A calendar app is not the #1 most used app on my iPhone and iPad (that would probably be the Mail app), but it is definitely in the top 5. Fantastical has been my go-to calendar app on the iPhone and iPad since 2012, when it was recommended to me by Portland attorney Josh Barrett. This week, the app was updated to version 3. It has a nice new interface and adds lots of new features. California attorney David Sparks of MacSparky talks about some of the new features in this post, and he also links to a free video tutorial he prepared for the app. And Federico Viticci of MacStories wrote an comprehensive review of the new version of Fantastical. If you haven't tried the app yet, you can use many of the features for free so I encourage you to check it out. For more advanced features, you can pay $40/year. At this point in this post, I would normally introduce the news of note from the past week. However, I spent most of this past week working as appellate counsel for a case that was in trial, and as a result of the long hours every day this week, I haven't yet caught up with all of the news. Nevertheless, here are at least a few of the recent news items of note:
- Ten years ago this week, the iPad was introduced. It is now a huge part of my law practice, and it was especially useful this week when I was in trial. Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories describes the introduction of the iPad 10 years ago.
- Lauren Goode of Wired provides an overview of everything related to the iPad from the past 10 years.
- In an article for Macworld, Jason Snell explains why apps made the iPad a success.
- I like using the multi-tasking features of the iPad, but if you find that they get in the way and you prefer the one-app-at-a-time approach used by the iPhone, you can turn off multi-tasking on an iPad. John Gruber of Daring Fireball explains how.
- Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was using an iPhone X in 2018 when it was hacked, resulting in an attempt to blackmail him. Sheera Frenkel of the New York Times explains one of the theories on how this may have been accomplished.
- Apple announced this week that all of the United States is now using the new version of its maps, with much better information. I discussed some of the changes to maps last August, when the new map data came to New Orleans. One change that I like is that the iPhone now knows where streetlights and stop signs are. When I'm using CarPlay and getting directions, telling me to turn on "Main Street" can be confusing when I don't know my way around an area, but telling me to turn at the next light or the next stop sign is incredibly useful.
- Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that iOS and iPadOS 13.3.1 were released this week.
- And finally, there is a one-of-a-kind guitar for sale on Reverb that is made from 106 iPhones (plus one iPod touch). It was originally listed for around $1 million, but you can now get it for about $6,000 if you act soon. I have one picture below, but click here to see many more pictures and get all of the details. I own a guitar and play it a little, but I mostly play the piano so let me know if any of you see a piano made out of iPhones.