iPhone J.D.

Review: Belkin Head Strap for Apple Vision Pro

For a few weeks now, I've been using a new accessory for the Apple Vision Pro from Belkin. It is called the Belkin Head Strap, and it provides a strap across the top of your head at the same time that you use Apple's Solo Knit Band as a strap around the back of your head. I really like this device, which is currently only sold by Apple and costs $50. It would make a good present for someone who uses an Apple Vision Pro, or a good present for yourself.

When Apple first introduced the Vision Pro to the world on June 5, 2023, Apple let select members of the press try out pre-release versions of the device. Many of them were offered the opportunity to wear the device using both the Solo Kint Band around the back of their head and, at the same time, a second strap across the top of their head. But when Apple started selling the Vision Pro this past February, that top strap was not included. Instead, Apple included a Dual Loop Band as an alternative to the Solo Knit Band. The Dual Loop Band has a simple strap around the back of your head and a simple strap for the top of your head.

I'm not a fan of the Dual Loop Band because it is not nearly as comfortable as the very nice Solo Knit Band. Moreover, I guess I have a good head shape for the Solo Knit Band because I've been using it for most of this year, and I've never found the Apple Vision Pro uncomfortable. Nevertheless, I have heard complaints from others who say that the Vision Pro with just the Solo Knit Band seems too heavy and needs more support. To address that concern, I know that many folks use the SoloTop, a $30 device sold on Etsy that allows you to wear a second Solo Knit Band (which you must purchase from Apple for another $100) across the top of your head. That seemed like overkill for me since I'm really fine with just the Solo Knit Band, but I have remained curious whether an alternative band arrangement would be an improvement.

A few months ago, I purchased the ANNAPRO Head Strap for Apple Vision Pro for $36 on Amazon. I haven't yet posted a review of that product because I have mixed feelings about it, but I will try to post something soon. Nevertheless, using that product made me continue to wonder if there was a better band solution for the Vision Pro.

Belkin announced the Belkin Head Strap on November 7, 2024. Here is how Belkin described the product:

The Head Strap enhances comfort and stability for Apple Vision Pro users with its ergonomic and adjustable design. It is thoughtfully engineered with reinforced seams, a secure locking mechanism, and additional stabilization points to keep Vision Pro firmly in place on the user with weight evenly distributed. The easily adjustable strap ensures a precise fit for a wide range of head sizes.

It seems that Apple worked closely with Belkin to create the Belkin Head Strap. For example, Jason Snell of Six Colors—one of those people I referred to early as a member of the press who got to try a pre-release version of the Vision Pro in 2023—says that "during Apple's initial Vision Pro demos in June 2023, the devices were equipped with a combination of a Solo Knit Band and an over-the-head band that was extremely similar to the experience with the Belkin Head Strap." And I've also noticed that the Belkin Head Strap is currently only sold in Apple Stores, further evidence of a special arrangement between the two companies. The product has been "out of stock" since Day 1 on Belkin's own website, and I haven't seen it sold on Amazon or anywhere else yet. Regardless of whether Apple, Belkin, or both designed this product, it is excellent, and it looks like the type of product that Apple would make.

Here is what the two sides of the Belkin strap look like before you extend the strap to make it longer:

Attaching the Belkin Head Strap to an Apple Vision Pro is easy. You do have to disconnect the power cord to do so, but once that is done, you simply pull the tabs on the Solo Knit Band to disconnect it, slide on the Belkin Head Strap, reconnect the Solo Knit Band, and then reconnect the power cord. The instructions that come with the Belkin product don't even need to include words:

When the strap is on your head, you can adjust the strap to fit the size of your head. The strap stays in place because of a hook-and-loop system that reminds me of Apple's Sport Loop Band for the Apple Watch. This makes it easy to get the right fit.

Once you determine the best size, you won't need to adjust the strap again unless you want to change how it fits.

The Belkin Head Strap works really well. First, it better distributes the weight of the Vision Pro by putting some of the weight on top of your head. Second, the soft, stretchy nylon fabric is comfortable, so it feels good on your head. I may not mind using only the Solo Knit Band with my Vision Pro, but I prefer also using the Belkin Head Strap.

Third, the strap is a good color and fabric match for the Apple Vision Pro. I hesitate to emphasize that advantage too much because you always look somewhat goofy when you wear a Vision Pro, but at least this strap won't make you look any worse.

Finally, Belkin is a reputable company that has been making accessories for Apple products for a long time. Consistent with that reputation, this strap seems durable and well-made.

Unlike the ANNAPRO Head Strap that I plan to review in the future, the Belkin Head Strap will not help you use a Vision Pro without the light shield on. And while I don't use Apple's Developer Strap—a $299 accessory that adds a USB-C port to a Vision Pro and is only sold to registered Apple developers—my understanding is that you cannot use the Belkin Head Strap at the same time that you use Apple's Developer Strap.

Apple obviously considered including a strap like this with the Vision Pro. I do not know why they decided against including it with the device and then (presumably) reconsidered and chose to work with Belkin to ensure that this product was available. But I'm very glad that this product is now available, and I now plan to use it whenever I use the Solo Loop Band.

Head shapes are different, so what is comfortable for one person won't be for another. Thus, it would be silly for me to say that this is the right product for everyone who uses a Vision Pro. But I suspect that most people would like the Belkin Head Strap. If you feel like you need better support for the weight of the Vision Pro, this might be the perfect product for you. Even if you are like me and don't mind using just the Solo Knit Band, this product is still worth considering as a potential improvement.

Click here to get the Belkin Head Strap from Apple ($49.95).

Podcast episode 175: Salty Security🧂Even More Heartstrings, and Find My Under the Tree🎄

Hackers from China are listening to our phone calls and reading our text messages. Do you need to be concerned about this specific threat, and what should you always be doing to protect your privacy? That's the topic for the beginning of this week's episode of the podcast. Brett Burney and I next discuss the recent interview with Tim Cook for the cover story of this month's Wired magazine, adjusting what you see when you look at your Apple Watch, how the Photos app on your iPhone and iPad will improve in a few days, using the Find My app to its fullest, additional details on this year's holiday commercial from Apple, Apple's holiday display in London, and more.

In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for seeing your Wi-Fi passwords and the Wi-Fi networks you have connected to in the past, and I provide a tip to improve your writing.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just listen using your podcast player of choice. You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

In the News

This week, the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Security Agency (NSA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned citizens that a threat actor associated with China had compromised the networks of major global telecommunications providers to spy on customers. Jeff Greene, the CISA Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity, warned that this "cyber activity poses a serious threat to critical infrastructure, government agencies, and businesses." The hackers are part of a group called Salt Typhoon. According to reporting by Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post, the Chinese government is behind the attack, and it has been going on for more than a year. The same report quotes Sen. Mark R. Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, as saying that it is the "worst telecom hack in our nation's history—by far." The federal agencies provided information to telecommunication companies such as AT&T and Verizon on what they could do to try to mitigate the threat, but the networks are still compromised because the fix involves replacing "literally thousands and thousands and thousands of pieces of equipment across the country," according to Sen. Warner. In the meantime, what can you as a smartphone user do? The CISA says that you need to ensure that your communications are "end-to-end encrypted to the maximum extent possible." For iPhone users, this is relatively easy to do. The Messages app and FaceTime app use end-to-end encryption, so as long as you have been communicating with another iPhone user—a blue bubble person—using the default apps, you have been safe. But as John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes, Android users need to jump through a bunch of hoops to use end-to-end encryption, and text messages between Android phones and iPhones are not end-to-end encrypted, even if you are using the RCS standard added to the iPhone a few months ago. Apple isn't perfect, but the company's focus on security and privacy for its customers is comforting when we learn about attacks like this. And now, the other news of note from the past week:

• Longtime tech reporter Steven Levy interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook for the cover story of this month's Wired magazine. It is an interesting and wide-ranging interview, and I encourage you to read it. You can read it on the Wired website, or if you have an app that lets you read magazines from your local library, you can read a digital version of the issue. (I used the Flipster app on my iPad).
• The interview started by discussing AI, and Levy pointed out in the introduction that while some say that Apple is behind other companies on AI, Apple is rarely the first company to make something—others made MP3 players before the iPod; others made smartphones before the iPhone—but Apple often introduces the most significant product. Cook resisted the idea that if you use AI to help you do something like write it means that you are not the author. He likened it to a musician using software like Logic Pro to create music but the artist is still the author.
• When asked in that interview why the Apple Vision Pro hasn't sold as many units as some had predicted, Cook responded that it is an "early adopted product, for people who want tomorrow's technology today." He also said that the key is to have developers start to develop apps to improve the ecosystem, and that is happening. He agreed that over time, this product is likely to evolve into mixed-reality glasses that people will wear continually, like eyeglasses.
• Cook also discussed with Levy Apple's contribution to the field of medical technology, such as the health features of the Apple Watch and the new hearing aid feature for the AirPods Pro. Cook said: "It's clear to me that if you zoom out way into the future, and you look back and ask what Apple's biggest contribution was, it will be in the health area." Cook also admitted that researchers were analyzing the possibility that Apple technology could use AI to diagnose medical conditions long before a doctor could.
• Finally, when Levy asked Cook if the iPhone would still be around years from now—such as a potential "iPhone 30" instead of today's iPhone 16—Cook said that while the product will change due to innovation, he sees the iPhone "lasting a very long time."
• In an article for Forbes, accessibility technology expert Steven Aquino interviewed Sarah Herrlinger of Apple to talk about the new AirPods Pro hearing aid feature. She noted that this feature grew out of three efforts at Apple: the focus on acoustic technology, "the company's institutional ethos on prioritizing accessibility," and Apple's "ever-burgeoning ambitions in healthcare." She also noted that Apple designs products with accessibility in mind right from the start.
• Speaking of using the AirPods Pro as a hearing aid, last week I linked to a moving Apple commercial showing a father using AirPods so that he could hear his daughter play music. An article by Brett Williams of Men's Health reveals that the ad is based on a true story. The protagnist in the commercial is not an actor but a real person—John Pelletreau of Chicago.
• In another article about the ad by Tim Nudd of Ad Age, Pelletreau says: "My wife and I watch TV at two entirely different volumes. That’s been our struggle forever. ... Her level is, like, 4. I’m at like a 10. I have to have the volume way up to understand what they're saying. After getting the AirPods Pro set up with Hearing Aid, well, I'll just say she's a fan. We haven't had a single conversation about the TV volume this week." Pelletreau also explained that in the past "my brain was doing all this 'predictive text'—trying to get the gist even if I couldn’t follow all the words. My brain would try to fill in gaps, and I would just nod and give a more generic answer." But with the AirPods Pro, "I'm not having to actively put effort into understanding what people are saying. I can just hear it." The article also reveals that while the daughter playing the guitar in the commercial is an actress, the home videos of the daughter when she was younger are real home videos.
• In the current version of watchOS, a live activity can show up on your Apple Watch, and when it does, it is what you see when you lift your wrist. So you might see playback controls if media is playing on an Apple TV. Or if the New Orleans Saints are playing football, when I lift my wrist, I see the score. I think it is is a neat feature, but if you want to turn it off and just see your normal watch face, Tim Hardwick of MacRumors explains how to do that.
• Andrew Orr of AppleInsider explains how to get answers to math equations in the Notes app in iOS 18.
• Jackie Snow of the Wall Street Journal explains the ultra-secure Lockdown Mode feature and explains who might want to turn it on. (Apple News link.)
• Very soon—perhaps next week?—Apple will release iOS 18.2. Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac discusses some of the upcoming changes to the Photos app. For example, if you don't like the way that all videos automatically loop in iOS 18.1 (I'm not a fan), you will be able to disable that in settings in iOS 18.2.
• A few days ago, I couldn't find my keys. Fortunately, the have an AirTag on them, so I was able to find them in my house—in a location where I had already looked but I somehow missed them the first time. Sigh. But it was yet another example of how much I like Apple's Find My technology. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac recommends some Find My accessories that you might consider buying this holiday season.
• Anthony Breznican of Vanity Fair interviews Ben Stiller and Don Erickson to discuss the upcoming and highly-anticipated Season 2 of Severance.
• And finally, Apple's headquarters in the United Kingdom is in a building called Battersea Power Station, which Wikipedia notes is a decommissioned coal-fired power station on the River Thames in London that is one of the largest brick buildings in the world. To celebrate Christmas, Apple hired the animation studio Aardman to use the iPhone to create stop-motion Wallace & Gromit animations that are projected onto the side of the building including two large wash towers. It looks like it would be impressive to see in person. Here is a page on the Apple website about the project, here is a short video showing how you can make your own stop-motion video using Aardman's app, and here is a fun making-of video:

Podcast episode 174: Red Hot Deals for Black Friday, The 16 Year Old Vision Pro, and Tearful Heartstrings 🎻

’Tis the season for Black Friday through Cyber Monday sales, so Brett and I begin this week’s episode of the In the News podcast by identifying some particularly good sales that you might want to consider to save some money on some great items. Next, we talk about some of the best apps of 2024 (according to Apple) and an exciting upcoming app from LitSoftware called TimelinePad. We also talk about using an Apple Vision Pro with a Mac mini to create a portable computer with a huge screen and the long history of the Apple Vision Pro.

In our In the Show segment, we discuss lots of good Apple TV+ shows including Silo, Blitz, Wolfs, Severance, Ted Lasso, and more.

In our In the Know segment, Brett discusses VPN services, and I discuss why this is a great time of year to use FaceTime on an Apple TV (with your iPhone acting as the camera thanks to the Continuity Camera feature).

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just listen using your podcast player of choice. You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

In the News

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving at my house yesterday, and for those of you in the United States, I hope that you were able to enjoy some time with family and/or friends. Of course, that means that today is Black Friday. The most impressive Apple-related sale right now is that you can get the new, top-of-the-line AirPods 2 Pro for almost $100 off on Amazon, an all-time low price of only $153.99. That is a crazy low price for one of the very best products that Apple makes. I use mine all the time at work, either connected to my PC to use during video conferences or connected to my iPhone to use for phone calls. And when I'm not working, I use them all the time to listen to podcasts or music on my iPhone, watch movies or TV shows on my Apple TV or my iPad, and with my Apple Vision Pro. The "Pro" model is so much better than regular AirPods because of the fantastic noise reduction, the touch controls, the longer battery life, and the soft tips that for many people are so much more comfortable than the hard tips of regular AirPods. Moreover, you can change the tips if you want to get an even better fit for you. For almost three years now, I've been using COMPLY Foam tips with my AirPods Pro 2, and those replacement tips are only $20.81 on Amazon. This price for AirPods Pro 2 is so good that I toyed with the idea of getting a second pair just to have them at my office if I ever forget to pick mine up when I head to work in the morning. Whether you want to upgrade from your older AirPods or get someone a fantastic gift for the holidays, this is an amazing discount for one of my all-time favorite Apple products. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Here are a few more great deals that I saw on Amazon for Black Friday. The Eufy SmartTrack card, which I reviewed earlier this year and I keep in my wallet every day, is only $16.88 on Amazon (44% off). A perfect item for you, and a useful and inexpensive gift for anyone. The Jackery Solar Generator Explorer 500 is only $479, a $320 discount. The Twelve South HiRise 3 Deluxe, which I reviewed last year, is what I use next to my bed every single night to charge my iPhone, my AirPods Pro 2, and my Apple Watch. I bought it for $150, but it is currently only $119.99. I've heard rave reviews of the tiny but powerful Samsung T9 Portable SSD drive with 2TB, and it is only $199.97, a savings of $100. I love my Apple Watch Series 10 as noted in my review, and it starts at only $329, a $70 savings. And I've always been intrigued by the Bird Buddy, a bird feeder with a digital camera so that you can watch videos on your iPhone of the birds that visit, and it is only $199, a $40 savings.
• Things, which I use on my iPhone and iPad to track my to-do items, is 30% off for Black Friday as noted by the developer on its website.
• If you are an attorney and you use an iPad, I am sure that you have long known that Lit Software makes some of the best apps for lawyers. TrialPad and TranscriptPad in particular are so incredibly useful for litigators. For a while now, the company has been working on an app that you can use to create timelines, and the public beta started this week. I have already tried it out, and it looks great. I'll post a full review in the future, but if you want to get a sneak peek now and you don't mind using a beta app on which the bugs are still being worked out, you can click here to sign up.
• The team at MacStories put together a great Holiday Gift Guide for the Apple nerd in your life.
• Apple issued a press release to announce the 45 app and game finalists for its 2024 App Store Awards. There are some apps on the list that I love, but many more that I have never even heard of.
• Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels explains why he loves using the new iPhone Mirroring feature to see his iPhone on his Mac.
• Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that YouTube updated its iPhone app to add support for the iOS Share Sheet, which means that you can now share videos from the iPhone directly to YouTube.
• John Gruber of Daring Fireball argues that we don't need a low-end or a high-end Apple TV because the current device is just right. I agree. I'm sure it will get better with future updates, but the Apple TV is by far the best device to use to watch TV shows, movies, and more on a television.
• If you drive a Mercedez-Benz and you wear an Apple Watch, you're in luck. This week, the company announced that it released a new Apple Watch app that lets you lock and unlock your vehicle remotely, determine your car status, access information such as vehicle range, battery level, or fuel level, and more.
• Wesley Hilliard of AppleInsider recommends using an Apple Vision Pro (as a huge computer display) and a Mac mini (as the tiny computer driving that display) and notes that if you attach a portable battery pack, you can get a portable computing environment.
• Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac reports that Apple is exploring the possibility of assisting with the renovation of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid to support live immersive video streaming to the Apple Vision Pro.
• How long has Apple been working on the Apple Vision Pro? A few days ago, I was listening to the latest episode of the Vision Pros podcast, and guest and former Apple employee Clement Boissiere told the host Tim Chaten that he started working on the Vision Pro project in late 2016 and was one of only about 200 people working on the product at the time. Two years later, there were around 2,000 people working on the project. But Apple started even earlier than that. In an article for Macworld, Dan Moren shared a report from 2008 about an Apple patent for something that looks surprisingly similar to what the current Apple Vision Pro looks like. The reporter humorously called it an "eyePod." It is interesting that someone was thinking about an Apple Vision Pro when the iPhone was only a year old, and yet it took 15 years before we had hardware available that could implement the idea. It makes me wonder what Apple employees are thinking about right now that we will start using in 2039.
• If you haven't started watching it yet, I highly recommend Silo on Apple TV+. The first season was great, and we are now three episodes into Season 2 and it is just as good.
• I recently watched the Apple TV+ movie Blitz, and it is good. The plot is decent, the actors are fantastic, and I especially enjoyed seeing the depiction of war-torn London during World War II when Germany was bombing the city at night.
• I enjoyed the movie Wolfs on Apple TV+ more than my wife did, but we both thought it was worth watching. There is a fascinating story by Mike Fleming, Jr., in Deadline about how the filmmaker, Jon Watts, is angry at Apple for not giving the movie a full theatrical release before streaming it on Apple TV+.
• Severance, one of the best shows on Apple TV+ or any other streaming service, returns on January 17, 2025. Ethan Shanfeld of Variety reports that there will also be an official podcast hosted by director Ben Stiller and star Adam Scott, with lots of interesting guests planned. This is fantastic news.
• Maureen Lee Lenker of Entertainment Weekly interviews Brett Goldstein and he confirms the theory that Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso was heavily influenced by The Wizard of Oz.
• And finally, if you are ready to see one more reason that the AirPods Pro 2 is a great product, and if you are also ready to shed some tears during a very touching commercial, then Apple has something ready just for you. This one is called Heartstrings:

Podcast episode 173: Point 1️⃣ & Done, Photogenic Gripes 📸 and 93 Unclosed Browser Tabs!

In this week’s episode of the In the News podcast, Brett Burney and I discuss iOS 18.0: was the new design in Photos an improvement or a step backward? We discuss iOS 18.1: an initial Apple Intelligence feature is the ability to create summaries, but are they any good? We discuss iOS 18.1.1: why did Apple release this security update this week? And we discuss the upcoming iOS 18.2: do the guardrails on the Image Playground feature of Apple Intelligence make sense? We also discuss new features in the Overcast app that can improve your enjoyment of podcasts, enhancing dialogue on an Apple TV 4K, some amazing discounts on Amazon as we lead up to Black Friday, Shazam, Apple Music, and much more.

In our In the Know segment, Brett discusses how you can type to Siri and why you may want to do so. And I discuss using head gestures with your AirPods 4 or AirPods Pro.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just listen using your podcast player of choice. You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

In the News

Hey Siri, what's that song? Apple announced this week that Shazam--the technology that uses an audio fingerprint to identify songs—has now recognized over 100 billion songs since the service launched in 2002. The original Shazam was only available in the UK; users would call a phone number, hold up their phone for Shazam to identify a song, and then Shazam would send a text message with the result. Shazam's popularity vastly increased when it released an iOS app in 2008 when the App Store debuted. I raved about Shazam on February 9, 2009, in one of the earliest posts on iPhone J.D. Ten years later in 2018, Apple purchased the company, and Shazam is now fully integrated into the iPhone. I can only imagine what the smart engineers behind Shazam are working on for future projects in this age of AI. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Amazon has begun its Black Friday sales, and if you are looking for gifts for someone else or something for yourself, you can get some really good deals right now. The new Apple Watch Series 10 starts at only $329, a $70 discount for a fantastic device. (My review.) Or if you want the current version of the Apple Watch SE (the second generation), it starts at $169, an $80 discount. That's a great gift for a teen or pre-teen or anyone else who only wants the basic features of an Apple Watch. (My write-up.) The top-of-the-line AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C are at an all-time low price of only $159.99, a $90 discount on what would be a fantastic present.
• Amazon also has some great deals on certain models of the iPad. If you know someone who would be OK with the entry-level iPad, the iPad 10th generation is $279, which is an $80 discount. (My write-up.) There are also some discounts on high-end iPads, such as the iPad Pro 11" (M4) with 2TB for $1799, which is a $200 discount. (My write-up.)
• And finally, if you want a portable battery that can charge not only your iPhone but also a refrigerator, the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Portable Power Station, which normally costs $799, is on sale on Amazon for only $399, a $400 discount.
• If you prefer to buy directly from Apple, the company announced that sales of certain products on Black Friday (Nov. 29) through Cyber Monday (Dec. 2) will come with an Apple Gift Card in amounts that range from $25 (for the iPhone SE) to $200 (for a 15-inch MacBook Air (M3)). My experience from past years is that you typically can get a bigger discount with Amazon, but remember—as I noted last week—that when you buy directly from Apple, you have until January 8, 2025, to return the product for a full weekend. So if you want the flexibility of letting your gift recipient exchange the product for something that suits them better or the comfort of knowing that you can bring it back, Apple is your best bet.
• Dan Moren of Six Colors recommends using head gestures while you are wearing AirPods.
• iOS 18.1.1 and similar updates for other platforms were released this week. If you haven't upgraded yet, you should do so because it patches a zero-day vulnerability, as noted by Lance Whitney of ZDNet, which means that hackers were actively taking advantage of the vulnerability. My understanding is that the version of the hack that was being actively used only worked on Intel-based Macs, but in theory, the same hack could also be targeted at other Apple platforms. Be safe, and install the update.
• When Apple releases iOS 18.2 in a few weeks, it will contain another Apple Intelligence feature called Image Playground, which lets you create original images in just a few seconds based on your description of what you want. David Sparks of MacSparky has been playing with the beta version, and he notes that the pictures are very unrealistic (presumably to avoid the technology being used for Deep Fakes) and there are many guardrails on what the app allows you to create. I understand Apple's desire for caution in this area, but David notes that the limitations can limit the usefulness of the technology.
• The summarize Apple Intelligence feature in iOS 18.1 can be interesting, but clearly needs more work. As Lila Shroff notes in an article for The Atlantic, the summaries can be quite misleading. I tried out the feature this week on an email chain discussing some revisions to a document. The summary feature told me that a certain person said that she had no more revisions, but when I read her actual email, it said that she only had the following additional revisions and then listed three of them. Despite what Apple suggests in its advertisements, you cannot rely on these AI summaries to be accurate. Not yet, at least. Maybe one day.
• Apple announced this week that the editorial team behind Apple Music selected Billie Eilish as Apple Music's Artist of the Year for 2024. She also received the award in 2019, the first year that Apple Music began these recognitions.
• We have all now had about two months with iOS 18. What do you think about the new layout in Photos? It took me a little while to get used to it, but now I prefer it. Tim Hardwick of MacRumors says that users are divided on the redesign.
• I understand the popularity of Apple's own Podcasts app, but my podcast player of choice has long been Overcast. And around 60% of the downloads of the In the News podcast are from Overcast, so I know that it is the app of choice for many of you as well. The app saw some big updates this week, as noted by Chance Miller of 9to5Mac. You can quickly see which podcasts you have listened to for the most hours, which is fun. (When I record this week's episode of the In the News podcast with Brett, I'll talk about which ones made my list.) There is also a great history and undo feature which lets you recover a podcast if you accidentally skipped to the end of it even though you were not done listening to it.
• Ann-Marie Alcántara of the Wall Street Journal discusses how people use the Notes app as an extension of their brains. I know that I certainly do.
• If some of your notes in the Notes app have been disappearing, Joe Rossignol of MacRumors explains that Apple has acknowledged the issue and has instructions for how to fix it.
• Chance Miller of 9to5Mac recommends his favorite HomeKit accessories for this holiday season. First on his list is Lutron Caséta, which get my highest recommendation for the reasons I explained in this post.
• Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac recommends using the Enhance Dialogue feature on the Apple TV 4K, now that it is available even if you don't use a HomePod for your speakers.
• And finally, here is a silly video from Apple called All Systems Pro that seeks to emphasize the power of the A18 Pro processor in the iPhone 16 Pro.

Sweet Sixteen

In 2008, Airbnb was founded, Bitcoin was invented, the Marvel Cinematic Universe began with the movie Iron Man, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, Apple launched the App Store, and on November 17, 2008, I explained the reasons that I used an iPhone in the first post that started iPhone J.D. Every year since then, I have taken advantage of this website's anniversary to share some statistics about this website that might be interesting to readers. If you want to travel back in time, here are my prior posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. Let's light sixteen candles and do it again.

The top 10 posts. As always, we start by looking at which posts over the prior 12 months were read by the most people. The fact that these posts were popular sheds some light on what has been on the minds of attorneys and other folks using an iPhone or iPad. Here are the top ten most viewed posts published in the last year:

1. Review: Eufy SmartTrack Card vs. Rolling Square AirCard -- two ways to add Find My to your wallet. In 2009, Apple released iPhone Software 3.0 with the new Find My iPhone feature. In 2011, Apple expanded upon the idea in iOS 5 so that you could also find your friends. Originally, 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. In 2019, Apple released iOS 13, which combined Find My iPhone and Find My Friends into a single service called Find My and added the ability to find Apple devices even if they were offline. On April 26, 2021, Apple released iOS 14.5 to add the ability to track items, including some third-party trackers and Apple's own AirTag, which went on sale on April 30, 2021. The AirTag is an amazing device, but it is too thick to fit comfortably in a wallet or in other places where you want something flat, so I love that numerous third-party companies now make AirTag-like devices that are flat and the size of a few credit cards. The most popular post on iPhone J.D. during the past year was my review and comparison of two of the most popular versions of these devices. I still keep the Eufy SmartTrack Card in my own wallet ($19.99 on Amazon), and it has been great on the occasions when I have misplaced my own wallet—which fortunately, hasn't happened very often, and has always occurred in my own house.
2. Review: Smart Folio for iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) -- one step forward, but perhaps two steps back? The iPad Pro M4 is such a wonderful device. I carry it back and forth to work every work day, and it is a key part of my law practice as well as something I enjoy using at home. To protect the device as I carry it around, I use this Smart Folio. It works great for protecting the screen, but as I noted in my review, I think that this version is worse than the prior versions of the Smart Folio because it is less stable when used as a stand for the iPad. As a result, when I want to use a stand in my office—which occurs virtually every work day—I take my iPad out of the Smart Folio and place it on the Stabile PRO by Thought Out ($111.98 on Amazon) that I've been using for over a decade.
3. Review: Apple Pencil Pro -- the best way to write, draw, and more on an iPad. One of the reasons that I love my iPad Pro M4 so much is that it is a great device for annotating documents and taking notes, all of which I do with my Apple Pencil Pro. This year's update to the Apple Pencil was long-anticipated, and I suspect that is why this was the third most popular post from the past year.
4. Review: Weather Up -- the weather app that is all about the widget. Many great apps are enhanced by a helpful widget. Weather Up is an app for which the most useful feature is the widget. I almost never use the app itself, but the Weather Up widget on my Apple Watch, iPhone, and Mac provides a fantastic graphic that tells me the current and forecasted weather.
5. Review: iPhone 16 Pro Max. Apple makes lots of beloved products, but the iPhone is the king, so just like many other years, my review of Apple's newest, top-of-the-line iPhone was one of the most popular posts from the past year.
6. Why lawyers will love the new 2024 iPads. Apple released no new iPads in 2023—the first year without a new iPad since the product debuted in 2010—so I suspect that iPhone J.D. readers were especially interested to learn about the new 2024 models. I know that I was. And these are great models. As noted above, I love the iPad Pro M4, but if you want to pay less for a product that lacks some premium features but is still fantastic, the new iPad Air M2 is also fabulous.
7. Review: Apple Watch Ultra 2. Although the Apple Watch Ultra 2 came out in 2023, I didn't use one until just a few months ago when I tried it out for a few weeks. And yet my 2024 review remains timely because Apple didn't change the Ultra version of the Apple Watch in 2024 except to add a new color, so the Ultra 2 is still a great product to consider buying. For the reasons that I explained in detail in my review of the Apple Watch Series 10, I myself prefer the Series 10 because of its slim design, but I still understand why many would prefer the Ultra 2 because of its unique features including twice the battery life.
8. Using AI to get information from documents in PDF Expert and GoodNotes. Even before Apple announced that AI would be a key feature in iOS 18, it was clear that generative AI technology had the potential to improve the way many of us get work done. The AI features implemented almost a year ago in PDF Expert and GoodNotes are great examples of how useful this technology can be.
9. Review: iPad Pro 13" M4. The iPad-related post above at #6 concerned the announcement of the new iPads. This post at #9 was my review of the iPad Pro M4.
10. Movies on a plane or train with Apple Vision Pro in Travel Mode. I've been using an Apple Vision Pro since the day that it first went on sale earlier this year. I love the product and I use it frequently, but I've never written a formal review of the Apple Vision Pro because it is difficult to judge. This is the first time that I have used Apple hardware that reminds me of beta software in that it is full of promise and provides an exciting preview of the future, but still has lots of shortcomings that I'm sure will be fixed eventually. And unlike beta software, which is typically free. the Apple Vision Pro is expensive: $3,499 for the device itself, plus more if you add prescription lenses (another $149) and a case. But if you decide to spend way too much money like I did, boy is this device incredible! I've only used it while traveling a few times, but if you want to watch a movie on a plane flight or a train trip, nothing else compares to doing so on an Apple Vision Pro. Indeed, whenever I am watching a TV show or movie at my own house, unless I want to watch with someone else or I want to eat and drink while I am watching (possible, but difficult, while wearing this device), the Vision Pro provides the very best experience.

Visitors to iPhone J.D. The other thing I have been doing this time every year is share some statistical information on iPhone J.D. visitors, to the extent that I can figure it out using the tools at my disposal—specifically, the Google Analytics service.

Google Analytics reports that, during the past 12 months, about 46% of iPhone J.D. readers were using an iPhone, about 24% used a Mac, and about 16% used a computer running Windows. Less than 5% used an iPad. All of those percentages are virtually unchanged from last year. There were 12 people who accessed iPhone J.D. from an iPod—I guess it had to be an iPod touch—in the past year. I'm happy that you visited, but I recommend that you upgrade to an iPhone if you can.

Just looking at browsers (regardless of platform), 59% used Safari, 35% used Chrome, and Edge and Firefox were almost 2% each. Those numbers are also roughly consistent with the last few years.

Of course, the iPhone, iPad, and related Apple technologies of are interest to lawyers and others around the world. About 57% of iPhone J.D. readers during the past year were in the U.S., 8% were from the UK, 6% were from Canada, and the other countries with a significant percentage of readers were, in order, Australia, India, Germany, Singapore, and the Philippines. I learned about the vibrant community of lawyers and other professionals in the Philippines using the iPhone and iPad when I gave an online presentation for Legal Hackers Manila and Abogadong Pinoy back in 2021. Another presenter during that online conference was Brett Burney, and just a few weeks after that conference, Brett and I started the In the News podcast.

Every year, I also look at the top cities for the folks who visit iPhone J.D. London was the #1 city four times (2015, 2020, 2021, and 2023), but every other year, New York has been #1. Indeed, it has been a back-and-forth between those two for the past few years; London was #1 in 2021, New York in 2022, London in 2023, and the Big Apple is back on top again in 2024:

1. New York
2. London
3. Chicago
4. Dallas
5. Los Angeles
6. Ashburn
7. Atlanta
8. San Jose
9. Toronto
10. Singapore

This is the third year in a row that Ashburn, Virginia has been in the Top 10. Ashburn is a relatively small city, but it is a major hub for internet traffic, so perhaps that explains the ranking: people who are actually reading from other locations are being considered residents of Ashburn by the Google Analytics service. Or maybe there are just lots of visitors from Loudoun County, which is in the Washington D.C. area, and they are all being counted as part of Ashburn.

This is the second year that San Jose, California has made the Top 10. Of course, San Jose is a major technology hub in California, and both San Jose and Apple's home of Cupertino are in Santa Clara County.

Cities that just missed being in the Top 10 this year include Sydney, Seattle, Melbourne, Miami, Boston, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C. My hometown of New Orleans was #56. Sacramento was #100 on the list after last year's entry in the #100 position, Kansas City, moved up to #98. Bologna, Italy was #500 on the list—a wonderful city with amazing food that my wife and I loved visiting in 2022, as I noted in this post about some of the Apple Stores in Italy. And one of the many cities in the world with only a single visitor to iPhone J.D. in the last twelve months was Batman, Turkey, which as we all know—and Wikipedia confirms—was named after the Batman River and not the Caped Crusader.

Podcast episode 172: Much Ado About Point-Two, Classical Gas For Your Car🚗 and Fake-Friendly Bots 🤖

We are just a few weeks away from iOS 18.2 and similar updates for Apple’s other devices, and because many have access to beta versions, we are learning about all sorts of interesting details about new features that are coming soon. Thus, Brett Burney and I start this week’s episode of the podcast talking about some of the more significant features, from tracking lost luggage to taking pictures even faster. We also talk about a recent security improvement for the iPhone, classical music in the car, shopping for Apple products for the holidays, editing 3D video for the Apple Vision Pro, and much more.

In our In the Show segment, we talk about Ted Lasso and The Weeknd.

In our In the Know segment, Brett and point you to some silly websites that will make you smile.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just listen using your podcast player of choice. You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

In the News

Most of us are still getting used to iOS 18.1 on the iPhone, but Apple is working on iOS 18.2 and similar updates for other products, with many people using the beta versions. Apple has already announced that iOS 18.2 will be released in December, and Joe Rossignol of MacRumors explains why he thinks that the specific release date may be December 9. In addition to lots of improvements to Apple Intelligence such as integration with Chat GPT (which Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac believes will be especially useful when you are using AirPods), there are lots of other interesting features. For example, Apple announced this week that you will be able to share with others a secure link to the location of an AirTag or other Find My accessory, and this includes sharing with an airline to (hopefully) dramatically reduce the time that it takes for an airline to find and return your lost luggage. John Gruber notes that you will be able to turn on a setting so that pressing the Camera Control on the iPhone 16 immediately opens the Camera app even when the display is turned off, solving one of his significant critiques of the latest iPhone. Also, as noted by David Snow of Cult of Mac, Apple Vision Pro users will be able to simulate a virtual display for a computer that extends to a wide or even an ultra-wide display. I've heard numerous people (who are using the beta) say that this is a dramatically useful new feature. Tim Hardwick of MacRumors has a list of 18 useful new features coming in iOS 18.2. It's nice to know that, long before Santa visits many of us on December 25, Apple has some cool new gifts coming our way. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reports on an iPhone security improvement that is included in the current iOS 18.1. If an iPhone hasn't been used in four days, it enters the same lock-down mode used when you first power on an iPhone: you have to use a passcode to unlock the device, with Face ID and Touch ID turned off. Apparently, this simple fix breaks much of the hacking software that is now available. While good news for security, Hardy notes that this change has frustrated some police officers who confiscated iPhones and assumed that they had as long as they wanted to try to unlock them using tools available to certain police departments.
• Joe Rossignol of MacRumors reports that Apple's extended return policy is now in effect for the 2024 holiday season. That means that you can buy (almost) any product from the Apple Store and instead of the normal 14-day return window (which I recently discussed), you have until January 8, 2025, to return the product for a full, no-questions asked refund.
• Third-party reports on which specific Apple devices are selling better than others are always at least a little suspect; only Apple knows the true numbers. With that caveat, Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac discusses a recent report estimating that for the last three months, the breakdown has been 45% for the iPad Pro, 33% for the low-end iPad, 13% for the iPad Air, and 9% for the iPad mini. If those numbers are accurate, I'm surprised to see so much more interest in the iPad Pro over the iPad Air. I love my iPad Pro because of all of the advanced, premium features. But unless someone tells me that they want the best of the best, I recommend the iPad Air because it is cheaper but has so many great features that you used to only get on an iPad Pro.
• Jason Snell of Six Colors wrote a fascinating post, full of graphs, that takes a look at Apple revenue over the last 25 years. There are so many interesting stories revealed by these graphs. For example, we all know how important iPhones have become to Apple, but it is interesting to see how much Services revenue has been increasing over the years. Wearables revenue is also quite impressive; people love AirPods and the Apple Watch.
• If you want to take a video using an iPhone but want to make sure that you hear someone speaking, even if they are not close to the camera, you might want to buy the new wireless microphone from Rode, the Wireless Micro ($149 on Amazon). As Zac Hall of 9to5Mac explains, it does a nice job of picking up the audio, and you get two wireless lavaliere microphones plus a USB-C receiver that plugs into the bottom of your iPhone. It looks like a neat product.
• Joe Rossignol of MacRumors reports that the Apple Music Classical app now supports CarPlay.
• The Apple Watch Series 10 is fantastic, as I noted in my review. And you can now save $50 on the product when you buy it from Amazon. With a discounted price starting at $349, this would be a fantastic gift for someone you love for the holidays.
• Andrew O'Hara of Apple Insider explains why he loves his Apple Watch Ultra 2 more than ever.
• You can currently purchase a four-pack of AirTags on Amazon for only $69.99. That is the lowest price that I have ever seen for AirPods—while Apple charges $99, Amazon typically charges around $80 and sometimes has gone down to as cheap as $75, but I've never seen $69.99—so this is worth taking advantage of if you want some more.
• Bradley Chambers of 9to5Mac reviews HomeBatteries, an app that monitors the battery life on your HomeKit devices. I use this app frequently, and it is a great way for me to check the battery life on the Eufy security cameras that I have outside of my house.
• As reported by John Voorhees of MacStories, Apple has released updates to Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the Mac and iPad. One nice improvement on the Mac is that the program can now edit spatial videos that you take with an Apple Vision Pro or some iPhones. Apple did a nice job of implementing this feature. I especially like that you can work with the video by just looking at the right or left eye, or you can use an Anaglyph mode that will remind you of watching an old 3D movie using red and blue glasses but which is a really effective way to get a sense of the intensity of the 3D effect even when you are working on a 2D screen. The release of this app is great for two reasons. First, and most obviously, it means that you can take a number of spatial videos and then edit them together into a nice movie that looks great on your Vision Pro. You can even add 3D titles. Second, my hope is that the release of this tool is the dawn of people creating lots of interesting 3D movies for the Vision Pro. Still missing is a good way to stream these videos, although Vimeo may be adding something next month that will work.
• If you own a Vision Pro and want to see a very simple example of a spatial movie created in Final Cut Pro, here is one for you. A few months ago, I used my iPhone to take some spatial videos at the bar/restaurant that serves my favorite hamburger in New Orleans: Port of Call, located on the edge of the French Quarter. Last night, I turned those video clips into a two-minute 3D spatial movie. To watch it, look at this post in Safari while using your Vision Pro, click this link to download the 600MB movie from Dropbox into the Files app on your Vision Pro, and then watch the downloaded movie. Note that it may take some time to load before it starts playing.
• If you want to watch a spatial movie that may not be as good as mine (ahem) but had a slightly larger budget (ahem ahem), last night Apple released a music video for the song Open Hearts by The Weeknd in Spatial Video, and it is both surreal and very fun to watch. There is one scene in particular involving buildings that made my jaw drop. Definitely worth watching if you have a Vision Pro. Apple released a press release to discuss the new video.
• Zac Hall of 9to5Mac points out that in addition to lots of other great Vision Pro content currently available, you can watch the two top-grossing films of 2024 in 3D in the Disney+ app: Inside Out 2 and Deadpool and Wolverine.
• If you are a fan of Ted Lasso on Apple TV+, you can now read a book about the making of the show.
  Believe: The Untold Story Behind Ted Lasso, the Show That Kicked Its Way into Our Hearts by Jeremy Egner (the television editor at the New York Times) is now available on Amazon, Audible, and elsewhere. According to Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac, the book explains that while we now know that the show is a hit, the team behind the show had trouble selling it; the only interested buyer was Apple TV+, a brand-new streaming service that very few people were using at the time.
• Mythic Quest is a funny TV show that I have enjoyed watching on Apple TV+. And fortunately, there is a lot more coming. Joe Otterson of Variety reports that Season 4 begins on January 29, 2025. Also, when Season 4 ends, Apple TV+ will begin streaming a four-show spin-off series called Side Quest that features the same characters; it sounds like each episode of Side Quest will focus on a different character.
• Julie Strietelmeier of The Gadgeteer discusses Zerfio, a device that plugs into your USB-C port on the iPhone and turns it into a flute.
• And finally, as we prepare for Apple Intelligence to get more, well, intelligent in iOS 18.2 and other AI services are developing even more, are we at the point yet where an AI can be our friend and companion? In a fantastic video for the Wall Street Journal, Joanna Stern explores that question by taking a vacation with four AI assistants: