On November 17, 2008, I started iPhone J.D. and published my first post, explaining why I found the iPhone a valuable tool in my law practice. That makes iPhone J.D. eight years old today. The iPhone has changed substantially in eight years, but today's iPhone 7 is still unmistakably a descendant of the original iPhone released in 2007. And now, we have so many more iPhone-related devices, such as the iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and — hopefully any day now — the new AirPods. As the iPhone universe has grown, its appeal to attorneys has increased as well. As I reported just a few weeks ago, a record number of attorneys are now using an iPhone: about 68% of all attorneys in the United States.
Over the past eight years, I've written almost 1,500 posts on iPhone J.D., including reviews of over 300 apps, reviews of every major iOS device released by Apple (from the iPhone 3GS to the new iPhone 7 and all models of the iPad) and reviews of over 100 accessories. I've also tried to provide lots of tips and tricks for getting the most out of your iPhone and iPad, and discussed all of the tech news that I think that you might want to know about if you use an iPhone or iPad. If you haven't checked out the iPhone J.D. Index recently, click the "Index to Prior Posts" link at the top of any page to get there. The index will direct you to lots of posts that are as useful today as they were when they were written, although there are others with only historical significance.
By far the best part of publishing iPhone J.D. has been the great feedback from readers like you. I've learned so much from talking to and reading notes from readers, and many of those interactions result in posts. Please keep the feedback coming!
As more and more attorneys use iPhones and iPads, site traffic has grown every year. I remember that at the end of the first year, I was amazed to see over 300,000 page views. The current count is over 7.5 million page views in eight years.
Popular posts this year. Every year on the birthday of iPhone J.D. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), I find it interesting to look back and see which posts over the prior 12 months were the most popular. The fact that these posts were so popular might reveal something about the topics that iPhone and iPad owners have been thinking about lately. Here, in order, are the top ten most viewed posts published in the last 12 months:
- Review: iPad Pro -- the largest iPad ever, with support for Apple Pencil.
It comes as no surprise to me that this was the #1 post over the past year. The iPad Pro is a perfect tablet for attorneys. It is super fast and responsive. The Apple Pencil makes it easy to highlight and annotate exhibits, cases, Word documents, etc. And if you can learn to live with the hassle of carrying a larger device, the huge screen on the 12.9" model is fantastic for lawyers working with documents. (And if you cannot get used to that size, there is still the 9.7" model of the iPad Pro.) The iPad is such an amazing device for lawyers that you could make an argument that this website should be called iPadJD.com.
- Review: Fisher Chrome Clip -- clip that works on Apple Pencil. Support for the Apple Pencil is one of my favorite features of the iPad Pro, and I am constantly talking to other attorneys who feel the same way. Thus, there were quite a few posts in the Top 10 this year that concern the Pencil. I've been using this inexpensive clip on my Apple Pencil nonstop since I wrote this review, and I can't imagine not having a clip on my Apple Pencil.
- Review: L/XL Sport Band -- Apple Watch band for larger wrists. I am seeing more and more people wearing an Apple Watch, and it reminds me of the early years of the iPhone when I slowly but surely started to see more and more attorneys using that device. I love that it is so easy to swap bands on an Apple Watch. The XL size of the Sport Band that I reviewed last December is still one of my favorite bands for my Apple Watch.
- Review: Apple Pencil Magnet by Moxiware -- attach your Apple Pencil to your iPad Pro (guest review by Darrell Phillips). For the first time ever, a guest post on iPhone J.D. made the Top 10 list. I hope that this happens every year going forward. I love hearing about apps and accessories that other lawyers find useful. If you ever find that there is something that you especially enjoy using on or with your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, I encourage you to reach out to me about writing a guest post.
- Review: Apple’s 29W USB-C Power Adapter and USB-C to Lightning Cable -- fast charging for 12.9" iPad Pro. This one almost counts as two posts. When I first wrote the post in March of this year, it got a decent amount of attention because using the USB-C power adapter is a great way to charge a 12.9" iPad Pro more quickly. But then just a few weeks ago, Apple released its new MacBook Pro, a laptop computer that only has USB-C ports on it. As a result, lots of people searched for posts about a USB-C to Lightning Cable that could be used to connect an iPhone or iPad to a new MacBook Pro, and thus once again this became a popular post. As a result of this post becoming popular twice in one year, it ranks as #5 on this year's list.
- Apple Pencil tip: a place for the cap while charging. This is such a simple tip, and yet I still use it every time I charge my Apple Pencil.
- Review: Scanner Pro 7 by Readdle -- the best way to scan documents using an iPhone.
There were only two iOS apps that made the Top 10 list this year, and they come it at #7 and #8 on the list. Scanner Pro has been around for a long time, and Readdle is a fantastic developer. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Scanner Pro 7 is a really fantastic app. I love that I can use the powerful Scanner Pro app and the impressive camera on my iPhone 7 to take really nice scans of documents without having to locate a full-size scanner. The quality is not quite as good as what you can get with a full-size scanner, but for most tasks it is more than good enough.
- Word for iOS updates -- Draw on an iPad, contextual commands on an iPhone. Microsoft Word is one of the most useful apps on my iPhone and iPad. I use it almost every single day. In this post, I talked about this incredibly useful app being updated to support the Apple Pencil that so many of us love so much — a great combination of software and hardware.
- Create a PDF of an email on an iPhone 6s. This is another example of a post that describes a simple tip, but simple doesn't mean inconsequential; I still use this tip regularly to make PDF versions of emails and other documents.
- Review: Field Muzetto by WaterField Designs -- messenger bag for iPad Pro. After many years of the iPad staying the same size, Apple finally released a larger iPad when it introduced the 12.9" iPad Pro last year. That meant that many long-time iPad users had to buy new iPad accessories, such as cases and bags. The Field Muzetto is a really nice device, but I ended up preferring the Tom Bihn Ristretto, and I still use the Ristretto every single day.
Visitors to iPhone J.D. Ever year, I use this post to share some information on iPhone J.D. visitors, to the extent that I can figure it out using the tools at my disposal. Don't worry, I'm not spying on you ... although who knows what the NSA or FBI might be doing. But I can use Google Analytics to get some basic information on iPhone J.D. readers.
During the past 12 months, a record 60% of readers visited iPhone J.D from an iOS device, which includes about 18% from an iPad and about 42% from an iPhone. About 22% used Windows, which is what I use in my law office. About 12% used a Mac, which is what I use at home. Almost all of the other visitors (about 4.8%) used Android, which is higher than you might have expected given the nature of this website, but remember that (1) every year lots of folks switch from Android to iOS, and (2) some of the third party accessories that I have reviewed can also be used with an Android device, and even some iOS apps have a version available for Android. So everyone is welcome here, even those using Android.
About 62% of iPhone J.D. visitors are in the U.S., but the site also gets a huge number of visitors from the U.K., Canada and Australia. Looking at the cities of iPhone J.D. readers, New York has been #1 every single year except for last year, when there were a few hundred more visitors from London. New York is back on top again this year:
New York
- London
- Los Angeles
- Chicago
- Sydney
- Houston
- Melbourne
- Dallas
- Washington, D.C.
- San Francisco
Dallas appears on the list for the first time since 2012. Toronto was on the list last year, but this year was just barely squeezed out by San Francisco. New Orleans, where I live and practice law, hasn't been in the top ten since this website's second birthday, but this year proudly sits at the #25 spot, right above Calgary. (Come to think of it it, it's not often that you see New Orleans and Calgary mentioned in the same sentence.)
Most importantly as I start the ninth year of iPhone J.D., thanks to all of you for reading and offering comments and encouragement along the way. I look forward to another year of writing about the world of iOS hardware and software that is of interest to attorneys, and I hope to hear from many of you during the coming year.
