who is now deceased, which can be a bittersweet memory, but one that I still find valuable.  But what if the Memories feature triggers a memory that you don't want, such as an ex or a troubling part of your life?  This issue is discussed in two well-written articles.  First, Lauren Goode of Wired wrote this article, and then after that, Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels shared this very personal story.  I recommend them both.
• Allison Aubrey of NPR discusses using an iPhone app as a COVID-19 vaccine passport.
• Congratulations to the folks behind the GoodNotes app, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week.  I use the app throughout the day in my law practice to take notes, I use it at night to help my kids with homework (e.g. I scan and then annotate a math assignment so I can work through problems on my iPad to help them work through the assignment on the handout), and I sometimes even use it on the weekend to do crossword puzzles that I find on the Internet or scan from a newspaper.  It's such a great app.
• The penultimate episode of Season 2 of For All Mankind was released on Apple TV+ today and ... O M G.
• When iOS 14.5 comes out (presumably next week), it will alert you when an app wants to track you and give you the option to opt-in or opt-out.  This has Facebook upset because they make their money by tracking users.  Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal always does a great job with her videos, but this week she outdid herself.  She does an amazing job explaining the controversy and what it could mean for the future with the aid of some little helpers in this video:

Apple will announce new products on April 20

Apple is well-known for being secretive about its future plans.  Thus, nobody is surprised when we learn that Apple has sued a former employee who disclosed confidential information.  For example, just last month, Joel Rosenblatt of Bloomberg reported on a lawsuit Apple filed against long-time employee Simon Lancaster after he allegedly disclosed secrets to a reporter.  But it appears that the latest leaker at Apple is none other than Siri. 

Sami Fathi of MacRumors reported early yesterday, just after midnight Pacific time, that on some devices, and in certain instances, if you asked Siri "When is the next Apple Event," ‌Siri‌ responded with:  "The special event is on Tuesday, April 20, at Apple Park in Cupertino, CA. You can get all the details on Apple.com."  John Gruber of Daring Fireball tweeted a video to show that he got the same response when he asked the question of Siri on a HomePod mini.  About nine hours after Siri let the cat out of the bag, Apple itself announced that it was holding a special event on April 20th at 10 Pacific / 1 Eastern.

In an email Apple sent out yesterday, Apple used the tagline "Spring loaded" to tease the event:

Apple is having some fun with the logo for this event.  If you want to see a fun AR version of the invitation logo, go to this page of the Apple website on your iPhone or iPad and then tap on the picture.  Or if you want to see something similar, look at what Apple's Greg Joswiak tweeted in this video.  Also, if you send a tweet and use the hashtag #AppleEvent, you will now see that logo as a custom hashtag graphic.

So what will Apple be announcing next week?  Only Apple knows for sure.  (Well, maybe Siri does too, but she isn't spilling the beans ... yet.)  Nevertheless, there are lots of rumors about what might be coming.  Listed in the order that I consider most likely to least likely, here are the rumors that seem to be getting the most attention right now:

New iPad Pro

This one seems very likely to me because the last major revision to the iPad Pro was in 2018.  Apple provided a very minor update a year ago, and the 2018 version of the iPad Pro is a fantastic device so it has been fine to keep it around for so long, but it seems like the time is right for something new.

Of course, I expect the next iPad Pro to be faster.  There is also a rumor that the larger version of the iPad Pro will use a new display technology called mini-LED, resulting in a brighter screen that uses less battery power.  And the new iPad Pro could feature a Thunderbolt connector, which would let you connect an iPad Pro to even more devices with greater speeds.

I love the second-generation Apple Pencil and I'm not sure what Apple might do to improve it further, but there are also rumors that Apple will release an updated version of the Apple Pencil to go with the new iPad Pro.

AirTags

As I noted a few days ago, Apple recently announced that its Find My feature would work with third-party devices, and there have been strong rumors that Apple has been working on a first-party device called AirTags.  The idea is that you attach a small AirTags device to something like a briefcase or purse or your keys, and then if you cannot locate that item, the Find My app can help you to find it again.

I actually thought that Apple would have released this product a year ago, but with all of us forced to stay at home for large amounts of time during the pandemic, the risk of losing items went down substantially.  Now that we seem close to the end of that, it seems like the right time for a new product like this.

Apple TV

Apple has been doing great things to improve its Apple TV+ streaming video service.  But for folks who want to watch that service on an Apple device connected to a television, it is getting increasingly difficult to recommend the purchase of an Apple TV considering that the product has not been updated since 2017.  It seems like it is definitely time for Apple to release a new version of the Apple TV.  And if so, I hope that it comes with a better remote control.

iPad mini

Apple last updated the iPad mini in 2019, so it might be a candidate for a refresh.

New AirPods

There is a rumor that Apple is developing a new version of AirPods that look similar to AirPods Pro, although they won't offer noise reduction.  If true, this seems like more of a Fall announcement to me, shortly before the holiday season.

New Macs

I suspect that Apple will soon release a new version of the iMac that works with Apple's new M1 processor, but I'm not sure that we will see that next week.  I think it is more likely to see this announced at Apple's upcoming WWDC conference scheduled for June 7.

Apple Watch bands

Apple loves to come out with new band designs for a new season.  However, I don't think that new bands for the Apple Watch are important enough to receive any attention during an Apple event — not unless they somehow add a new feature to the Apple Watch.  If we do see new bands this month, I think it is more likely that they will be announced in a press release, or perhaps they will just show up in the Apple Store without any fanfare.

In the news

Kara Swisher of the New York Times released an episode of her Sway podcast this week that featured an excellent interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook.  It is a good listen, or if you prefer to read, the New York Times also posted a transcript.  Cook discussed the App Store guidelines and why certain apps have been rejected, privacy, social media, augmented reality (which he agreed is "a critically important part of Apple's future"), Apple TV+, self-driving cars, voting rights, the LGBTQ community, and how much longer he sees himself at Apple.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Ivan Mehta of TNW reports that an iPhone app can predict COVID-19 with 80% accuracy just by using your voice.
• Once you get the COVID-19 vaccine, you want everyone around you to have the vaccine as well in order to start the return to "normal" life.  Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post reports that some states are looking at creating a digital vaccine passport app that you can use to show that you are vaccinated before you enter a location, such as a sporting arena.  Fowler takes a look at the State of New York's app, called Excelsior Pass.
• It's often fun to look at prototypes of future technology, even if you are Steve Jobs.  As Luke Dormehl of Cult of Mac reports, a new book by Naz Beheshti — who was an executive assistant to Steve Jobs in 1999 — reveals that when Steve Jobs wanted to unwind, he would hang out in Jony Ive's office and play with the mockups and models of possible future projects.
• Tweetbot, an excellent Twitter client, was updated to version 6 this week.  Juli Clover of MacRumors describes what is new in Tweetbot 6.
• British GQ came up with a list of the "48 best iPhone and iPad apps for everything," and there are lots of great picks on that list.
• José Adorno of 9to5Mac explains how Apple substantially increased the number of games available in its Apple Arcade service by expanding the types of games included.  For example, Apple has brought back some great classic apps.
• Julie Strietelmeier of The Gadgeteer discusses SkyFloat, a telescoping pole that attaches via magnets to your ceiling and holds an iPhone or iPad so that your device can float in the air.
• Jason Cross of Macworld describes some of the new shows and new seasons coming soon to Apple TV+.  I'm looking forward to the second season of Mythic Quest, and a bonus episode called "Everlight" is being released on April 16.  I'm also looking forward to Season 2 of Trying, which starts May 14.  And this Fall, Apple TV+ will debut a new current-affairs show featuring Jon Stewart called The Problem with Jon Stewart.  (Great title.)
• And finally, the Wall Street Journal created a video to explore the features that could be included in an upcoming Apple Car, and they came up with a fun way to do it, hiring someone to create a "car" out of iPhone parts.

Apple expands its Find My feature

Yesterday, Apple announced that its Find My app will work with third-party accessories, and Apple introduced the first three Find My-enabled partners:  VanMoof, Belkin, and Chipolo.  And even more Find My improvements are coming when Apple releases iOS 14.5 this month.  Here is the scoop on how these products work and what could be coming in the future for Find My.  But first, a little history.

Find My:  the first decade

Back in 2008, Apple launched a $99/year service called MobileMe.  It replaced a previous service called .Mac (which replaced a previous service called iTools).  MobileMe, bundled lots of different features such as an online picture gallery, backup software, online storage, and more.  On June 17, 2009, Apple released iPhone Software 3.0.  One of the new features was Find My iPhone, which allowed MobileMe customers to discover the location of their iPhone using the GPS on the iPhone — useful if you lost your iPhone or if it was stolen.

The next year, on November 22, 2010, Apple released iOS 4.2.  It expanded the Find My iPhone service so that everyone could use it if they were using the latest Apple hardware (such as the iPhone 4) without the need to subscribe to MobileMe.

The next year, Apple added the ability to find someone else's iPhone in a feature that Apple called Find My Friends.  It was released in October 2011, along with iOS 5.  If a friend or family member agreed to share their location with you (using the GPS on the iPhone), you could find their location.  For a few years, Find My Friends was a separate app that you had to download, but then it became part of the operating system in 2015 with iOS 9.  

From the addition of Find My iPhone to MobileMe in 2009 until September 19, 2019, The Find My iPhone and Find My Friends service relied upon GPS in the device that you were trying to locate — or Wi-Fi, if the device didn't have GPS enabled but was connected to a Wi-Fi network.  Thus, if you owned an iPad that didn't have cellular service and you lost it in a location that didn't have Wi-Fi, you would never be able to find the device again using the Find My iPhone service.  Or if you lost an iPhone while it was in airplane mode (because, for example, you left it on an airplane), the Find My iPhone would not work for you.

Find My:  offline access for Apple devices

On June 3, 2019, at Apple's WWDC developer conference, Apple previewed some of the new features of iOS 13 (which would be released on September 19, 2019).  Apple announced that it was combining Find My iPhone and Find My Friends into a single service called Find My.  More importantly, Apple announced that the Find My service would, for the first time, work with devices that were offline. 

This service still works today, and here is how it works.  Let's say that you lose your iPad.  You can use the Find My app on your iPhone to mark your iPad as missing.  Whenever your missing iPad gets close to someone else using an Apple device with Bluetooth such as an iPhone or an iPad, that device senses your iPad and reads a unique number transmitted by your missing iPad.  The next time that the iPhone is communicating with Apple, it adds something to the end of the communication that essentially says "oh and by the way, I recently passed by a device that was transmitting this specific number."  Apple checks that number against its database and notices that this is an item that you marked as missing, so it alerts the Find My app on your iPhone that your iPad was spotted as such-and-such location. 

The entire process is completely anonymous, so you won't know who else had an iPhone close to your missing iPad.  Similarly, that person they won't even know that they played a role in helping you to locate your missing iPad.  To add to the security, that unique number transmitted by your missing iPad changes every 15 minutes.  That way, if you stroll through a shopping center holding your iPad over the course of a few hours, the shopping center cannot create a map of all of the places that you visited along the way by using a series of Bluetooth devices to continuously track the location of the device emitting that unique number.

Find My works with most devices sold by Apple, including the ‌iPhone‌, ‌iPad‌, Macs, Apple Watch, and AirPods.  For the AirPods, however, this service is less useful.  Even though AirPods have Bluetooth, the Find My service doesn't seem to work when the AirPods are in the charging case.  Thus, all that the Find My service can do is tell you the last time that your AirPods were connected to your iPhone (or another device) using Bluetooth.  For example, as I am typing this paragraph on my home computer on Wednesday night, I can see my AirPods right next to me on my desk.  However, if I use the Find My feature, my iPhone tells me that my AirPods are in my office — or, to be more precise, that my AirPods were last seen at my office at 12:47 pm because that is the last time that they were connected to my iPhone (as I was listening to a podcast while having lunch at my desk).

From the standpoint of Find My, it would be better if my AirPods had GPS, or at least had Bluetooth that would connect to any other Apple device, because that way I could get more accurate information on the current location.  Nevertheless, even this more limited information is still sometimes helpful.

Find My:  offline access for the masses

That brings us to today.  Or more accurately, to June 22, 2020.  That is when Apple first announced that it was going to open its Find My service to third-party devices.

Yesterday, Apple announced three of those third-party partners.  One of them is VanMoof, a company that makes electric bikes.  The company's latest S3 and X3 e-bikes will soon work with the Apple Find My system. 

This means that if you lose your e-bike (or someone else takes it), you can use the Find My app to find it.  When the e-bike gets range of anyone using an Apple device that knows where it is located — such as an iPhone, iPad, or Mac — you will be notified.  Chance Miller of 9to5Mac has a report with some screenshots showing how this works.

Another partner that Apple announced is Belkin.  Belkin's SOUNDFORM Freedom True Wireless Earbuds will work with Apple's Find My.  It's unclear to me if the support will work the same as it currently works with AirPods — in other words, you can only track location while the Belkin earbuds are connected to your iPhone — or if they will provide location information when anyone's Apple device is nearby.

The final partner that Apple announced is Chipolo.  The upcoming Chipolo ONE Spot (available in June) will be a small disk with a hole so that it can be attached to a keychain or similar fastener.  I presume that it will be similar to the currently-shipping Chipolo ONE, which costs $25 and is 1.49 x 1.49 x 0.25 inches.  You can attach one of these devices to your keychain, a knapsack, or even a pet.   If you lose something with a Chipolo disk attached to it, the Find My app may be able to tell you where it is, and you should be able to make the Chipolo play a sound to further assist in the recovery.

Apple also announced that third-party device makers will soon be able to take advantage of Ultra Wideband technology in Apple devices that contain a U1 chip.  This includes the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max that Apple released in 2019 as well as many more recent iPhones.  Without the U1, you can get a general sense of an item's location.  With U1, location detection is more precise and is directionally aware.  For example, your iPhone could show you not just that a missing item is in your house, but could show you that it is over there, in the couch, between the second and third seat cushion.

What about stalkers?

In 2018, an ABC News affiliate in Houston ran a story about a woman who noticed that her ex would often show up at the same place that the woman was located — a house, a restaurant, even once an out-of-town location when the woman was on a trip.  This seemed like a strange coincidence until the woman discovered that her ex had placed a Tile tracker in the woman's car.  Using the Tile device (which works somewhat the same way as Find My), the ex was able to keep tabs on where the woman's car was located – and thus where the woman was located.  She reported the stalking to the local police, and the ex was charged with a misdemeanor.

To try to prevent a stalker from doing something similar with a Find My tracking device, such as the upcoming Chipolo ONE Spot, Apple will reportedly include a new feature in iOS 14.5 (which should be out this month) called Item Safety Alerts.  This feature, which is enabled by default, will notify you if an unknown item has been found moving with you.  That way, if someone slipped a Chipolo ONE Spot into your briefcase or purse in an attempt to track your movements, your iPhone will eventually alert you.  Apple has not yet provided details on how this will work.  How long before you get the notification?  What if the tracking device belongs to a friend or family member with whom you are traveling?  But whatever the details, hopefully, Apple has found a way to eliminate or at least greatly reduce the opportunity for inappropriate use of Find My by stalkers.

What about Apple first-party devices?

We now know a little information about upcoming third-party devices, but what about upcoming first-party devices — tracker products made by Apple? 

It has long been rumored that Apple was working on a tracker device called AirTags.  In fact, almost exactly one year ago, Pururaj Dutta of Applesophy reported that he was watching a support video on the Apple website when he noticed a picture of the Settings app on an iPhone that actually referred to AirTags by name.  Based on the rumors, AirTags will` be similar to the Chipolo ONE Spot device, but will apparently include the U1 chip to provide more accurate tracking.  Juli Clover of MacRumors recently wrote an article rounding up all of the rumors on what AirTags may offer.

Conclusion

What started a dozen years ago as a way for you to find a lost iPhone is about to be released as a technology that can be used to locate just about anything — with amazing precision, thanks to the U1 chip.  I look forward to the release of iOS 14.5 in a few weeks to learn more about how all of this works. 

Of course, other companies, like Tile, have offered similar technology for years.  But to work well, you need to have lots of people running the right software on their devices to increase the chance that your missing item is near a compatible device.  I'm not sure how many people are running the Tile software on their devices, but I do know that there are a ridiculously large number of iPhones being used in the world.  Thus, I suspect that we are very close to a time in which the Find My app on your iPhone will be the best possible way to locate an item.

Review: KeyPad -- use your Mac keyboard to type on your iPad or iPhone

I'm a big fan of the keyboard that I use in my office, the Logitech MX Keys, which I reviewed in 2020.  Not only is it a great extended keyboard on which I enjoy typing, but there are three buttons that I can press to switch between a Bluetooth connection to my PC, my iPad, or my iPhone.  As a result, I can easily use a single keyboard with multiple devices. 

At home, I use with my iMac an Apple Magic Keyboard (with keypad), and it doesn't have that cool feature to switch the Bluetooth connection.  Thus, if my iPad is next to my home computer and I want to use the keyboard connected to my iMac with the iPad, I need to manually remove the Bluetooth connection with my Mac and then find and connect the keyboard to my iPad using Bluetooth.  And then, when I'm done, I need to do the reverse to restore the connection to my Mac  It's enough of a pain that I almost never do it.  But now I'm using an app on my Mac that makes this easy:  KeyPad by ToolBunch LLC. 

KeyPad is an app that you can download for free from the App Store on the Mac, and it costs $2.99 to unlock all of the features.  When you launch KeyPad on your Mac for the first time, you need to open the Settings app on your iPad (or iPhone), select Bluetooth, and then select your computer from the My Devices section.  You won't have to do this again.

In the future, simply launch KeyPad on your Mac and it will connect to your iPad. 

At this point, anything that you type using your Mac's keyboard will be typed on your iPad, just as if the keyboard was directly connected to the iPad.  To stop the connection, you can just switch to another program on your Mac.  KeyPad only does its magic when it is the front application on your Mac.  Thus, when you want to use KeyPad again, just bring KeyPad to the front again.  One way to do this is to click the KeyPad icon in the Dock on your Mac.  KeyPad also gives you a shortcut:  if the KeyPad app is running and in the background, just hold down Command-Option-P and the app will come back to the front and connect to your iPad again.  Or, if you are already connect to your iPad, that same shortcut will also move KeyPad to the background so that your keyboard works with your Mac again.

If that was all that KeyPad did, I would find the program incredibly useful.  But the program can also make the mouse connect to your Mac work with your iPad.  To trigger this, just press Control-Option on your Mac at the same time.  Press Control-Option again to make your mouse work with your Mac again.  Unlike the keyboard feature of KeyPad, which works great, I find the mouse support to be a little jumpy on my iPad.  Maybe that has something to do with the specific mouse that I'm using (a Kensington ExpertMouse trackball).

KeyPad has another feature:  shortcuts.  When you are using just the keyboard function of KeyPad (letting your mouse control your Mac), there are shortcuts at the bottom of the window that you can click with your mouse to trigger certain actions on the iPad.  These shortcuts are:

• Power button (lock the iPad)
• Menu button (the same as the home button on the iPad)
• Paste
• Keyboard (toggle show/hide the on-screen keyboard)
• Search
• Rewind
• Play/Pause
• Fast-forward
• Mute
• Volume down
• Volume up
• Home

I have found this KeyPad app to be incredibly useful.  For example, sometimes I will be using my Mac but I'm not connected to my firm network so I don't have anything open on my Mac to use my firm email, but my iPad is right there on my desk.  I simply launch Mail on my iPad, make KeyPad active, and then I can type a new email or respond to an email using the keyboard that is right in front of me.  When I want to go back to using my Mac, I can either use my mouse on my Mac to switch to another app, or better yet, just use the shortcut Command-Option-P.

I often use KeyPad to type something that is just a few words.  Without the KeyPad app, it would never be worth going through all of the trouble to connect my Mac's keyboard to the iPad just to make it easier to type a few words.  But with KeyPad, it just takes a fraction of a second to type Command-Option-P, type what I need to type, and then use Command-Option-P again to return to my Mac.

KeyPad is a great little app, and the magic that it provides is easily worth the $3 price.

Click here (on your Mac) to download KeyPad from the Mac App Store (free; $2.99 to unlock all features)

In the news

It seems that Apple is very close to the release of iOS 14.5, and I cannot wait.  This is the release that will let you unlock your iPhone even if you are wearing a mask (preventing Face ID from working) so long as you are wearing your Apple Watch.  I'm getting my second dose of the vaccine later today (woo-hoo!) but I suspect that wearing a mask will continue to be a thing for quite a while.  Matthew Panzarino of TechCrunch reports on another new feature coming in iOS 14.5.  In the past, the iPhone would assume that you want a female voice for Siri unless you change it.  (In the United States, at least; in some other countries, the default is the male voice, unless you change it.)  But when you install iOS 14.5, you select your preferred voice at the outset.  There are also two brand new Siri voices to pick from.  And there is more as well.  iOS 14.5 will be a nice update.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• In an article for Slaw, legal technology experts Sharon Nelson and John Simek explain why, before long, lawyers may not have to worry about passwords, instead providing authentication based on biometrics (like Face ID) and hardware security keys.  In the meantime, however, I strongly encourage that you use a password manager.
• The apps TrialPad and DocReviewPad now support bookmarks in PDF files, as explained in this LitSoftware blog post.
• Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories reviews the HoverBar Duo, an iPad stand that holds your iPad up as if it were a monitor.
• Tim Cook noted on Twitter that Apple celebrated its 45th birthday on April 1, 2021.
• Reuters reports that airlines may soon require the use of an iPhone app to confirm that you have received the COVID-19 vaccine before allowing you to get on an airplane.
• Mike Schmitz of The Sweet Setup names Timery the best time-tracking app. 
• For All Mankind is one of my favorite shows on Apple TV+ — heck, it is one of my favorite shows of the last few years — and it is currently in the middle of its second season.  Last Friday's episode was one of the best of the series, and today's episode is also quite good.  Jeff Wilser of GQ discusses the show and explains why more people should check it out.
• Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reports that there are three Apple TV+ shows with 100% approval ratings on Rotten Tomatoes:  Dickinson, For All Mankind, and The Snoopy Show.  Those are great shows, but somehow Ted Lasso only has a 91% critic score (and a 98% audience score) even though that is definitely one of the best shows on Apple TV+.
• Dan Moren of Six Colors reports that Apple's WWDC developer conference will begin on June 7.  That is when I expect to see Apple first preview iOS 15, which I expect to be released this Fall.
• Jake Peterson of Gadget Hacks notes that there is a Code Scanner app on the iPhone that you may not know about.  You can also just use the Camera app to scan many codes, such as QR codes.
• And finally, I have fond memories for many older operating systems that I used long ago, such as the ones on the Sinclair ZX81 that I used for many years and on the Commodore 64 that I used after that.  I do not have any fond memories of using DOS, except perhaps that I remember having to use it to launch WordPerfect 5.1 on some PCs when I was a summer law clerk in 1992.  But if you do have fond memories of DOS, the Will It Work? channel on YouTube shows in a video out how to get DOS running on an iPhone and then install some DOS games from a disk.  Very impressive:

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

Thank you to Nota for once again sponsoring 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.

In the news

Nobody but Apple knows for sure, but there seems to be a feeling in the air that Apple will soon announce some new products, including perhaps a new iPad Pro.  There had been rumors that the announcement would occur this week, but (obviously) that did not happen.  But I still think that we are likely close to a new iPad Pro.  What will it include?  In an article for Macworld, Dan Moren has some pretty good ideas of what we might see in the next iPad Pro.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• California attorney David Sparks explains how he uses the OmniGraffle app on his iPad and Mac to create a status board to track all of his projects, including his law-related projects.
• In an article for Macworld, Jason Snell writes that twenty years ago this week, Apple introduced Mac OS X, the operating system for the Mac that was based on software developed by NeXT, a company created by Steve Jobs after he was kicked out of Apple.  I rarely discuss Mac software on iPhone J.D., but this story is directly relevant to the iPhone.  The software at the heart of Mac OS X is the same software that is used on the iPhone and iPad.  And if it were not for Apple purchasing NeXT so that it could develop Mac OS X, Steve Jobs may not have returned to Apple.  And without Steve Jobs, I don't think that we would have seen the iPhone and iPad — certainly not in the form that we know today. 
• It is extremely rare for any company to buy another company and have the ramifications become as major as Apple's purchase of NeXT in the 1990s.  But any such purchase has the potential to have important implications, and Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac reports that Apple has purchased more Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies than anyone else between 2016 and 2020.  It is hard to imagine that those purchases are just to improve Siri's ability to answer questions, so my guess is that Apple has big plans for AI in the future.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook writes about the COVID-19 pandemic over the last year in an editorial for the Wall Street Journal.
• Jakub Vávra of the security company Avast writes that bogus apps on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store have scammed people out of $400 million.  These apps entice you to into a free trial, but after that, they charge you for a subscription, and unless you pay attention and cancel the subscription, you may find yourself charged hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year.  Be careful about signing up for subscriptions when you download an app.
• This wasn't a scam but instead a price error, but Stephen Warwck of iMore notes that a woman in London noticed that a grocery store charged her £1,599 (more than $2,200) when she used Apple Pay to pay for bananas.  I can understand how this happens.  Apple Pay is so easy to use that it is often tempting to just pay and go, without paying attention to how much you were charged — even if you were grossly overcharged.
• Lauren Dragan of Wirecutter explains how to clean AirPods.
• Zac Hall of 9to5Mac takes a look back at his Apple Watch review from 2015 and discusses how the product has changed six years later.
• And finally, Apple posted a new video this week called Fumble which demonstrates how the iPhone 12 has extra protection that might protect the iPhone if you drop it.  Hopefully, you have not had too many experiences like the one demonstrated by the woman in this video:

AirPods battery replacement for only $60 from Podswap

Apple's AirPods are such a great product that many folks – like me – use them every day.  Unfortunately, after you use them a lot, the rechargeable batteries start to wear out.  Instead of listening for up to five hours before needing to recharge, you eventually may find the batteries wearing out after only an hour, or even less.  And because you cannot open up AirPods to replace the batteries yourself, many folks respond by spending $160 on a new pair of AirPods — with a new charging case, even though they didn't really need a new charging case.  Apple does offer an AirPods battery service, but it costs $49 for each AirPod, so that will cost you about $100.

Kevin Purdy of iFixIt writes about a new company called Podswap which came up with a way to replace the batteries in a pair of AirPods.  For only $60, the company will send you a refurbished pair of AirPods, and then you use the same shipping box to send back your AirPods.  Podswap refurbishes the AirPods that you sent in by replacing the battery and cleaning the product, and then the company sells that pair to the next person, and so on.  You keep the same charging case that you had originally, and you use your original case with the refurbished iPods.

I haven't tried Podswap, so I cannot vouch for the company.  However, iFixIt is a trusted website when it comes to repairing Apple products, and so I trust Kevin Purdy when he says that, based on his experience, the service seems to work as advertised.  Check out the iFixIt article for more information.  Podswap currently only works with first and second generation AirPods, not the AirPods Pro.

I like the idea of spending only $60 instead of $160 or $100 when your batteries start to wear out.  And it is also nice to know that when you use Podswap, your old AirPods are being reused instead of ending up in a trash heap somewhere. 

Click here for Podswap.

In the news

In my review of the HomePod mini from a few weeks ago, I noted that the original HomePod didn't appeal to me but that I'm a big fan of the mini version.  Matthew Panzarino of TechCrunch reports that Apple has now discontinued the HomePod and will instead focus on the HomePod mini.  I guess that lots of other folks agreed with me that amazing sound in an expensive device is not as appealing as very good sound in a $100 device.  I hope that Apple does indeed continue to develop the HomePod mini because it is a great device.  In fact, I'd like to see Apple develop even more devices for a connected home.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• California attorney David Sparks explains on his MacSparky website why he likes using the Reeder app to read his RSS feeds.  (I've been using Feedly for a long time, and that app works well for me.)
• David Sparks also talks about how actor Justin Long, who appeared with John Hodgman in the successful I'm a Mac/I'm a PC commercials, is now appearing in commercials for Intel that criticize Apple products — part of Intel's response to the Apple-made processors used in the new M1 Macs (and iPhone and iPad) that are so much faster than anything else on the market.  David wonders if Apple could have included some sort of non-compete language in their original contract with Justin Long that would have stopped him from doing ads for Intel.  However, given the limitations that many states have on non-compete agreements, I wonder if that would have even been enforceable.
• Lyle Moran of ABA Journal discussed the 60 in 60 session from the recent ABA TECHSHOW and highlighted some of the best tips and apps.
• Jason Snell of Six Colors discusses the new features in the latest version of the Overcast app for the Apple Watch for people who run with an Apple Watch.  I mostly use my Apple Watch on my treadmill at home, but I used just the Overcast app on my Apple Watch and my AirPods Pro when I was jogging in the park this past Sunday, and it worked great.  I really like the new version of Overcast on the Apple Watch.
• Jason Cipriani of CNet recommends some iPhone settings that you might want to adjust.
• If you want to turn your iPad into something that is close to a laptop, Apple's Magic Keyboard for iPad is a great option.  But what if you want to turn your iPad into something close to a desktop computer?  Kensington's new StudioDock iPad docketing station is expensive at about $400 but for some folks it might be the perfect solution.  Darragh Murphy of Laptop Mag posted this review.  And Federico Viticci's review on MacStories is also worth reading.
• The Apple Support account on Twitter notes that you can swipe to delete a digit in the iPhone's Calculator app.  I did not know that.
• If you look the list of recent calls in the Phone app on your iPhone, do you see small checkmarks next to some of the entries?  Glenn Fleishmann explains what those mean and how they may help to reduce spam calls in this article for TidBITS.
• Zak Doffman of Forbes explains how some iPhone apps are tracking your location and what you can do about it.
• If you have been to a Disney park recently, then you know about the MagicBand that you can wear to enter the park, pay for items, and more.  Avery Maehrer, the Manager of Communications at Walt Disney World Resort, announced this week that you will soon be able to use your own Apple Watch or iPhone in place of a Magic Band.
• And finally, Apple is now running a fun commercial for the AirPods Pro called Jump, with the tagline:  "Turn the world into your playground with AirPods Pro."  Apple is also using its TikTok account to encourage people to make their own version of a Jump video, and Apple is posting some of the best results to the Apple TikTok account, and the ones that they have posted so far are impressive.