This week, Apple gave awards to the developers of 15 apps for making the App Store Best of 2020. The iPad app of the year is Zoom, and I've certainly used that app far more in 2020 than ever before. When we use Zoom as a substitute for family members getting together in person, I typically share my iPad screen to my Apple TV. That way, my immediate family can sit on the couch and see our relatives on a large TV screen, and with the iPad propped right in front of the TV, the other family members see us on the couch. The Apple TV app of the year is Disney+, and I bought a one-month subscription last weekend so that my son and I could catch up on Season 2 of The Mandalorian, which is excellent. I'm also looking forward to watching the new Pixar movie Soul on Disney+, which comes out on December 25. Fantastical won in the Mac app category, but I love to use that app on my iPad and iPhone. Congratulations to all of the winners. And now, the recent news of note:
- In an article in ABA Journal, Danielle Braff discussed whether your law firm should create an iPhone app. With very rare exceptions, I don't recommend it. Instead, use your time and money to create a good website that works well on computers, an iPad, and a smartphone. We updated my law firm's website about two years ago, and it was a big improvement. Some of the bio pages even include a short video, which is a nice way for someone viewing the page to get a sense of the attorney. (For example, here is my own bio page.)
- Although I use Zoom for many of the videoconferences in which I participate, we use Microsoft Teams at my law firm Microsoft recently announced some upcoming updates for the iPhone and iPad apps. There are new calling features, including CarPlay support (to make it easier to make and receive calls via Teams when you are in your car), and a new layout for the iOS apps.
- Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that if use the Family Sharing feature to share apps with other family members, you can now share some subscription apps as well.
- Michael Simon of Macworld discusses the Wristcam, a band for the Apple Watch that includes two cameras.
- In another article for Macworld, Michael Simon and Jason Cross identify some of their favorite cases for the iPhone 12.
- In yet another useful Macworld article, Michael Simon recommends USB-C power adapters to use with an iPhone 12. I haven't yet tried one of the relatively new gallium nitride (GaN) chargers, which are smaller and more powerful, but I hear great things about them.
- Dan Moren of Six Colors shared a clever suggestion for using Siri and Shortcuts to make it easier to switch modes on AirPods Pro to pause your music and talk to people.
- Moren also wrote a favorable review of the new HomePod mini from Apple.
- Here is a moving tweet with a picture of an unpredicted, but incredibly important, use for iPads.
- The Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso is one of the highlights of 2020 for me — in a year that could use as many highlights as possible — and Michael Schneider of Variety interviewed most of the stars in a Zoom-style chat that is great fun to watch.
- Almost 12 years ago, I wrote about appellate attorney David Mills because of his funny Courtoons website with legal-themed cartoons. He stopped sharing his cartoons on the site a long time ago, but he recently compiled those cartoons in a paperback book, and it is now available on Amazon for $20. Although I haven't seen the book, I used to love the cartoons, so I suspect it would make a good holiday gift for an attorney with a sense of humor.
- You might also get some lawyer legal tech gift ideas — or ideas for yourself — by listening to the latest episode of the Tech Savvy Lawyer podcast on which over a dozen attorneys (including me) share their favorite guilty tech pleasure. I mentioned using Twitter, but what I didn't mention is that I rarely use the official Twitter app; I prefer to use the Tweetbot app.
- And finally, at some point this month, Apple is going to introduce its new Fitness+ service. Here is a video from Apple to remind you of what this service is all about: