Not long after I discussed the implications of traveling with an iPhone or iPad as you cross the United States border, the TSA decided to make domestic traveling with an iPad even more complicated. This week, the TSA announced that when you go through security at an airport, you now need to remove from your bag any electronics device larger than a cellphone. Under the prior rules, you had to remove a laptop computer, but not an iPad. The new policy is “[d]ue to an increased threat to aviation security” on which the TSA provides no additional details. Note that if you use TSA Pre-Check, then this rule change doesn’t apply to you, and you can continue to keep that iPad in your bag. I signed up for Pre-Check a while ago, and now I have yet another reason to appreciate that program. And now, the other news of note from the past week:
- The latest episode of Brett Burney’s Apps in Law podcast features an interview with Pennsylvania lawyer Patrick “PJ” Best, who describes how he uses iAnnotate to work with PDF files. I listened to the episode while driving home last night, and it is a great one. Best notes that one of the most useful features of iAnnotate is that the app lets you modify the toolbar to display just the tools that you like to use when annotating documents, and you can even switch between multiple toolbars. It’s been four years since I reviewed iAnnotate, and that app has received lots of great updates since that time.
- California attorney David Sparks discusses Omnigraffle, an iPad app that lets you create diagrams.
- In an article for Lawyerist.com, Louisville attorney Stephen Embry discusses how augmented reality on an iPad might be useful in litigation in the future.
- (Another reason that AR on the iPad will be interesting — you can put yourself in one of the best music videos of the 1980s.)
- New Orleans attorney Greg Rubin and I have been trading emails about Apple Watch apps, and he said that if any iPhone J.D. readers are boaters, he recommends the YoNav! app. If you have an Apple Watch Series 2, this Apple Watch app can show you your GPS coordinates even if you don’t have your iPhone with you. Finding your GPS coordinates is useful if you are on a boat, but could also be useful if you are into geo-location, or if you are hiking outdoors.
- Jason Snell of Six Colors discusses iPad multitasking improvements in iOS 11 in an article for Macworld.
- Jonny Evans of Computerworld identifies the best new features in the upcoming iOS 11.
- And finally, this week Apple released a short video in which Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson shows off some of the things that you can do with Siri. It’s a funny video, so check it out if you haven’t seen it yet: