There are twelve months in a year, twelve hours on a clock face, twelve jurors in a jury, twelve major Gods in Greek Mythology, twelve disciples of Jesus, twelve items in a dozen ... those who are interested in numerology have lots of reasons to be excited about the number 12. I published the first post on iPhone J.D. on November 17, 2008, which makes today the 12th anniversary.
A milestone always seems like an appropriate time to step back and take a look at where you have been, so I do that every year around this time on iPhone J.D. As I look back at the almost 2,000 posts on iPhone J.D., I'm amazed at how far the iPhone and iPad have come, and I especially appreciate how useful they were during this past year. For example, when the pandemic made it necessary for my wife and two kids to spent 24/7 in the same house for many months, it was wonderful to pick up my iPad and my Apple Stylus and go find a quiet corner of the home where I could be productive. And with the vast reduction in face-to-face encounters, the communication capabilities of the iPhone and iPad have been more important than ever.
Popular posts this year. Every year on the birthday of iPhone J.D. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), I find it interesting to look back and see which posts over the prior 12 months were the most popular. The fact that these posts were so popular often sheds some light on what has been on the minds of attorneys and other folks using an iPhone or iPad. Here, in order, are the top ten most viewed posts published in the last 12 months:
- Microsoft Teams on the iPad and iPhone for videoconferences. Because of limitations on seeing each other in person, videoconferencing has become so much more useful during the pandemic. Thus, I suppose it should not surprising that a post about videoconferencing was the most popular post during the last 12 months. I have used videoconferences to meet with with others at my law firm, meet with clients and potential clients, attend trial court and appellate court hearings, and visit with family members. During the past year, "Zoom" has become a generic word. But for much of my professional work, I use Microsoft Teams. Teams on the iPad and iPhone is not quite as powerful as Teams on the computer, but the core features are there, and I have found it to be incredibly useful, whether I am using the videoconferencing feature or the chat feature.
- How to make your Apple Watch speak the time out loud -- or not do so. I usually keep my Apple Watch completely silent, although as I have been working at home even more during the pandemic, I've found myself turning sounds on more often. This post focused on one trick for using sound on an Apple Watch.
- GoodNotes vs. PDF Expert / GoodReader. GoodNotes and PDF Expert get more use on my iPad than almost any other app. However, they both have the ability to do similar things, and in this post, I discussed how to choose the best app for specific tasks.
- AirPods Pro issue with crackling or static sounds. I love my AirPods Pro, and that made it frustrating when I started to occasionally hear crackling or static sounds when wearing them. In this post from August, I discussed the problem and how I requested a replacement from Apple. As I noted earlier this month, Apple recently created a formal replacement service program because so many folks have experienced this same problem. It's a shame that this problem cropped up, but it is nice that Apple has made it so easy to get replacements.
- How to add memory foam to AirPods Pro. Depending upon the shape of your ear, you may find AirPods Pro to be even more comfortable if you add memory foam to them. I did so this past January, and I continue to use my AirPods Pro that way.
- Review: Logitech MX Keys -- full-size Bluetooth keyboard for computer, iPad, and iPhone. My review of the Logitech MX Keys was very enthusiastic, and I continue to love this keyboard. It is a fantastic keyboard to use with a computer, and that alone is a reason to get it. But in addition, you can tap a key to quickly switch between the computer, iPad, and iPhone. When it is this easy to use the keyboard that is already in front of me with my iPad and iPhone, I do so more often, and that makes my iPad and iPhone even more useful. For example, when I am using my computer and iPad to get work done and I need to chat with someone using the Messages app, I use my iPhone to do so and I tap one key on the keyboard so that I can type my text message using a real keyboard. This makes it faster and easier to text in complete sentences. And of course, using a keyboard with an iPad is useful for lots of reasons. Even if you don't think that you are in the market for a new keyboard, I strongly encourage you to think about checking out this keyboard. It is wonderful.
- Review: eero Pro 3-pack -- blanket your home with fast Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is always important to have no matter where you are, but the pandemic made it clear that it was time to upgrade the Wi-Fi in my house, and I'm so happy that I did. The eero Pro has worked incredibly well for me and all of the members of my family. A new version, the eero Pro 6 was announced after I wrote that post, so I went back and updated the post about two months ago to explain what is new. Keep in mind that the eero Pro 6 may be overkill for many right now. For example, Texas attorney Tom Mighell recently posted a thread on Twitter warning that you can only take advantage of the increased speed of an eero Pro 6 with the newest devices, such as an iPhone 11 or iPhone 12. Having said that, starting this week, you can get an eero Pro 6 3-pack for $100 more than the eero Pro, and you might want to spend the extra money to future-proof your system. But whether you get the regular eero, the eero Pro, or the eero Pro 6, this is a fantastic mesh Wi-Fi system that I highly recommend.
- Why lawyers will love the new iPad Pro (2020 editions: 12.9" 4th Generation and 11" 2nd Generation). The iPad Pro is already an incredible device, and it gets better every time Apple updates it. I wrote this post earlier this year when Apple released the 2020 version of the iPad Pro. However, if you are currently thinking about getting a new iPad Pro, I actually encourage you to think about whether you can wait a little longer. When Apple announced the iPad Air (4th generation) two months ago, Apple did such a good job of making the iPad Air almost as good as the current iPad Pro that I have to think that the next update to the iPad Pro is going to be significant so that there is, once again, a big reason to pay more for the iPad Pro.
- Review: Anker PowerLine+ III USB-to-Lightning cable. A good Lightning cable is always a useful iPhone accessory, and the newest edition to the Anker line of cables is an impressive product. I've been getting a lot of use out of my Anker PowerLine+ III cable and I love how durable and useful it is. Having said that, Anker sells lots of other Lightning cables too, which offer different features at different price points. In this post, I explained what is different between each of the different types of Anker cables.
- Why lawyers will love the new iPad Air (4th generation). As much as I love my iPad Pro with its large 12.9" screen, if you want the medium-size iPad, this iPad Air has received rave reviews. It is a great device.
Visitors to iPhone J.D. Every year, I use this post to share some statistical information on iPhone J.D. visitors, to the extent that I can figure it out using the tools at my disposal — specifically, the Google Analytics service.
During the past 12 months, about 55% of readers visited iPhone J.D. from an iOS device, 22% used a Mac, and 16% used a PC. What about the other 7%? With some minor exceptions (such as 17 people who used a BlackBerry to read iPhone J.D.), virtually all of the remaining visitors during the past year used Android. Perhaps some of them are current Android users who are thinking about making the switch to iPhone. Safari was by far the most popular browser used to access iPhone J.D., which comes as no surprise, but about 28% used Chrome, which was higher than I expected. Firefox is my browser of choice on my PC and my Mac, but only about 2% of iPhone J.D. readers in the past year used Firefox.
About 57% of iPhone J.D. visitors during the past year were in the U.S., which is the lowest percentage I ever remember seeing. Over 10% of readers are in the U.K. Canada (6%) and Australia (4%) make up another 10%. Virtually all of the other countries are less than 1% each. Suffice it to say that the lawyers and others who use an iPad or iPhone live all around the world. And I always love it when lawyers from other countries reach out to tell me about how they are using an iPhone or iPad in their law practice.
Every year, I also look at the top cities for the folks who visit iPhone J.D. New York has been #1 every year except for 2015, when there were a few hundred more visitors from London. This year, London is back on top again, once again just barely beating out New York by just a few hundred visitors during the past year. Australia has two spots on the Top 10 list with Sydney and Melbourne in 4th and 5th place. The State of Texas is also well-represented with Dallas and Houston taking 9th and 10th place:
- London
- New York
- Los Angeles
- Sydney
- Melbourne
- Chicago
- Singapore
- Toronto
- Dallas
- Houston
Other cities that have previously made the Top 10 list, but did not this year, include Atlanta (#11 this year), San Francisco (#12), and Washington D.C. (#17). I live in New Orleans, which dropped to #53 this year, just below Edmonton, Canada, and just above Raleigh, NC on the list. #1000 on the list is Manchester, England. #2500 is Saint-Eustache, Canada. This year, the seaside resort of Rimini, Italy — which Wikipedia tells me was founded by the Romans in 268 BC — is at the bottom of the list, with only 7 visitors in the past year. I had actually planned to take a vacation in Italy this past summer, but my wife and I had to cancel the trip due to the pandemic.
Thank you to all of you, from around the world, who have posted a comment, sent me an email, stopped me to say hello, or who have just been regular visitors of iPhone J.D. over the past year. Hopefully, the next twelve months will be better for all of us!
