One of the things that the iPhone excels at, but which few of us ever use, is accessibility. For example, over the years, I have heard many times about blind people who make extensive use of the iPhone. They do not need to see the screen because of impressive Voice Over technology that reads everything to them. I've always wanted to sit down with someone who is blind so that they can show me how it works, and David Pogue of Yahoo recently had the opportunity to do just that. In the video at the top of this article, Pogue sits down with Joseph Danowsky, a Harvard Law graduate who is blind and who uses an iPhone. It is a fascinating video that I encourage you to watch. I can't imagine that Apple makes much profit on its Voice Over efforts, but I love that the company invests in the technology anyway. In this video, the speaker is used so anyone around the blind person could also hear what is on the screen, but I suspect that if a blind person used AirPods in one or both ears, it would be a perfect combination. It's all very cool. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Massachusetts attorney Robert Ambrogi reviews LiquidText, an iPad app with a different approach for viewing and annotating PDF documents. I haven't tried it out yet, but it is worth viewing the one minute video at the top of Ambrogi's post. It looks like a really interesting app.
- Ambrogi also keeps a running list of states that have added the requirement to their rules of professional conduct that lawyers have a duty to be competent in technology. He recently added Tennessee to the list, so it is now up to 27 states that have adopted the duty of technology competence.
- In an article for Above the Law, San Diego attorney Jeff Bennion argues that unless an attorney is often away from the office, "it really doesn't make sense anymore to invest in a tablet" when you can instead use a Surface Pro 4 to serve as both a computer and a tablet. I'm glad that solution works for him, but I believe that the iPad is a perfect complement to a computer in your office. I know that I can do so much more with the two devices on my desk than just using a single device.
- Underscoring Apple's commitment to privacy, this week Apple hired Jonathan Zdziarski, an iOS security expert who I have mentioned before on iPhone J.D. Jason Snell discusses the hire on his Six Colors website.
- Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac reviews some of the most popular apps for controlling HomeKit devices with your iPhone. One that he missed is the Lutron app, which I use. But as Lovejoy notes, you can now do most of what you need with Apple's own Home app.
- In an article for Macworld, Jason Snell discusses possible additional features for Apple's AirPods. As Snell correctly notes, as tempting as it may be to add more features, they would undoubtedly take away from the simplicity of the AirPods, which is a big selling point.
- Neil Hughes of AppleInsider reports that the Amazon app for the iPhone is being updated to incorporate Alexa, Amazon's version of Siri, so you can talk to the app just like you might talk to an Amazon Echo. It hasn't yet appeared in my version of the app.
- Overcast is my favorite podcast player app on the iPhone. I use it every day when in the car, when working out, when doing tasks around the house, etc. The app was recently updated to version 3, and Glenn Fleishman of Macworld posted this review.
- Karen Freeman of WatchAware reviews minube, an Apple Watch app that displays points of interest that are near your current location.
- And finally, Apple created a cute ad to show off sticker packs in the Messages app. Here is the video: