I sure am glad that iPhone J.D. is devoted to legal mobile technology, not politics, because then I would have to discuss another depressing week of news in this Friday post such as a potential Constitutional crisis. So let’s go to the other extreme and start with a story that is just too cute for words. Stephen Messenger of The Dodo reports that a woman who was looking for the beluga whale in Norway that some thought to be a Russian “spy whale” leaned out from a dock to pet the whale when her iPhone slipped out of her pocket into the waters around Hammerfest, Norway. But the beluga whale came to the rescue, retrieving the dropped iPhone and bringing it back to her. This story sounds a little hard to believe, but the story includes a video from Instagram showing exactly that — the whale bringing back the iPhone, almost like a dog retrieving a stick in a game of fetch. Let’s just say that I hope that this story is true because that video makes me smile. And now, the other news of note from the past week:
Glenn Fleishmann of Fast Company explains how you might be able to avoid using passwords at all by instead using your iPhone to authenticate yourself, a new authentication approach being authored by MobielIron — a mobile device management product used by many law firms.
One such external keyboard that you might use is the Brydge Pro 12.9 keyboard, which Jason Snell of Six Colors reviewed (and really likes).
Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that the OLED screen on the Apple Watch Series 4 was named one of the “Displays of the Year” by the Society for Information Display. It is certainly one of the top reasons that I love my Apple Watch.
Apple has done an amazing job restoring the Carnegie Library in Washington, D.C., to turn it into an Apple Store which will open this weekend. Michael Steeber of 9to5Mac has a bunch of pictures showing it off.
Apple’s Beats division has released the Powerbeats Pro. They are wireless earbuds like AirPods, but they sound better, last longer, come with different sized rubber tips so they are more likely to fit your ears than AirPods, and they have an over-the-ear design that makes them much more secure in your ears during vigorous workouts (not that I have ever had my own AirPods fall out of my ears,). They are also more expensive at $249. Jason Cross of Macworld posted this review.
And finally, here is a great drone video by Duncan Sinfield showing Apple’s new Apple Park campus. You can see a rainbow stage in the middle, which Apple created for a special event it is planning for May 16 (described by Mikey Campbell in this article for Apple Insider.) The building and the campus look amazing.
I’m always interested to learn about how judges are using iPads, not only because I use my own iPad so much, but also because I often think about the way that a judge and law clerk will read my brief when I am making decisions on how to make my brief more persuasive. Last week, I attended a CLE sponsored by the New Orleans chapter of the Federal Bar Association. It was a “meet the bench” event featuring three of the newest members of the U.S. Fifth Circuit — Hon. James C. Ho, Hon. Kurt D. Engelhardt, and Hon. Andrew S. Oldham — who were interviewed by Hon. Edith Brown Clement.
When the presentation allowed for questions from the audience, I asked the judges whether they prefer to read briefs in paper, on the computer, or on an iPad, and whether that led them to have any preferences on how the brief is written, such as whether they prefer to see cites in the text or in the footnotes. All four judges said that they were big fans of the impressive use of technology at the Fifth Circuit. For example, after a lawyer e-files a brief, the court adds hyperlinks to the PDF version of the brief so that a judge or law clerk can tap on a record cite to instantly see that part of the record or tap on a case cite to read the legal opinion. Two of the judges answered my question by saying that their preference was to read briefs on the iPad, and both of them remarked that it is nice to be able to just take home an iPad without any other paper and still have everything that the judge needs to work on an appeal. The other two judges said that they prefer to read on paper but that their law clerks made extensive use of the digital versions of briefs.
In a post earlier this week on Above the Law, Massachusetts attorney Robert Ambrogi argues that the duty of technological competence that the ABA added to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct in 2012 should apply to judges as well. In my experience, I’m already seeing more and more judges taking advantage of technology, whether it be courtroom technology in trial courts or judges at all levels using iPads and other tech as a part of their workflows. The interest in technology that these four Fifth Circuit judges displayed is consistent with this.
It was nice to see the enthusiasm of the judges as they talked about how the iPad is used, but they had so much to say on that topic that they never got around to answering the second part of my question — which I found somewhat amusing because when I present an oral argument to Fifth Circuit judges I am very conscious of fully answering the questions that the judges ask me. Having said that, in the past, I’ve heard other federal Fifth Circuit appellate judges and law clerks say that they either have no preference on citation format or they prefer cites in the text so that they can take advantage of the hyperlink function to immediately view the record or jump to the applicable part of a case without having to first scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page to find the cite in the footnote. And for that reason, that’s how I prefer to write my own federal appellate briefs. I still use footnotes if I want to make a less important point that doesn’t belong in the text, but I try to keep them to a minimum.
Thank you to AgileBits, the developer of 1Password, for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month. There are many software products for lawyers which are helpful to a law practice, but there are only a few which I consider essential. A good password manager is definitely one of those essential products, and 1Password is my favorite. It works incredibly well on every platform that I use including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, PC, and Mac. And it helps me to keep my confidential information confidential. Here are the reasons that I always encourage other attorneys to use 1Password.
Passwords
The core feature of the app is to store your usernames and password. You need to use sophisticated, unique passwords for every service to protect yourself, and — for services related to the practice of law — to protect your clients. We are constantly hearing about hackers getting access to systems, and if you don’t have a strong password, you may be the next victim. And if your passwords are not different for each website and service, then hackers who exploit a security flaw on one website might be able to get your password from one website and use it on other websites. This is not a theoretical concern; it has actually happened, many times, and surely you have read news articles about incidents like this. But there is no way to remember all of those strong, unique passwords without keeping them a secure location that is easily accessible to you.
Not only does 1Password create secure passwords for you and store all of your passwords in a secure app, it can also automatically enter your username and password on your PC, Mac, iPhone and iPad. On a Mac/PC, you tap a keystroke to call up 1Password (control \ or command \) and then you type your single master password, the only password that you need to remember. On an iPhone/iPad, you need to type your single master password every time you restart the device, but after that you can have the app just use Face ID or Touch ID. After you authenticate yourself on your computer or mobile device, 1Password can automatically enter your username/password.
I love using 1Password to generate passwords for me. You can change the parameters such as length, and you can also have the app create password using words (such as hooves-bullber-jeweller) instead of random characters (such as 6yaKjprFM[3eP).
The app also works with two-factor authentication, allowing you to store a one-time password which expires after a short period of time. Better yet, the app will automatically help you enter that one-time password both on iOS and on a Mac/PC. For example, on my PC and Mac, 1Password will enter my username and password on the login screen, and then when I get to the next screen to enter the one-time password, 1Password has already copied it to my clipboard so I just paste it and move on.
The app also automatically remembers your previously used passwords, so if you think you changed your password but need to go back to the old one for some reason, the app has you covered.
You can also tag your passwords. That way, if you have a number of passwords associated with an activity, a person, an event, etc., use the same tag on every entry, and then you can just tap the Tags button at the bottom of the app to see all of the entries associated with that tag.
Ever since iOS 12 was released in late 2018, 1Password works infinitely better with the iPhone and iPad because supported apps like Safari can use the 1Password extension. For example, you can use Safari to go to a website, use your face or fingerprint to authenticate, and then 1Password enters your username and password without you having to even leave the Safari app.
Sharing passwords
There are times when you might want to share specific passwords with specific people. You and your spouse may share a bank or Netflix account. You may want to share your court login information with a paralegal or secretary. 1Password gives you many options for doing so. I myself use the family plan, which I described in this post from 2017. 1Password allows you to create different vaults. Most of my passwords are in my own private vault, but my wife and I share many passwords in a shared vault, and we even have a family vault that my son can use for passwords that we share with him.
There are also multiple plans the work best for companies, such as 1Password Business plan that gives you the option to have guest accounts and allows you to create different vault for clients, projects, or departments and set permission levels at scale. The Enterprise plan gives your company even more flexibility.
Secure storage for other information
What about all of the other information in your life that you want to store in a secure fashion? 1Password works with many categories of information, not just logins/passwords.
I use the Secure Notes feature to store confidential information that I want to keep protected even if someone else has temporary access to my iPhone, such as medical information. If you are trying to settle a lawsuit, this would be a perfect, secure place to track demands, offers, and settlement authority. You can either store just a bunch of text (like the built-in Notes app) or you can create sections and sub-sections. For example, I have a secure note associated with my car. The first section is called vehicle info, and it has a sub-section for the VIN, the Make, the Model, and the License Plate. The second section is called Purchase info and it has the date, the salesman who helped me, and other purchase info. The third section has the roadside assistance information that I received with my car, including all of the associated phone numbers, contract number, and benefits.
The app also stores credit card information. I don’t like letting websites store my credit card information because that just increases the chance of a hacker getting my credit card information if they hack that website. But I also don’t want to have to manually type my credit card number and other information every time I visit such a website. 1Password stores the information for all of my credit cards and knows how to enter it automatically on many websites. Thus, I get the convenience of having my credit card information entered automatically without the security risk of the website storing my credit card information.
The app can also store passport information (including a copy of your passport), social security numbers, membership information for organizations and clubs, wireless router information, secure documents, and more. You can also use 1Password to store a confidential photograph that you don’t want to keep in your normal camera roll.
Conclusion
Usually in life, making something more secure means making it more cumbersome to use because you have to take the time to use a key, type a code, etc. However, because 1Password is so well designed and can automatically enter your username and password after you quickly authenticate yourself with your master password, or your Face, or your fingerprint, the app allow you to increase security while also increasing ease of use. And with the fantastic sharing features and the ability to store lots of different kinds of confidential information, 1Password is one of those rare apps that I use every day.
While a good password manager is useful for everyone, it is especially important for attorneys. Clients pay us and trust us to keep confidential information private, and the rules of professional conduct mandate that we do so. Whether you are using 1Password to store that confidential information or you use 1Password to store the username/password that you use to access that confidential information, 1Password plays a vital role in the security process.
My hope is that I am preaching to the choir and that you already use this app. But if you are an attorney not yet using 1Password, AgileBits is offering iPhone J.D. readers a $100 credit when you click here and sign up for the business plan. Try out 1Password to see what you think, but I strongly suspect that once you start using the app, it will be one of those rare apps that you use every day.
I’ve been attending a conference in New Orleans this week, and I’ve been using my iPad to take notes in the GoodNotes app. I use the screenshot feature on my iPad to take a picture of a part of the agenda (title, speakers, etc.), I paste that into GoodNotes, and then below that I write my notes. Jonny Evans of Computerworld discussed six note-taking apps for the iPad this week. His favorite is MyScript Nebo because it has handwriting recognition, but as Evans notes, GoodNotes has this feature as well. I don’t have fabulous handwriting, but GoodNotes does an amazing job of reading my handwriting so that I can perform searches of the words I wrote. And now, the news of note from the past week:
I missed this last month, but in a recent episode of the Digital Detectives podcast (which is transcribed at that link, if you would rather read than listen), Virginia attorney Sharon Nelson and her husband, security expert John Simek, talk about digital forensics on mobile devices with Brett Burney, who publishes Apps in Law.
California attorney David Sparks discusses Cardiobot, an Apple Watch app that gives you better metrics on your heart.
Sparks also discusses CalZones, an iPhone app which helps you to manager different times in different time zones.
Alfred Ng of CNet reports that the DHS allowed border agents to conduct warrantless searches on over 33,000 devices in 2018 and they would share some information on the devices with other government agencies. As I have explained in the past, there are some procedures available to attorneys to protect confidential attorney-client information, but this is still an issue for many attorneys.
Here is a tip for folks who live in Louisiana. I’ve previously reviewed LA Wallet, an app that allows you to store an official driver’s license on your iPhone, so you can drive your car even if you left your purse or wallet at home. According to an AP article, the app is free this month to encourage more people to check out the service. I encourage you to check it out if you haven’t done so already.
Overcast is my favorite app for listening to podcasts on the iPhone, and it was enhanced this week to give you the ability to share a clip from a podcast up to one minute in length. The developer, Marco Arment, explains the update in this post. This is a great way for you to share something interesting you heard with other folks.
Ryan Christoffel of MacStories reviews the HomeRun app for the Apple Watch, an app which allows you to control HomeKit devices. I use this app on my watch almost every day. The app was recently updated to let you present different complications on your watch face based upon the time of day.
Buster Hein of Cult of Mac reports that a man in Taiwan somehow swallowed an AirPod while he was sleeping. When it finally came out (of the other end of his body), it still worked. Although this is an interesting story, I caution you that if you click the link you will see a picture of the AirPod immediately after it was retrieved … which is a little gross.
If you are still using an iPad 2, you should know that, as reported by Tim Hardwick of MacRumors, Apple has added that device to its vintage and obsolete products list. If you upgrade from an iPad 2 to a new iPad Pro, words cannot even describe how much better your new device will be.
And finally, if you are starting to make travel plans, Apple created a video showing you how you can use several features of the iPad Pro when doing so:
Yesterday, Apple released the results for its 2019 fiscal second quarter (which ran from December 30, 2018 to March 30, 2019) and held a call with analysts to discuss the results. Apple’s first fiscal quarter is the one with all of the holiday sales, so Q2 is usually not a particular impressive quarter for Apple, although one year ago Apple posted its best Q2 ever, with revenue of $61.1 billion. This time, the revenue was $58 billion, which was within the guidance of $55 to $59 billion that Apple had predicted three months ago in its Q1 earnings call. 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. Jason Snell of Six Colors also prepared a transcript. Apple’s official press release is here. As always, I’m not as interested in 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.
Apple stopped releasing specific sales numbers for the iPhone, iPad, etc. six months ago, so it is no longer possible to get an exact sense of whether iPhone sales are up or down, but you can still get some sense from revenue, which Apple does still announce. iPhone revenue was down 17% compared to a year ago, so obviously they must have been selling fewer iPhones; it is hard to imagine that decrease came only from selling less expensive models. But Apple is hopeful that iPhone sales will increase again. For example, Apple CFO Luca Maestri said that of business buyers who said that they plan to purchase a smartphone in April, May, or June, 81% of them say that they plan to purchase iPhones.
Although over half of Apple’s revenue comes from the iPhone, this past quarter the iPad did particularly well. Revenue was $4.9 billion, up 22% compared to a year ago, which was Apple’s highest iPad revenue growth rate in six years. Apple CEO Tim Cook attributed this increase to the iPad Pro.
Apple Pay transaction volume has more than doubled from last year.
Maestri said that Apple’s wearables business — which includes the Apple Watch but I’m not sure what else, perhaps AirPods? — grew almost 50%.
Speaking of AirPods, Cook said that they are nothing less than a cultural phenomenon, and Maestri said that Apple is working hard to catch up with customer demand.
Surprising nobody, Cook said that the App Store “is definitely a business that is big and getting bigger.”
