Month: February 2017

President Trump’s executive order attempting to ban Muslim immigrants has received widespread criticism from many, including the tech sector.  Tripp Mickle of the Wall Street Journal reported this week that Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that hundreds of Apple employees have been affected by the order, and Apple is considering legal options to oppose the order.  Cook is reported as saying:  “More than any country in the world, this country is strong because of our immigrant background and our capacity and ability as people to welcome people from all kinds of backgrounds.  That’s what makes us special.”  Apple has a lot of smart lawyers working for it, so I hope that they come up with a good plan.  And now, the news of note from the last week:

• Although I sometimes use the built-in Calendar app for certain tasks, most of my iPhone and iPad calendar usage occurs in the fabulous Fantastical app, so I’m always interested in seeing updates to that app.  California attorney David Sparks discusses the version 2.8 update which adds haptic feedback on the iPhone 7 so that you can feel little clicks when you are scrolling the date or time (just like the built-in Calendar app), which is a nice touch.  The app also now gives you some stickers for the Messages app, and while I don’t use stickers often, there are some cute annotated ones in here that I might use, such as an “I’m running late” sticker.
• Sparks also really likes the Apple Watch stand that looks like a Mac.  I’ve linked to reviews of that product a few times now, and every time I think to myself that I really don’t need one but for only $15 maybe I should get one anyway.  I haven’t pulled the trigger yet, but before the month is over, who knows…
• If you own the larger 12.9″ iPad Pro and want a good keyboard for it, Jason Snell of Six Colors reviews the Brydge Keyboard and is a big fan of that product.
• A new drawing app for the iPad called Linea was released this week.  I’m not sure how many lawyers use drawing apps; I’ve used them in depositions to sketch out what a witness is trying to describe, but most of my use of those apps is just for fun.  But if you have any interest at all, I recommend that you check out Serenity Caldwell’s video review of Linda on iMore which shows off the app by using the app.
• Ryan Christoffel of MacStories discusses an update to the Microsoft Outlook for iOS app which adds third-party integration into emails through add-ins.
• Aldrin Calimlim of AppAdvice reminds us that, thanks to lyrics in the Apple Music app, you shouldn’t have to worry about singing the wrong lyrics to a song.  No more signing “Hold me closer, Tony Danza” by Elton John.
• If you are lucky enough to already be using Apple’s AirPods, the firmware was automatically updated this week, as reported by Mike Wuerthele of AppleInsider.  It looks like this one just fixed some bugs, but it is interesting to learn that AirPods get automatically updated when Apple pushes an update.  It will be fun if/when a future update adds more features.
• Rachel Caricola of The Wirecutter says that the Netgear Arlo Pro is the best outdoor wireless security camera.  It works with iOS.
• David Levitt of Bloomberg reports that Apple is renovating its iconic Fifth Avenue New York Store (the one with the glass cube) and will double the size of the store.
• Actor Justin Long did the famous “I’m a Mac / I’m a PC” ad for a long time, playing the Apple product.  But Karen Freeman of AppAdvice reports that Long is now pitching a competitor to Apple’s iPhone, the Huawei (#1 smartphone maker in China).
• And finally, it was seven years ago this week that Steve Jobs first introduced the iPad on January 27, 2010.  Here is a video of the introduction, and you can tell how proud Jobs was to finally show off the product that had been in development for some time (even before the iPhone).  It is funny to see Jobs begin the video by announcing that Apple had had crossed over the 250 million mark for iPod sales, nine years after introducing the product.  Obviously, iPod sales are no longer newsworthy for Apple, which has sold over a billion iPhones.  Apple has sold over 350 million iPads since the introduction in 2010, and while people in general are not buying iPads as much as they were a few years ago, the product continues to get better and better for attorneys.  I’m very curious to see what Apple has planned for iPad hardware and software in 2017.  But now, let’s step back to 2010 and watch Steve Jobs do his thing:  

Of course you should never type a text or email while you are driving, but an iPhone is still useful in a car for many reasons:  navigation, listening to music, listening to podcasts, making hands-free phone calls, etc.  In some states, such as California as of January 1, 2017, it is illegal for a driver to hold and operate a phone.  Instead, you need to have a phone mounted, with easy access for an occasional tap or swipe.  Even for those of us who do not live in California, safe iPhone use in a car is essential, and convenient access to an iPhone is useful.  If you are going to mount an iPhone in your car, you want to have a good mount.  I’ve recently been trying out a really nice mount made by Pearl called the Pearl Phone Mount.  The company sent me a free sample of its car mount because it comes included with the Pearl RearVision rearview camera (which I will be reviewing in the future).  You can also buy this phone mount on its own for just $40.  If you are thinking of getting an iPhone mount for your car, this device is really nice and is reasonably priced, so I can recommend it.

It has actually been a while since I used a car mount.  Back in 2010, I started using a Kensington Bluetooth device which also acted as a car mount, but it required a 30-pin connector so I haven’t used it as a mount since I started using an iPhone 5 with a Lightning connector in 2012. Using a mount again for the last few weeks, I realize how nice it is to have my iPhone always in a location that I can see it while driving.  A mount also makes it easy to quickly access on-screen controls, such as tap a button to skip a song. And even during those times when it isn’t really essential to see my iPhone screen, such as when listening to a song or podcast, it is nice to be able to glance and see album or podcast art and other on-screen indications, such as the bar at the top of the Overcast app giving a graphical representation of how much time is left in a podcast.  If you haven’t used a car mount for your iPhone in a while, you are missing out.

The Pearl mount itself consists of a magnetic rubbery plate attached to a carbon steel round gimbal.  To connect to your phone, the Pearl Phone Mount comes with two very thin metal plates, both of which have adhesive on the back which you expose by removing a cover (but as noted below, you may not need to expose the adhesive).  The small metal plate is for attaching directly to the back of your iPhone if you don’t plan to use a case.  The larger plate is for attaching to the back of your iPhone if you do use a case — it is bigger and just slightly thicker so that there can still be a magnetic connection through the material on the back of your case.

I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of attaching a metal plate to the back of my iPhone.  First, I don’t like the idea of feeling, or other folks seeing, a metal plate on the back of my iPhone when I am using it.  Second, I was curious if it would leave any damage if I remove it.  The Pearl website suggests that this won’t occur; the website says that the plate can be removed with dental floss or a plastic spudger, and says that any adhesive residue can be removed with a cloth. 

Fortunately, I found two solutions that let you use this holder without sticking anything to the back of your iPhone.  First, if you use a snug case for the iPhone, you can just place the larger metal plate between the back of your iPhone and the case without using the adhesive at all.  Pearl says on its website:  “Depending on the fit of your phone case, you may be able to place the larger plate in between your phone and case without using the adhesive.”  I tried that with my Apple leather iPhone case, and it has worked really well.  Whenever I remove my case, I need to be careful that the metal plate doesn’t fall away and get lost, but that hasn’t been a problem so far.  When the case is on my iPhone, the larger metal plate seems to stay in place, even if my car bounces because I drive over a bump or pothole.

A second solution is to attach the smaller metal plate to the back of a case instead of the iPhone itself.  Again, I wasn’t thrilled about a metal plate on the back of a case that I use every day, and indeed, I’m not even sure that the metal plate would stick to my Apple leather case.  But there was an easy alternative — just get another case to use in the car and attach the metal plate to that case.  I found an inexpensive $2.99 clear gel case on Amazon and attached the small plate to that case.  That way, I could keep that case in my car and slip the iPhone inside of it when I wanted to mount it in the car, and then remove it when I am done and the metal plate wouldn’t be anywhere near my iPhone.  This solution has also worked well for me.  The adhesive on the small metal plate seems to be doing a great job of staying attached to that inexpensive, simple case.

I’m not sure which of these two solutions I will decide to continue to use going forward.  I’m leaning towards just keeping the large metal plate inside of my Apple leather case because that solution has worked well and it saves a tiny bit of time to not have to put a different case on when I am in the car.  But I’m glad that there are two different solutions, neither of which requires me to put adhesive on the back of my iPhone 7.

I can see why Pearl decided to use the magnet-and-plate approach for the Pearl Phone Mount.  It works incredibly well as a way to mount the phone.  The phone (with a metal plate) attaches easily to the mount, and doesn’t fall off even if the car bumps around while you are driving.  At the same time, it is  very easy to remove the iPhone from the mount.  And just as importantly, it is easy to rotate the iPhone if you want to switch from portrait to landscape orientation.

The only downside I have found to the metal plate is that it does seem to mess with the iPhone’s built-in compass.  Note that this is different from GPS, which works fine, but if you use the Compass app to figure out which way is North, it doesn’t seem to be accurate with a metal plate on the back of the iPhone.  (Since my metal plate isn’t attached, I can just remove the plate, force-quit the Compass app and start it again, and then the built-in compass recalibrates and works again.)

The mount itself has a round gimbal, which lets you adjust the viewing angle 140º to put your iPhone in whatever position works best for you in your car.  Once you find an angle that works best for you, you’ll probably never need to adjust it again, but it is nice that you can if you want to do so.

You can attach the mount to your car two different ways because two bases are included.  First, there is a clip that attaches to the vent in your car.  It just snaps on easily, and stays in place well.  Second, there is an anchor with a 3M adhesive on the bottom that you can attach to your car’s dash.   I figured that I would start with the clip and then move on to the anchor with adhesive if necessary, but the clip has worked great for me so I haven’t tried the anchor.  It seems a little weird that a plastic vent in my Honda Accord is strong enough to hold up an iPhone, but it works really well.

And it looks good too.  When your iPhone isn’t attached, you just see the black end of the base.  When your iPhone is attached, you don’t see the base at all and you just see the iPhone.

I’m a fan of this product.  It works really well, it looks nice and it is reasonably priced.  I really love having a car mount to hold my iPhone when I’m driving.  I don’t think that I will want to attach the metal plate to my iPhone or my primary case, but fortunately there are ways around that so it is not a big issue.  If you in the market for a car mount, I can recommend this one.  And if you haven’t been using a car mount or a while, or maybe have never even thought about using one, I encourage you to consider a product like this.

Click here to get Pearl Phone Mount on Amazon ($39.99).

Yesterday, Apple released the results for its 2017 fiscal first quarter (which ran from September 25, 2016 to December 31, 2016, and did not actually include any days from calendar year 2017) and held a call with analysts to discuss the results.  This is typically Apple's best quarter of the year because of holiday sales.  It was actually Apple's best quarter ever in terms of revenue, with revenue of $78.4 billion (compared to $75.9 billion one year ago, which was also an all-time record).  Quarterly net profit was $17.9 billion (down just slightly from $18.4 billion a year ago and $18 billion two years ago).  Apple CFO Luca Maestri called the record revenue "broad-based" because it included "new revenue records for iPhone, for Services, for Mac, and for Apple Watch.  We also established new all-time revenue records in most developed and emerging markets, with strong growth rates in many countries, including the U.S., Japan, Canada, France, Australia, Brazil, India, Turkey, and Russia."

If you want to get all of the nitty gritty details, you can download the audio from the announcement conference call from iTunes, or you can read a rough transcript of the call prepared by Seeking Alpha, or Serenity Caldwell of iMore prepared an almost verbatim transcript of much of the call.  Apple's official press release is here.  As always, however, I'm not as concerned about the financial details as I am the statements of Apple executives during the call that are of interest to iPhone and iPad users.  Here are the items that stood out to me:

iPhone

• Apple sold just over 78 million iPhones in the last fiscal quarter.  By my count, that means that Apple has sold about 1,111,766,000 iPhones as of the end of 2016.  That's a big number.
• Apple didn't reveal the number of iPhone 7 sales versus iPhone 7 Plus sales, but did say that Plus sales were higher last quarter than ever before.  I'm curious how much of that is because of the larger screen and how much of that is because of the better camera.  I prefer the size of my iPhone 7, but I'm very jealous of the optical zoom on the iPhone 7 Plus.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook said that more people upgraded their iPhone last quarter than ever before, and more people switched from another platform to iPhone last quarter than ever before.
• The iPhone has been around for a while.  Cook was asked if all of the interesting new features have already come out.  He disagreed:  "I think the smartphone is still in the early innings of the game.  I think there's lots more to do.  I think it's become — every year, it becomes more important to people's lives.  There's more things people are doing with it.  I talked a little bit about home automation, but I could have talked about health,  I could have talked more about CarPlay.  The use of it in the enterprise is growing significantly.  When I look at all of these things — usage going up, app developers still innovating, we've got some exciting things in the pipeline.  I feel really, really good about it."

iPad

• Apple sold just over 13 million iPads in the last fiscal quarter.  By my count, that means that Apple has sold over 350 million iPads as of the end of 2016.
• Apple had peak iPad sales in its 2014 first fiscal quarter (when it sold 26 million) but sales have declined since then, such that three years later Apple is now selling half as many iPads  I suspect that there are various reasons for that, such as the fact that people don't upgrade iPads nearly as often as they upgrade iPhones.  For what it is worth, Maestri said that the 13.1 million was ahead of Apple's expectations for the quarter.
• Cook hinted at iPad improvements that are coming soon, saying "we've got some exciting things coming on iPad.  I still feel very optimistic about where we can take the product."
• Cook also noted that people love their iPads:  "The customer sat[isfaction] numbers are through the roof; literally, the customer sat for the iPad Pro is 99%.  It's stunning."

Other

• Apple doesn't release specific sales numbers for the Apple Watch, but Cook did say that Apple sold more Apple Watches than ever last quarter, and had more Apple Watch revenue than ever.  Cook said that holiday demand was "so strong that we couldn't make enough. … We couldn't be more excited about Apple Watch."
• Cook said that Apple is "working hard to catch up with the incredible demand" for AirPods.  (If you are still waiting to get AirPods yourself, check out my post on Is In Stock.)
• Tim Cook described how he is using HomeKit in his own home:  "I'm personally using HomeKit accessories in the Home app to integrate iOS into my home routine.  Now, when I say 'Good Morning' to Siri, my house lights come on and my coffee starts brewing.  When I go to the living room to relax in the evening, I use Siri to adjust the lighting and turn on the fireplace.  And when I leave the house, a simple tap of my iPhone turns the lights off, adjusts the thermostat down, and locks the doors.  When I return to my house in the evening as I'm near my home, the house prepares itself for my arrival automatically by using a simple geofence."
• Apple Pay is now in 13 countries, with Japan, Russia, New Zealand, and Spain added last quarter.