One of the most useful apps in my law practice is GoodReader, the primary app that I use to read and annotate PDF files. The last major update was GoodReader 4, released in 2014. Since then, the developer of the app, Yuri Selukoff (whose mother was a patent attorney), obtained a difficult-to-receive EB-1 Visa (reserved for foreign nationals with extraordinary abilities) and moved from Moscow to San Francisco, as described in this interesting profile of Selukoff from last year on the Inside BlackBerry blog. I was pleased to see a recent confirmation on the GoodReader Facebook page that Selukoff is hard at work on GoodReader 5. There is no release date yet, but hopefully the reason for Selukoff’s recent post is that the release date is coming soon. Selukoff says in that post: “It’s a huge update with a completely new design and new features, some you may not even know you’ll want until you’ve seen them! So fear not, and get ready (or for those of you who’ve been ready, stay ready) – GoodReader 5.0 is on the way!” For all of us who use GoodReader in our law practices – and I know from the feedback I receive from iPhone J.D. readers that there are many of us – it will be great to see a major update to this essential app. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Speaking of PDF apps, legal tech consultant Brett Burney discusses on his Apps in Law website what is new in PDF Expert version 6, a major update to one of the best apps for working with PDF files.
- California attorney David Sparks recommends using an Apple Pencil to adjust the viewing angle on Apple’s iPad Smart Keyboard Cover. Clever trick.
- If you have ever used Gogo in-flight WiFi, you know that it can be incredibly useful, but it can also be incredibly frustrating, depending upon how fast the speed is. Gogo realizes this and is about to unroll a new 2Ku system that offers much higher speeds, and can even stream video. Caitlin McGarry of Macworld had a chance to try out the new service, and it seems to work well.
- J.D. Biersdorfer of the New York Times explains how to use the new feature in Apple Maps to automatically remember where you parked your car. I didn’t realize that the function doesn’t work for places where you park regularly.
- David Pierce of Wired reviews the new low-cost iPad.
- Apple recently acquired, Beddit, a company that sells hardware and software to monitor sleep patterns. Karen Freemand of WatchAware analyzes what the Beddit acquisition could mean for the Apple Watch.
- Mikey Campbell of AppleInsider discusses new research showing that an Apple Watch can help detect atrial fibrillation (a serious heart condition) with 97% accuracy.
- Jeff Byrnes of AppAdvice gives advice on using Theater Mode on an Apple Watch.
- Kunal Dua of Gadgets360 (a tech website in India) interviewed Apple’s Phil Schiller while he was in teh country, and they discussed a variety of topics.
- Chiara Sottile of NBC News discusses how Todd Stabelfeldt, a complete quadriplegic, uses Siri and HomeKit on his iPhone to interact with the world.
- And finally, yesterday Apple released a series of videos with short tips for using the camera on the iPhone. Videos include How to shoot a great portrait on iPhone 7 Plus, How to shoot a close-up on iPhone 7, How to shoot a vertical Pano on iPhone 7, How to shoot without a flash on iPhone 7, and my favorite, How to shoot action on iPhone 7. Here is the one on using burst mode to capture a great action shot: