What do you want first, the bad news or the good news? We'll start with the bad news. Neal Boudette of the New York Times reports that last year saw the largest annual percentage increase in highway fatalities in 50 years, and 2016 looks to be even worse. A big cause of this statistic is folks looking at an iPhone and other mobile device when they should be driving. Let's all be careful out there. The good news is that, unlike last week, there were lots of interesting iOS-related stories in the news this week. So let's get started.
- Legal technology consultant Brett Burney reviews PDFpen Scan+ as a way to take a PDF file that is already on your iPhone or iPad and then OCR it so that you can select text. I love using the GoodReader app to highlight words and sentences in a document, but that feature requires that the document be OCR'd. PDFpen Scan+ is a good app to accomplish that task.
- Teresa Matich of Clio recommends apps for attorneys.
- Dan DeSilva of 9to5Mac describes a new feature in the Amazon app that I myself used last night. It is called the X-Ray feature. The idea is that if you have one or more Amazon boxes and you are not sure what is in the box, you use the app to scan the shipping label and the app shows you a picture of what you ordered. For example, if you have a bunch of Amazon boxes with Christmas presents in them and you want to make sure that you are opening the right one, this app makes it easy. It's a simple trick but useful, and it was smart of Amazon to add this feature to their app.
- One of the newest trends in hacking is for hackers to take over not your computer, but instead your devices in your home. Equipment such as security cameras which have tiny computers inside and can access the Internet can be hijacked by hackers to take part on massive distributed denial of service (DDos) attacks, and this very thing happened earlier this month. Dave Hamilton of The Mac Observer reports that devices which use Apple's HomeKit can be far safer because of Apple's strict security requirements for HomeKit (which, for example, prevents a hacker from sitting outside of your house and turning off or on your lights, air conditioning, etc.) But if those same devices have other holes outside of HomeKit, then you may not be completely safe. It's a potentially big problem that device manufacturers need to be looking at.
- Apple announced earlier this year that it was going to start to remove from the App Store older apps that had not been updated to work with current iPhones and iPads. Sarah Perez of TechCrunch reports that Apple has now started to do this, and 47,300 apps were removed last month.
- Jason Snell of Six Colors reports on an update to the Google Photos app that lets you use the app to create a digital version of an old photograph. The app detects edges, straightens the image, rotates it to the correct orientation, and removes glare. Unfortunately, Snell reports that the quality is just OK, and not as good as what you can get with a flatbed scanner. But the app is free, and it is quick and easy to use.
- Apple released a coffee table book this week called Designed by Apple in California which includes big, beautiful images of Apple products such as the iPhone created over the last 20 years. Like many art books of this genre, the book isn't cheap; there is a $200 version, and a larger $300 version. Tony Chambers of Wallpaper interviewed Jonathan Ive, Apple's Chief Design Officer, to discuss the book. Here are images of the book showing off the original iPhone and an Apple Watch:
- Serenity Caldwell wrote an article for The Wirecutter identifying the best styluses for an iPad or other touchscreen device. Of course, if you have an iPad Pro, the Apple Pencil is by far the best option. But if you have another device, Caldwell has some other good picks.
- Speaking of the iPad Pro, Brent Dirks of App Advice reports that Apple is now selling refurbished 9.7" models of the iPad Pro.
- Speaking of Apple saving you some money, Rene Ritchie of iMore reports that Apple is cutting the price of USB-C adapters now that the new MacBook Pro only uses USB-C. If you use a 12.9" iPad Pro, this is nice because you can now save $6 on a USB-C to Lightning Cord (now $19 for 1m or $29 for 2m). Apple's 29W USB-C power adapter itself is not discounted, so it will still cost you $49. As I explained in this post earlier this year, the combination of a 29W USB-C power adapter plus a Lightning to USB-C cord is the fastest way to charge a 12.9" iPad Pro.
- And finally, I normally only showcase interesting Apple commercials for iOS-related devices, but Apple released a really good commercial for the MacBook Pro yesterday called "Bulbs," and it does have a minor connection to the iPhone. The commercial shows innovative ideas throughout the ages, and of course the iPhone is one of the good ideas shown (albeit briefly). The video is fast-paced and fun, and every time I watch it, I see something new:
