iPhone J.D.

In the news

Here in New Orleans, Jazz Fest started yesterday.  It is one of my favorite traditions in New Orleans, and it is celebrating its 50th birthday this year.  (I'm right there with you, Jazz Fest.)  The music, food, and art are always fantastic, and I do so much walking around that my Apple Watch typically records some of my highest step counts of the year.  I'm looking forward to seeing the Indigo Girls on Sunday, a group I've been following since I was in college at Emory in the late 1980s and used to see them perform on campus, but most of the best music at Jazz Fest comes from local artists.  And now, the recent news of note:

• I've been using the second-generation AirPods for a month now, and they continue to be fantastic.  The speed increase as I switch the connection between my iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, and iMac is noticeable, and it has everything that I loved about my first-generation AirPods (before the batteries started to wear out after two years of very heavy use).  If you are interested in getting AirPods but want to save $20, Amazon is currently selling the new AirPods for $140 instead of the normal $160.  That's the same model without the charging case that I use, which I reviewed earlier this month.  
• Farhad Manjoo of the New York Times discusses an app called RecUp and another app called Descript.  Using these apps and his AirPods he is able to dictate an article as he walks around.  I'm not sure that I ever see myself dictating a brief as I fold the laundry, but it is interesting that I could do so.
• Brian X. Chen of the New York Times compares Uber and Lyft.
• If you like the idea of AirPods but don't want something sticking in your ear, Patrick Lucas Austin of Time reviews new sunglasses from Bose with built-in Bluetooth-enabled speakers pointed at your ears
• A post on the TripIt blog by Angela Feher describes how the TripIt app for Apple Watch now has updated complications that can tell you information such as the gate you need to go to without having to even open up the TripIt app.
• Lief Johnson of Macworld discusses why you should get an Apple Pencil even if you don't draw.  I almost never draw with my Apple Pencil (especially if you don't count doodling in the margins), but I use it extensively for taking notes, highlighting cases, and annotating briefs filed by my opponent.
• Mark Linsangan of AppleInsider discusses the reasons that you might consider getting the Logitech Crayon instead of the second generation Apple Pencil.
• One reason not mentioned in that article is that the Logitech Crayon won't stop you from unlocking your car.  Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that if you are charging a second-generation Apple Pencil on an iPad Pro, it might interfere with using a key fob to unlock your car.  When I read this article, my first thought was that this had never happened to me, but then I realized that I always store my Apple Pencil in a separate compartment of my Tom Bihn Ristretto messenger bag and not connected to my iPad Pro, so the Pencil is never charging when I apporach my car with my messenger bag on my shoulder.
• Jason Cross of Macworld notes that the Apple Maps app will let you know whether a retailer accepts ApplePay.
• And finally, Apple released an amazing one-minute film called Don't Mess with Mother, which includes some truly phenomenal video of animals and nature taken on an iPhone XS.  I can't imagine taking a video this good with any device, let alone an iPhone.  There is also a behind-the-scenes video which features a shark biting the iPhone as the photographer is taking the video.  Here is the film:

Review: LawStack -- statutory law on your iPhone and iPad

Although there are many ways to use Safari on your iPhone or iPad to search for statutory law, using free sources provided by many states or using legal research services such as Westlaw, Lexis, or Fastcase, it is often nice to have the relevant law downloaded to your device.  That way you can browse and search through the text of the law even if you don't have Internet access, plus you don't have to waste time searching online for what you want.  An app like this is so obviously useful for lawyers that one of the very first reviews I posted on iPhone J.D. back in 2008 was of an app called Constitution by Clint Bagwell, which is still available and can be used to read the U.S. Constitution on your iPhone.  I've reviewed many similar apps over the years such as LawStack, an app I reviewed back in 2010.  Nine years later, the app is still being developed and improved, and it remains a great option for keeping the most relevant law on your device.

The app

The interface of this app has improved quite a bit since 2010.  It now has a clean design, and all of the features are pretty obvious — except perhaps for the switcher tab which I discuss below.

At the Home level of the app, you see a list of all of the sources of law that you have downloaded to the app.  Some are free, others require a subscription, as discussed below. 

Tap a source of law to see the top-level outline of the laws, and tap on any entry to move further into the outline.

The left and right arrows are useful as you are browsing.  For example, in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, when you are at the view that lists the rules, you can tap those arrow to go to the next or previous title without having to first go back to the prior screen.

Tap on a statute or rule to see the text of the rule. 

You can scroll through the rule.  You can select text to copy it or share it.  You can use the arrows to browse back and forth.  You can even highlight the text in yellow. 

Using the settings feature in the app on the iPhone, you can change the size of the text in rules and statutes.  On the iPad, you can either use settings, or there is enough space at the bottom to also show a font size icon that you can tap.

Tap the share button at the bottom middle to see many options such as adding a bookmark to a particular rule or statute, removing all highlights in the rule or statute, or emailing a copy of the rule or statute.

Search

If you are looking at a specific rule or statute, you can tap the search icon at the top right to search just that particular rule or statute.  Otherwise, tapping the search icon will let you search the entire body of law you are working in, such as the entire Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.  You can search the full text or just titles, and as you type, the app will helpfully suggest keywords and show you the number of matches — a great way to see if there is a different version of the word that might also be relevant.  For example, in this example, I entered the search word "appeal" but the app also suggests that I consider searching for similar words like appealable.

Bookmarks Etc.

If you tap the bookmark icon at the bottom of the screen you can see a list of rules or statutes that you bookmarked within a specific body of law.  Or you can look at a list of everything that you highlighted in that body of law or the items within that body of law that you viewed most recently.

Switcher Tab

Most of the time that you use this app, you stay within one body of law at a time.  However, the app gives you a way to switch between law from two different bodies of law:  the switcher tab.  When you are viewing one rule or statute, you can tap the switcher icon at the bottom right and then tap the plus sign.  The app then brings you directly to the Home screen so that you can select a different source of law.  When you find the rule or statute in that source, you can follow the same steps to add it to the Switcher Tab.  Once you have added items, you can go to the Switcher Tab view to see all of the laws that you have placed there.  Just tap the one that you want.  This feature makes it incredibly fast to switch between two laws such as a federal rule and a state court rule, or a federal statute and a provision of the U.S. Constitution.

Cost

Some sources of law in the app are free, such as the U.S. Constitution and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.  But most sources must be purchased, and the app offers an annual subscription.  The price varies depending upon the law.  For example, if you practice in Louisiana like I do, you can purchase the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure for $11.99 or the Louisiana Revised Statutes for $29.99.  For the U.S. Code and the Code of Federal Regulations, you need to purchase each title separately, and many of them appear to cost $29.99 although I also see that some titles are free.  It looks like you can download most or all titles for free for the first seven days.

With the subscription model, you need to pay every year, but as a result, the developer has a financial incentive to take the time to update the content as laws change.  If you have a team of 10 or more users, you can also get a discount by purchasing a team license.  Check out the LawStack website for more information.

The developer of LawStack also offers stand-alone apps containing many of the bodies of law available from within LawStack, but by using the main LawStack app you can keep multiple sources of law in a single app, plus the LawStack app has an updated interface, so the app that I'm reviewing here is the version that I recommend.

Conclusion

LawStack isn't the only app that gives you the ability to download law to your iOS device.  For example, as I mentioned last month, Casemaker told me at ABA TECHSHOW this year that its Rulebook app is about to be updated.  But LawStack is fast and easy to use and the company has a very long track record of updating the app.  Fortunately, it is easy to determine if LawStack is right for you because the app itself is free, there are many useful free titles such as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and you can download free previews of other titles.  If you like the idea of having the law at your fingertips on your iPhone or iPad, you should check out LawStack.

Click here to download LawStack (free): 

A new look for Microsoft apps

Yesterday, when I went to go use the Microsoft Word app on my iPad Pro, I stumbled a bit when I couldn't find the icon for the app in my Dock.  After a few seconds, I realized the cause of my confusion:  Microsoft has introduced new icons for its apps, the first icon refresh for the Office apps in five years.  Jon Friedman, the head of Microsoft Office design, wrote a post on Medium almost five months ago describing the new app icons, but I wasn't aware of that article until I started to do some research yesterday.  According to Friedman, Microsoft decided to "decouple the letter and the symbol in the icons, essentially creating two panels (one for the letter and one for the symbol) that we can pair or separate."  Here is what the new icons look like for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook for iOS (click for larger version):

Friedman says that the new design "allows us to maintain familiarity while still emphasizing simplicity inside the app.  Separating these into two panels also adds depth, which sparks opportunities in 3D contexts. Through this flexible system, we keep tradition alive while gently pushing the envelope."

Another change is that the new icons no longer have an outline on them indicating a document.  "Whereas prior Office icons had a document outline for Microsoft Word and a spreadsheet outline for Excel, we now show lines of text for Word and individual cells for Excel. By focusing on the content rather than any specific format, these icons embody the collaborative nature of the apps they represent."

The one change that, at least for now, I'm not a big fan of is reducing the size of the letter.  I liked seeing a big W for Word, a big X for Excel, etc.  Friedman explains the change this way:  "Traditionally, the letter occupied two-thirds of the icon, and the symbol took up one-third. We’ve changed this ratio to now emphasize the symbol because while the letter represents the tool itself, the symbol speaks more to people’s creations."  I'm not sure that I agree with this, but hopefully I'll get used to it.

The new icons were introduced first in Microsoft's mobile apps.  Eventually the changes will come to the desktop apps.  For a company like Microsoft that has been so synonymous with the PC for so many years, it is interesting to see the latest-and-greatest on an iPad before it is on a computer.

In the news

I take lots of photographs, both with my iPhone and with my Nikon DSLR camera.  It used to be that I edited all of my photos using the Photos app (and before that iPhoto) or Photoshop Elements on my Mac.  However, in recent years I've started to do more photo editing on my iPad.  This week, an app called Pixelmator Photo was released, and it does a very nice job of improving photographs.  There are lots of things that you can tweak for fine control, plus there are buttons with an "ML" on them, indicating that the app will use Machine Learning to try to make intelligent choices about the best edits for your photo, allowing you to try to improve your photo with just one tap.  Illinois attorney John Voorhees wrote a helpful review of Pixelmator Photo for MacStories.  The app is fairly powerful and only costs $4.99.  If you are looking for a good way to use your iPad to improve your photos you should check out Pixelmator Photo.  And now, the news of note from this past week:

• Lit Software, maker of TrialPad, TranscriptPad, and DocReviewPad, posted an update on its website about its progress on the next generation of its apps.  One of the new features will be better collaboration between users and between the apps themselves. 
• New York attorney Nicole Black discusses a State Bar of Texas ethics opinion from September 2018, Opinion 680, which concludes that lawyers can store confidential information on cloud services in most situations.  You can read Opinion 680 at this link, and the conclusion of the opinion is:  "Under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, a lawyer may use a cloud-based electronic data storage system or cloud-based software document preparation system to store client confidential information or prepare legal documents. However, lawyers must remain alert to the possibility of data breaches, unauthorized access, or disclosure of client confidential information and undertake reasonable precautions in using those cloud-based systems."
• Rene Ritchie of iMore reviews the second-generation AirPods, which I reviewed earlier this month.
• David Pogue of the New York Times has tips for being more efficient with your iPhone by reducing the number of taps it takes to get things done.
• Josh Ginter of The Sweet Setup discusses all of the ways to add tasks to the Things app.
• Leif Johnson of Macworld offers tips for using an Apple HomePod.
• Christopher Null of TechHive has recommendations for selecting smart plugs, including devices compatible with Apple's HomeKit technology.
• And finally, here is an amusing video released on April 1, 2019, by Funny Or Die called The Sound Gardner, which purports to show where AirPods come from:

Amazon Go -- shopping without a checkout or a line

Yesterday, I saw a notification on my Apple Watch alerting me that starting at 4pm, I could get a discount on sandwiches, wraps, and sushi at the Amazon Go store.  That notification wasn't very helpful to me considering that I'm in New Orleans and the closest Amazon Go store is in Chicago, almost 1,000 miles away.  Nevertheless, it did remind me that I had checked out this interesting store when I was in Chicago for ABA TECHSHOW last month.  It is a fascinating concept for a store:  grab what you want and then just walk right out; the store knows you are because of your smartphone and just sends you your receipt.

There are currently Amazon Go stores located in Seattle, Chicago, and San Francisco.  The store I visited is located at 111 E Wacker Drive, and it had opened just a few weeks before I visited.

Before you enter the store, you need to download the Amazon Go app.  There is a QR code on that app (which I smudged out in this picture) that you use to enter the store.

After you enter the store, just look at the shelves and pick up what you want.  As you do so, the store senses that you have taken the item and adds it to your virtual cart.  (I wasn't able to figure out how to see a list of the items in my virtual cart while in the store.) 

After you have picked up whatever you want, you just walk out of the store.  There are no cashiers, and perhaps more importantly, no line.

I have to admit, it sort of felt like I was stealing items to just walk out of the store without talking to anyone.  But helpful signs reminded me as I left that I had done the right thing.

The fact that there are no cashiers doesn't mean that there are no employees.  To the contrary, it seemed like I saw more Amazon employees in that store than I would see in a typical convenience store of the same size.  But some of the employees told me that there were more employees than normal just because the store was so new. 

I expected the app to tell me right after I left the store that it knew that I purchased something.  Instead, I had to wait several minutes before the app told me about my purchase.  But it was correct.  I picked up a large, fancy Rice Krispie treat, and the app knew about it.

Later on, I received an email confirming that Amazon had charged the credit card I keep on file with Amazon for my purchase.

I see that the app tells me that I was in the store for over four minutes, but most of that time was just me figuring out how it worked and talking to employees.  If I had not been a newbie and I knew what I wanted to purchase, I could easily see myself going in the store, getting some items, and leaving in like 20 seconds.  Suffice it to say that shopping at Amazon Go can be much faster than a traditional store.

Here is a video from Amazon describing the Amazon Go stores:

I don't know what the future is for the Amazon Go stores, and I'm not expecting one to show up in New Orleans any time soon.  But it was a very interesting shopping experience, and I suspect that folks who live or work near one of these stores find them convenient.

Review: Catalyst Waterproof Case for iPhone Xs -- protection from the elements, plus underwater photography

A few weeks ago when my kids had a week off of school for Mardi Gras, my family took a trip to Hawaii, visiting the islands of O'ahu and Kaua'i.  We had fabulous time seeing amazing sights such as beautiful waterfalls, enjoyed the food, and saw lots of rainbows.  But some of the best parts of the trip involved being near and in the water.  Hawaii has some truly spectacular beaches.  My kids and I went snorkeling with turtles just off of Waikiki Beach in Honolulu on the island of O'ahu, and we also went snorkeling at Poipu Beach on the island of Kaua'i.

In preparation for the trip, I thought it would be fun to take some underwater pictures and videos when we were snorkeling.  Thus, I researched the options, and ultimately selected the Catalyst Waterproof Case for iPhone XS, which costs $89.99 on Amazon.  It worked great.

The case

The case is a perfect, snug fit on the iPhone.  It takes less than a 15 seconds to open the case, fit the iPhone inside, and then ensure a tight lock on all of the sides. 

A port flips open on the bottom of the case so that you can charge it with a Lightning cable, but then closes securely when you are not charging so that no water can get in.

There is a dial on the side which you can turn to flip the mute switch on and off.  And there are buttons you can press to increase and decrease the volume — or, more importantly, take a picture when the camera is underwater.  You can't tap an iPhone's screen when it is underwater, so having access to the volume up button, which you can press to take a photo, is critical for underwater photography.

The case comes with a lanyard which you can wrap around your wrist.  That way, even if your iPhone were to slip out of your hand (which never happened to me), the lanyard would stop it from sinking in the water.

The edges of this case have rubber on them, giving you some protection if you drop your iPhone.  This is smart because there is probably a higher risk of dropping an iPhone when it is wet.

The back of the case is designed so that the two cameras can take pictures and videos.

With the iPhone in this case, I had no trouble touching the screen of my iPhone.  Just touch the plastic cover and the iPhone's screen registers everything.  You can also talk on the iPhone as a phone even when it is in the case; both the microphone and the speaker still work.

If you are going to be using your iPhone in an environment in which it could be exposed to the elements — water, snow, dust, sand — this case seems to provide great protection.

Pictures and videos

The main reason I purchased this case was to use the camera underwater.  And for this purpose it worked very well, as you can see for yourself.  I was able to get some great pictures and fantastic video using this case.  Here are some sample pictures:

Note that I reduced the size of all of those pictures to make this page load more quickly.  For an example of a higher quality photo, you can click here to download a 3.6 MB version of the fourth picture.

Most of the pictures I took in this case were underwater pictures, but sometimes I would take an above-water picture and those came out well too with the case on.  For example, there was a monk seal resting on the beach next to where we were snorkeling, so I took this picture with my iPhone in the case:

Pictures in this case came out nicely, but I especially enjoyed using this case to take video.  As good as the iPhone is as a camera, I think that it is an even better video camera.  And that is definitely true when underwater.  Here is a two minute video, in 4K, showing some of the great results that you can get when filming underwater video.  I also included some above-water clips so that you can see that, even with the case covering the iPhone, it did a great job of picking up colors such as the blue sky and the orange-and-yellow sail on the catamaran:

Conclusion

At $89, this is not a cheap case.  I always have reservations about purchasing a more expensive case because whenever I upgrade to a new iPhone, the case won't work with the new phone.  But if you are going to be using your iPhone in an environment in which you want to protect it from the elements, this case works really well.  And even when you are in less extreme environments, you could use this as a "normal" case to give the iPhone additional protection against bumps and scratches.

If, like me, you want to take underwater photos and videos, this case is great fun.  I have some amazing videos of my son and daughter underwater playing with fish and checking out turtles, and these videos will be fun for my family to watch for many decades.  I look forward to using this waterproof case again when my family takes a beach trip this summer.  When I'm on the beach, I won't need to worry about sand, and when I'm in the Gulf of Mexico, I won't need to worry about the saltwater, and I can even take pictures and videos.

If you are looking for a waterproof case, I can definitely recommend the cases sold by Catalyst, including this model for the iPhone XS.

Click here to get the Catalyst Waterproof Case for iPhone XS ($89.99 on Amazon)

Click here to get the Catalyst Waterproof Case for other iPhone models

In the news

This week, many reviews were posted of the new iPad Air 3.  Here is a good one from Rene Ritchie of iMore.  Nathan Ingraham of Engadget. calls it "just right."  And Jason Cross of Macworld calls it The Sweet Spot.  If you want to get a lot done with your iPad in a law practice, the iPad Pro is fantastic, and I wouldn't want to live without the 12.9" screen on the larger version.  But if you don't want to spend that much money, the iPad Air 3 looks like a fantastic product for many attorneys.  I've already recommended it to multiple people at my law firm who were looking to upgrade from an older iPad but couldn't justify the cost of an iPad Pro.  And now, the other news of note from this week:

• Brett Burney of the Apps in Law website and podcast reviews Terminology, a sophisticated dictionary / thesaurus that appears to be especially useful on an iPad.
• Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reviews Lutron's new HomeKit-compatible Fan Speed Control.
• Christine Chan of iMore shows off some fun stickers that you can use to customize your AirPods Charging Case.
• Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac discusses the new Anker PowerCore Fusion, a USB-C wall charger that you can also take with you and use as a portable battery.
• Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac reports that Apple's Clips app was updated this week. It now includes a fun camcorder filter, plus blue background title cards similar to what camcorders used to produce, so that you can use the latest technology to make something that looks like it was made in the 1980s.
• And finally, this week Apple released on YouTube a three-minute short movie called The Underdogs.  It tells the story of a scrappy team of office workers with a chance to sell their great idea.  The point of the video is to show off how the iPad and other Apple products can be used to get work done, but the video itself is funny and nicely done.  Worth watching:

Fixing "This app is no longer shared with you"

One of the nice features of the App Store and the Family Sharing feature is that any app that you purchase can also be used, at no additional charge, by other family members.  It won't surprise you to learn that I purchase more apps than the other members of my family, but I don't purchase every app.  For example, my wife is very organized and has made good use of apps that help you to stay organized.  Her current app is choice is the Things app, and after watching her use the app, I decided to start using it to keep track of my own tasks.

This past Monday morning, I arrived at the office and tapped the Things app, expecting it to launch so that I could select a task to work on first.  Instead, I saw an error message:  "This app is no longer shared with you.  To use it you must buy it from the App Store."  After a split second of wondering if I had done something wrong to cause my wife to stop sharing an app with me, I decided that this must be some sort of error and researched how to fix it.  I found a solution, and I also picked up some additional knowledge that might be useful in other situations.

[UPDATE 5/24/20:  It looks like recent updates to a number of apps, such as WhatsApp and Facebook, have triggered this problem.  Fortunately, this solution still works.]

Here is the fix that worked for me.  Open the Settings app, tap General and then tap iPhone Storage.  You will see all of your apps listed, sorted by how much space each app takes.  Tap on the app at issue and then select Offload App.  This allows you to remove the app from your iPhone but it retains all of your documents and data associated with the app. 

After the app was gone, I could download a fresh copy from the App Store, and this time the app realized that I was part of a family in which one member had previously purchased the app.  I launched the app successfully, all of my data was there, and I could get about my work.

[UPDATE 10/1/2019:  I got the same error after installing iOS 13 on my iPhone, and this same fix still works.  Note that you don't have to go to the App Store to look for a fresh copy of the app.  I found that the app icon was still on my iPhone home screen even after I unloaded it, but it had a symbol next to it indicating that I needed to download a copy from the App Store.  All that I had to do was tap the app icon on the home screen and my iPhone automatically downloaded a fresh copy for me, and in the process realized that i was entitled to use the app.  It was all very simple.]

I've had times in the past when an app has caused me problems, and as a fix I have deleted the app and downloaded a new copy.  But I've never really focused before on this Offload App feature, which is a better way to remove an app because you retain your user data.  Hopefully it will be a while before I next need to remove an app causing problems, but when I do, I'll certainly take advantage of the Offload App feature.

And finally, if your iPhone or iPad is running short on space, you can always use the Offload App feature for its intended purpose — freeing some space while retaining the ability to restore a deleted app in the future.

Review: Apple AirPods (2nd generation) -- the best headphones for your iPhone get even better

Just over two years ago, I posted a review of the original version of Apple's AirPods.  My review was glowing because they instantly made the list of my all-time favorite products from Apple.  They feel like they weigh nothing in your ears and they don't fall out, they let you avoid the numerous frustrations associated with having a cord run from your ears to your iPhone, and the convenient charging case gives you an easy place to store them which also keeps them charged. 

I also like being able to double-tap on each AirPod to trigger a gesture.  In my original review, I noted having problems getting this gesture to work reliably, but Apple solved that with a software update.  In September 2017, Apple released iOS 11, adding the ability to assign a different gesture for each AirPod.  (For me, I'd tap my left AirPod to trigger Siri and my right AirPod to play/pause.)  

I used my AirPods every single day, sometimes for hours each day, since early 2017.  As I started to near two years of use, I noticed that the battery in each AirPod wasn't lasting as long, especially in my right AirPod — which makes sense, because sometimes I would use just one AirPod instead of both of them, and I virtually always used the right AirPod when I was using just one.  For listening to music or podcasts, my AirPods were only lasting about an hour, and for phone calls they would last about 20-30 minutes.  Each AirPod is very small, which means that the rechargeable battery inside of each AirPod is tiny, and apparently after two years of recharging, the ability of each battery to hold a charge had decreased substantially.  It was still fast and easy to charge the AirPods in the charging case, but having to do that much more often wasn't any fun.

Because the batteries were starting to wear out of this device that I use every day, I was in the market for a new pair of AirPods when Apple announced the second generation AirPods.  I purchased the model with the normal Charging Case (not the Wireless Charging Case — more on that below.)   I’ve been using them for almost a week now, and they work great.  

Much is the same

In most ways, the second generation AirPods are the same as before.  The AirPods and the charging case look the same.  The only real difference is that after carrying the original charging case every day for over two years, it is more scratched up and the white color is no longer quite as bright as a new pair.

Engraving

Although the case looks the same as before, you now have the option to add custom laser engraving.  This is especially nice when you have multiple people using AirPods in the same household because it can sometimes be confusing to tell which AirPods belong to which person.  There is no charge for the engraving.  You can fit around 15-20 characters depending upon the width of the characters you use.  I had no trouble fitting “iPhone J.D.” on my Charging Case.

More call time

Because the batteries in my original AirPods were starting to wear out, I knew that any new AirPods were going to last much longer for me, even new first generation AirPods.  But one unique advantage of the second generation AirPods is that Apple has improved battery life when you are on a call.  The original AirPods could be used for up to five hours of listening between charges or two hours of a phone call.  I have had quite a few long conferences calls when my AirPods started to run out of battery.  (To address this, I would take out one AirPod and charge it for a few minutes, and then replace it and charge the other AirPod, using only one ear to participate in the conference call during those times.)

The second generation AirPods can go up to three hours for a phone call.  I have no doubt that the 50% increase in talk time is going to be valuable to me when I am taking long calls out of the office on my iPhone.

Speaking of using the AirPods to talk on the phone, I see that Rene Ritchie of iMore has reported that the second generation AirPods improve microphone reception during windy weather.  I haven’t had a chance to test that myself, but those of you in Chicago and other windy cities will appreciate that.

Switch between devices more quickly

Although I usually use my AirPods with my iPhone, I frequently switch them to another device, such as my iPad, my Apple Watch, or the iMac I use at home.  Switching with the first generation AirPods would usually take 5 to 6 seconds.  Switching between devices is twice as fast with the new AirPods.  Saving 2-3 seconds doesn’t sound like a lot, but I notice it, and really appreciate it, every single time I switch devices.  This is a small change, but I really like it.

Hey Siri — without tapping a button

Talking to Siri with AirPods has always been useful, such as when I want to send someone a text message or initiate a phone call without having to reach for my iPhone.  Thus, I assigned a double-tap on my left AirPod to initiate Siri.  But with the second generation AirPods, you can just say “Hey Siri” out loud followed by your instruction.  

This makes it easier to use Siri because I don’t have to double-tap an AirPod first, but more importantly for me, it allows me to use the double-tap of my left AirPod to perform a different function.  I now have it assigned to Next Track, which is useful when I using the Overcast app to listen to a podcast because the Next Track function will skip the podcast forward by 30 seconds, useful for skipping a commercial that I’ve already heard and don’t need to hear again.  (In Overcast, you can adjust that to 7, 15, 30, 45, or 60 seconds.)

The hinge

This may sound silly if you have never used an AirPods Charging Case before, but there is something incredibly satisfying about opening and closing the case.  It just feels and sounds right, so much so that sometimes when I am fidgeting, I find myself just opening and closing the case.  And I know that I’m not alone in doing that.

I can’t see, feel, or hear any difference in the second generation Charging Case, but iFixIt took the new Charging Case apart and discovered:  “This machined metal hinge looks sturdier compared to the last generation's, and it definitely has the adhesive to match.”  iFixIt was reviewing the wireless version of the Charging Case so perhaps that accounts for the difference, but the hinge was such a nice feature of the first generation AirPods case that it would be great if Apple did find a way to make it more durable.

Wireless Charging Case

The second generation AirPods cost the same $159 as the prior model.  However, for an additional $40, you can purchase AirPods with a Wireless Charging Case.  Or you can purchase a Wireless Charging Case on its own for $79 to use them with your first generation AirPods.

I’ve now owned two iPhones that support wireless charging, and I’ve never found this feature to be all that important.  I don’t find it that cumbersome to use a Lightning cord to charge an iPhone, and you can charge an iPhone much faster with a cord than with a wireless Qi charger.  I understand why folks find them convenient, and I have used them from time to time, but it is just not a big deal to me.

Similarly, it has never been a problem for me to use a cord to charge an AirPods Charging Case, especially because they charge so quickly.  Even though my first generation AirPods were having issues with the battery, my charging case was doing fine and continued to last a long time before needing to be recharged.

In 2016, Apple announced that it was coming out with its own wireless charger called AirPower which would be better than all of the other Qi chargers on the market because it could charge up to three devices at once (such as an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods charging case).  However, Apple announced last week that it is canceling that long-overdue product because Apple couldn’t get the engineering to work.  If Apple had released the AirPower and I had purchased one, maybe I would have found a Wireless Charging Case to be more useful, but with Apple’s announcement, that will no longer be an issue for me.

If wireless charging matters to you, you may consider it worth the extra $40 when you are purchasing second generation AirPods, and I’m glad that this is now an option.  It didn’t seem worth it to me, and so far I haven’t regretted that decision at all.

Conclusion

All of the improvements I described above are minor.  But taken together, they make the already great AirPods even better.  If you are already using first generation AirPods and they are not (yet) having battery problems, then I do not recommend that you upgrade.  But if you are like me and you wore out your original AirPods, it is nice to have some new features when you get a new pair.  

If you are not yet using AirPods, and if you ever use your iPhone or iPad to make sound to watch a video, listen to music, listen to podcasts, etc., then I think that you will love the AirPods.  This is especially true if you own an Apple Watch because you can connect an Apple Watch to a pair of AirPods and then leave your iPhone and other devices at home, streaming music or podcasts directly from the watch to the AirPods.

Click here to get the second generation AirPods on Amazon ($159)