Month: January 2022

A few days ago, Apple released the results for its 2022 fiscal first quarter (which ran from September 26, 2021, to December 25, 2021, and did not actually include any days from calendar year 2022) and held a call with analysts to discuss the results. This is typically Apple’s best quarter of the year because it includes holiday sales.  This year, it was the best quarter in the history of the company, with an all-time revenue record of $123.9 billion, up 11% from the previous year.  Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the quarter was even better than Apple had predicted at the beginning of the quarter.  As impressive as this number is, the real reason that I report on Apple’s quarterly earnings is not to report on the numbers but to share any interesting tidbits related to the iPhone or iPad that Apple executives mentioned during the financial call that Apple holds with analysts every quarter.  There were a few such items this year, although fewer than in some other calls.  If you want to get all of the nitty-gritty details, you can listen to the audio from the announcement conference call on the Apple website, or you can read a transcript of the call prepared by Jason Snell of Six Colors.  Apple’s official press release is here.  Here are the items that stood out to me.

iPhone

• iPhone revenue for the quarter was $71.6 billion.  This was an all-time record, a 9% increase from this time last year (which was a record $65.6 billion).  Even so, Apple CFO Luca Maestri said that Apple was supply constrained on the iPhone during the past quarter, so there was demand for even more.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that the iPhone was now 15 years old, stating:  “A few weeks ago, we marked the fifteenth anniversary of the day Steve revealed iPhone to the world.  We knew that we had the beginnings of something fundamentally transformative, though none of us could have predicted the incredible and meaningful impact it would have on all of our lives.  The creative spirit that made the first iPhone possible has thrived to Apple every day since.  We never stop creating.  We never stop innovating.”
• Even though the iPhone is already very popular, Cook said that it appears that the iPhone is gaining in worldwide market share.  Cook also stated that the “iPhone has become an integral part of so many people’s lives, now more than ever.  And the active install base of iPhone continues to grow and is now at an all-time high.  And during [the 2022 fiscal first quarter], as we had mentioned, we had a record number of upgraders and switchers, strong double digit, which I think speaks to the strength of the product.  And that’s all in addition to an enormous customer satisfaction rating of 98% and doing well throughout the” different parts of the world.
• To give you some context for the increase in iPhone revenue this past quarter, here is a chart showing the year-over-year percentage change since fiscal 2013 Q1, which is when Apple started reporting this type of revenue in this form.  As you can see in this chart, Apple has had impressive iPhone revenue growth for five quarters in a row1.  You have to go back to 2014-2015 to see revenue jumps like this, and of course, the iPhone is much bigger now than it was then.

iPad

• iPad revenue was $7.2 billion.  This was down from a year ago when it was $8.4 billion, but Apple has warned that this was likely to happen because Apple said that it would be “supply-constrained.”  In other words, Apple wasn’t able to get all of the parts that it wanted, so it wasn’t able to keep up with demand for new iPads.
• One analyst asked whether the supply constraints for the iPad was due to Apple having a limited number of the parts that work in both the iPhone and iPad and Apple deciding to allocate more parts to the iPhone.  Cook said that there was a little of that, but it was mostly because of what Cook calls “legacy nodes,” the parts that are made by suppliers other than Apple and which are not the latest-and-greatest technology.  These are the basic computer parts that lots of different manufacturers use in lots of different products.  Cook said that he believes that these supply shortages are now starting to improve.
• Cook stated that even though Apple couldn’t make as many iPad as it had hoped, demand remains strong:  “Despite the constraints I mentioned earlier, our iPad lineup continues to be indispensable to tens of millions of people, from teachers and students to artists and creators.  Customers are eager to get their hands on our ninth generation iPad, which features a beautiful display and double the storage capacity, as well as the new iPad mini with its ultraportable design.”
• Even though the iPad has been on sale since 2010, Maestri said that about half of all iPad customers in the past quarter were purchasing their first iPad.
• Here is a chart to show the year-over-year percentage change in iPad revenue since fiscal 2013 Q1, which is when Apple started reporting this type of revenue in this form.  After six quarters in a row in which iPad revenue was higher than the same fiscal quarter in the prior year, Apple has now had a quarter in which revenue dropped year-over-year.  Time will tell whether this is a one-time thing due to supply constraints specific to the last quarter or whether this is the start of a return to a time period when iPad revenue growth was more modest or even negative.

Other

• Cook emphasized the health advantage of owning an Apple Watch, stating:  “Nearly every day, I get notes from customers who share how a heart alert led to a life-saving appointment with a cardiologist.  And more recently, I’ve been hearing from people who tell me that their Apple Watch saved their lives by calling 911 when they couldn’t.  As I’ve said, we’re still in the early innings with our health work, but every day I am encouraged by our positive impact.”
• Maestri said that over two-thirds of Apple Watch customers in the past quarter were purchasing their first Apple Watch.  (The Apple Watch first went on sale in 2015.)
• Cook said that since the App Store first launched in 2008, Apple has paid developers more than $260 billion.
• Cook said that Apple is already carbon neutral in its own operations, and it hopes to be carbon neutral across its supply chain and the life cycle of its products by 2030.
• The current fiscal quarter ends in March, and Maestri predicted that it would be a record fiscal second quarter.

In this week’s episode of the In the News podcast, Brett Burney and I start by discussing iOS updates: this week’s iOS 15.3, plus the new features that we might see in iOS 15.4.  Then we talk about using an iPhone to test for COVID using an inexpensive (and free after reimbursement) On/Go test that I reviewed this week or a more expensive at-home molecular test.  Next, we turn back the clock about a dozen years to when the iPad was born and the iBeer was flowing, plus we discuss blurring your home on Apple Maps and Google Maps. 

In our In the Know segment, Brett Burney and I share some iPad tips.  Brett discusses the Scribble feature, and I give tips for choosing the right app to annotate a PDF document—it might not be the one that you normally use!

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just use your podcast player of choice.  You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

A few days ago, I explained why I recommend that you purchase the On/Go at-Home COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Self-Test.  The iPhone app makes that COVID test super easy use, and because you can get reimbursed for up to four boxes (two tests per box) every month per person, the On/Go is essentially free if you live in the United States.  Around the same time that I published that post, Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal wrote a similar article comparing antigen tests to the more expensive at-home molecular tests, which is basically a PCR test that you can do in your own home with the aid of an iPhone.  Her article is good (and you can read it if you subscribe to the Wall Street Journal or subscribe to Apple News+), but the associated video that she produced is even better and is available for anyone to watch.  You can watch the video at the top of her article or on YouTube.  She explains that the Cue is easiest to use, but the reader costs $249 and a pack of three tests is $225.  The Detect is more complicated to use, but the starter kit is $75 (one test), and each additional test costs $49.  Thus, those tests are much more expensive than a $12 antigen test (and health insurance only reimburses $12/test), but Joanna explains that these molecular tests can detect COVID earlier than an antigen test—approximately six hours to two days earlier.  Joanna also notes that once you have COVID, an antigen test like the On/Go is better for telling you when it is safe to be around other people again; the molecular tests will continue to give you a positive result long after you are contagious because they are so much more sensitive.  Even if you decide not to get the more expensive molecular tests right now, it is great to have a better understanding of tests and how they can work with your iPhone.  Over time, all of these tests should become less expensive, making it easier to use your iPhone to detect COVID, the Flu, and perhaps other medical conditions without having to go see a doctor.  All of this medical technology is really fascinating.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• My podcast co-host Brett Burney created a fantastic video this week, showing you how you can use the Stitch It! app to combine multiple screenshots into one long picture, a useful way to show a long text message conversation.  I can definitely see lawyers using this to prepare a trial exhibit and/or demonstrative.
• In a post on the Lit Software blog, Oklahoma attorney Nicole Snapp-Holloway explains how she uses her iPad and the LIT SUITE apps in her practice as a plaintiff attorney handling nursing home cases.
• California attorney David Sparks explains why the iPhone is often the best device for taking videos—and it gets better every year.  I’ve been using my iPhone 13 Pro to take 4K videos of my daughter’s basketball games this season, and the quality has been fantastic.  I especially like being able to switch between the normal wide lens to see a large part of the court and the 3x telephoto lens to get closer to the action.
• I mentioned yesterday that iOS 15.3 is now available, an update that contains no new features but some pretty important security fixes.  Apple subsequently released the beta version of iOS 15.4, and it has the potential to contain lots of new features.  (Remember, however, that there are no guarantees that everything in the beta will be part of the iOS 15.4 final release.) 
• As John Gruber of Daring Fireball explains, one of the new features is the optional ability to use Face ID while wearing a mask.  As I’m sure you know, currently the only way to unlock an iPhone using Face ID when you are wearing a mask is to also wear an Apple Watch.  That feature is amazing and I use it all the time.  But it looks like in iOS 15.4, you will be able to tell your iPhone to use Face ID just by checking your eyes if you are wearing a mask.  I’m sure that decreases security somewhat, but it will make it much more convenient for folks who are, for example, trying to read a grocery list on an iPhone while wearing a mask at a grocery store.  I wish that we could move past the point of needing to wear a mask at all, but until that happens, it is nice to see improvements like this.
• Chance Miller of 9to5Mac describes some of the other features currently in the iOS 15.4 beta.  Some that jumped out at me include: (1) Universal Control, so you can put an iPad next to a Mac and use a single keyboard and mouse with both devices; (2) thirty new emoji; (3) the ability to connect an Apple TV to a captive Wi-Fi network with a sign-in page (often found in hotels) by using an iPhone with the Apple TV; (4) support for vaccination records in the EU Digital COVID Certificate (EU DCC) format; and (5) a better floating card on the iPhone to show the state of AirPods when the buds are in different states.
• If you own an Apple Watch, a new watch face showed up this week: the Unity Lights watch face to celebrate Black History Month.  It looks really cool, although I find that it makes it more difficult to tell the time.  But for those times when you decide to go for form over function on your watch face, it is pretty neat.  You can also purchase a neat-looking Black Unity Braided Solo Loop.  More information on this and everything that Apple is doing for Black History Month is available here.
• Yesterday was the 12-year anniversary of the announcement of the iPad.  Twelve years ago today, I wrote about the new iPad in this post.  In that post, I focused on the impact that the iPad might have on the iPhone, but soon after I started using my first iPad, I realized that the iPad is a very different device than the iPhone, useful for all new reasons.  Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac explains twelve reasons to love the iPad on its 12th birthday.  I agree with almost all of his reasons, but I also love the iPad because it is the best way to read and annotate documents, and also a fantastic way to take notes.
• Oliver Haslam of iMore reviews Note Yourself, an app that lets you send notes to yourself as messages to remind you to do something.  I do the same thing by just asking Siri to remind me at X time about doing Y, but if you prefer to get a message instead of a Siri alert, this app may be for you.
• Tamara Palmer of Macworld provides tips for squeezing more battery life out of an iPhone.
• I don’t know the home address of Apple CEO Tim Cook, but if you do, and if you look at his home on Apple Maps or Google Maps, the home itself is completely pixelated.  Killian Bell of Cult of Mac reports that this was done recently because of an unfortunate incident with a stalker.
• I also learned this week that anyone can ask Apple Maps and Google Maps to blur out their home.  In a separate article, Killian Bell explains how to do that.
• In early December, I wrote that the Razer Phone Cooler Chroma looked like the craziest MagSafe-compatible accessory ($59.99 on Amazon).  Jason Cross of Macworld got his hands on this external fan for the iPhone and concludes in his review that it is “well-built but so ill-conceived on every level that it makes me mad just to know it exists.”  Ouch.  I encourage you to read his review just to see all of the different ways that Cross concludes that this product does not make sense.
• Quinn Myers of MEL Magazine interviews Steve Sheraton to share the story of how his iBeer app made millions of dollars.  It was one of the first iPhone apps, and it used the accelerator to make it look like the iPhone in your hand was a glass of beer that you could pretend to pour.  Back in 2009, I noted that it was #5 on the list of all-time most profitable apps.
• Joe Plumb fell down during a diabetic episode and passed out.  Fortunately, he was wearing an Apple Watch, and it called for help and saved his life.  He explained the full story in this post on the British website Metro.
• Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that AT&T is now starting to offer fiber optic internet plans at speeds of 5 Gbps.  Wow.  That service is supposedly available in New Orleans, but the AT&T website says that the fastest internet speed offered at my house is 18 Mbps, which is a tad slower than 5 Gbps.
• And finally, when Apple TV+ debuted, it only offered a few shows.  But the content has increased substantially over time, and you can now see lots of different actors in shows … except for one.  Apple has been running this Everyone but Jon Hamm commercial for the past week, and I think it is really funny.  Definitely worth watching if you haven’t seen it yet, and probably worth watching again if you have:

Every time that Apple updates the iPhone operating system, Apple includes some security updates.  Sometimes a security update is important enough that Apple will release a .x.1 update just for that security issue, such as an update from iOS 15.1.1 to iOS 15.1.2.  Rarely, a security update is important enough that Apple labels it with a .1 update, and that happened yesterday when Apple introduced iOS 15.3.

There are no new features in iOS 15.3.  Instead, the update addresses ten security issues, identified by Apple on this page.  The most dangerous one seems to be the last one listed on that page, which Apple says could be exploited by a website to track sensitive user information.  For more information, you can go straight to the source.  Apple gives credit to Martin Bajanik of FingerprintJS for finding that bug, and on Bajanik’s website you can read all about this flaw.  In short, if you were logged into a Google account and had multiple tabs open in Safari, a malicious website open in one tab could learn information about some of the websites that you were viewing in other tabs.  And in some cases, Bajanik says that “authenticated users can be uniquely and precisely identified.”  Obviously, that’s an undesirable invasion of your privacy.

Apple has now fixed this issue in all of its products that can load a website.  You can download iOS 15.3 on the iPhone, iPadOS 15.3 for the iPad, macOS 12.2 on the Mac, watchOS 8.4 on the Apple Watch, and tvOS 15.3 on the Apple TV.  Apple also released HomePod update 15.3 yesterday; I’m not yet sure what security updates were included with that update.

So far, I have experience with three different COVID self-tests.  The one that I am discussing today, the On/Go COVID-19 Antigen Self-Test, is easy to find because it is on Amazon, it is basically free if you live in the United States because you can now get reimbursed from your health insurer, and it is especially easy to use because it works with a free iPhone app.  While you can use the test without an iPhone by following printed directions, it is far easier to use this test with the app because the app clearly walks you through every step of the process.

I first came across the On/Go COVID-19 Antigen Self-Test because I was trying to find a COVID test at local pharmacies and they were out of stock.  Thus, I turned to Amazon and found this test, which is one of the 13 brands of self-tests authorized by FDA under an Emergency Use Authorization.  The On/Go product is manufactured in the United States.

Taking the test

When you first use the On/Go app, you need to provide some basic details such as your name.  After that, to use this test, click the Start test button.

 

The app will prompt you to scan a QR code on the side of the box, which I presume tells the app which specific serial number you are using for the test.  Next, you tell the app who the test is for — yourself, or a dependent.

The app asks for your Zip Code.  Then it provides a list of symptoms that you can select, or a none-of-the-above option if you have none.

Don’t take medical advice from me because I’m a lawyer, not a doctor.  Having said that, I’ve seen it reported that at-home tests like this one are less accurate if you are asymptomatic. For example, Emily Anthes reported earlier this month in the New York Times that at-home tests “are more sensitive in people with symptoms than without and are most sensitive during the first week of symptoms, studies have found.”  Obviously, a PCR test is going to be more accurate.  Nevertheless, there is a definite advantage to being able to perform a test in your own home, and the manufacturer of the On/Go test says that its test is 95% accurate.

The app gives you clear, specific instructions for removing the components and getting them ready.

 

When you are ready to insert the swab in your nose, the app tells you what to do and provides a countdown timer so you know exactly how long you should do it.

 

Next, you place the swab into a vial and follow a few specific steps.

 

After you have prepared the vial, you then put three drops of the sample into the well in the test cassette.

Finally, you wait ten minutes—another countdown timer is provided—before you can see the result.

When the time is up, the app walks you through how to interpret the result, but basically, you are just looking to see if a line appears.  The app also instructs you to take a picture of the test strip, but I don’t see any option to see the picture after you take it.  Also, the app does not interpret the test strip—it relies upon you to click a button in the app to indicate whether the test was positive or negative. 

I see that there is another COVID self-test on Amazon with an app, the BD Veritor at-Home COVID-19 Digital Test Kit, that does use the app to interpret your results.  And there is also one called Cue that uses an app to determine results, but it is incredibly expensive and requires a subscription.  I haven’t tried either of those; I can only compare the On/Go test to the other ones that I have used (Abbot’s BinaxNow and QuickVue).

Why does the On/Go app take the picture?  It appears that the reason is to ensure the validity of your specific test.  The On/Go website say in its FAQ section:

The unique barcode on your test device contains essential information to ensure test validity. In the event the barcode is not valid for any reason, you will be presented with a final screen indicating an invalid result. When you are prompted to take a photo of your test, it helps ensure that the test is valid and not expired.

As you can see from the pictures that I included above, the iPhone app makes the On/Go test incredibly easy to use.  And I see that I am not the only one to say this.  In an article for WIRED, Brenda Stolyar concluded:  “Of all the at-home rapid tests I’ve tried so far, this was the easiest to use.  The steps are simple enough that I’m not reaching for the instructions every single time—something I can’t say for the others.”

Expiration date

The On/Go tests that I purchased on Amazon in December have an expiration date printed on the box of March 2022.  However, I see on the On/Go website that this has been extended for an additional three months and may be extended even more:

SHELF LIFE EXTENSION: On January 20, 2022, the FDA granted a three-month shelf-life extension for On/Go COVID-19 Antigen Self-Tests. This extended the shelf-life for all On/Go Self-Tests from 6 months to 9 months. So, if the expiration date printed on your box states February 2022, the expiration date for the test is now May 31, 2022. Please note, the expiration date for the tests is the last day of the labeled expiration month. … We will continue to apply to FDA for shelf-life extensions every three months based on our stability studies, and the new shelf-lives for our tests will apply to tests already produced as well as future production.

It is good to know that this test can be used for even longer than it says on the box.

Other features

The app also includes a Passport feature, which allows you to show someone your name, test status, and date of the test along with a QR code.  I’m not sure how reliable this is considering that you yourself are telling the app whether you tested positive or negative based on what you see on the test strip.  I suppose that you could also use this as a personal reminder of when you tested yourself or a dependent.

Conclusion

Testing yourself or a loved one for COVID has the potential to make you nervous, which leads to the possibility of making mistakes.  But with an app guiding you every step of the way, it seems to me that the risk of mistakes decreases.  I recommend that everyone get a COVID test to keep at home because you never know when you will need one and you cannot count on stock being available at a local pharmacy.  Remember that if you live in the United States, you can now get reimbursed from your medical insurance company for up to eight tests each month (four boxes of On/Go because there are two tests in each box).  I recommend the On/Go test because I find that the iPhone app makes it even easier to use than other brands of COVID tests.  

Click here to get the On/Go COVID-19 Antigen Self-Test from Amazon ($24.00 for two tests).

Using AirTags to keep track of your stuff, using AirPods to call for help, blue bubbles versus green bubbles, the Thread smart home protocol tested in the real world, a look forward to 5G expansion and a look bag at the introduction of 3G … there are so many interesting topics discussed in the latest episode of the In the News podcast!

In our In the Know segment, Brett Burney and I hit the books.  Brett recommends the Five Books website for finding something new to read.  I recommend two ways to read great stuff on your iPad for free thanks to your local library:  the Flipster app (for magazines) and the Hoopla app (for books, graphic novels, and much more).  I even recommend four fantastic graphic novels that are worth checking out if you are not sure were to get started, starting with the great Saga series by Brian K. Caughan and Fiona Staples.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just use your podcast player of choice.  You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

There have been articles in the news for the last few weeks raising concerns that AirTags could be used improperly to stalk people—even though Apple has lots of built-in protections to make AirTags poor devices for that task, unlike similar products sold by other companies.  For a more positive story about the use of AirTags, I recommend that you read this article by Sarah Sicard of Military Times in which she shares the story of Valerie McNulty.  As a part of a military PCS (Permanent Change of Station, a move between one duty station and another), McNulty’s military family had to ship all of their belongings from Colorado to New York.  In light of bad shipping experiences during prior PCS moves, McNulty attached an AirTag to one of her son’s toys that was with all of the other items being moved.  And thanks to that AirTag, she knew exactly where all of her items were located, even when the mover himself fibbed about the location and status of the items being moved.  If you ever find yourself shipping something to yourself, or to a friend or family member that you trust to collect the AirTag for you, adding an AirTag to your shipment is a pretty clever way to give yourself an independent source of information for tracking progress.  Kudos to McNulty for her creativity.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac discusses a recent lawsuit by Ericsson against Apple alleging patent infringement and a counterclaim filed by Apple against Ericsson.  One of the interesting aspects of that article is the note that while Apple in the past has tried to avoid patent litigation in the Eastern District of Texas—going to so far as to close Apple Stores in that district to reduce the risk of being sued there—Apple is now embracing that jurisdiction for this litigation.  I’m sure that there is a lot more going on in that lawsuit than what is discussed in that article, but it definitely looks interesting.
• South Carolina attorney Justin Kahn explains how to use an iPad as a second display for a Mac.  I do this sometimes at my house, with my iPad Pro next to my iMac, and it works well.
• I wrote about Mobile Transcript back in 2010, a service that formats depositions so that they can be read on the iPhone or iPad.  Although I see no mention of this on their website, I received an alert that the service is shutting down on January 25, 2022.  If you want to work with deposition transcripts on your iPad, I urge you to look at the excellent TranscriptPad app, which is part of LIT SUITE.
• In an article for Macworld, Jason Snell explains why he is frustrated at the rate at which Apple has developed the Messages app.
• I often see articles about people who say that an Apple Watch helped to save their lives.  Julie Mazziotta of People shares the story of Susan Putman, who says that her AirPods saved her life because they allowed her to use Siri to call 911 after she fell.
• Christmas may be over, but Bradley Chambers of 9to5Mac explains how you can use Twinkly lights year-round, now that they support HomeKit.  I’ve always been intrigued by Twinkly lights because they look so cool, but they are rather expensive. 
• Andrew O’Hara of AppleInsider reviews the Weemo Stage ($50 on Amazon), a remote that can change the state of HomeKit devices.  In other words, you can turn lights on and off using the multiple buttons on the Stage instead of needing to use an Apple device like an iPhone or Apple Watch.  O’Hara says that the Stage previously relied on Bluetooth and was slow and undependable.  But it was recently updated to support Thread, and he says that this resulted in a dramatic improvement.
• In the United States, AT&T and Verizon are turning on their new C-band 5G spectrum in select cities.  You can tell that your iPhone 12 or newer is using the system because your iPhone will show 5GUW (Verizon) or 5G+ (AT&T).  Phillip Tracy of Gizmodo wrote a helpful article explaining what this all means and why it has the potential to vastly increase your network speed—as long as you are not near an airport.
• And finally, Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal prepared this amusing video now that U.S. cellular carriers are shutting down the 3G network—the same network that helped the iPhone to become far more usable back in 2008:

Brett Burney and I covered lots of topics in the latest episode of the In the News podcast.  We start with the new iOS 15.2.1 update.  Next is the second part of our discussion of CES 2022, where quite a few HomeKit products were introduced.  We then discuss the NighWatch watch stand, which seems overpriced but pretty neat.  Next, we discuss Locket, the #1 app in the App Store, a way to share your photos directly to the front of someone else’s iPhone.  We end up with a discussion of AirTags and using Siri for reminders.

In our In the Know segment, we both share tips related to photos.  Brett explains how to change the cover photo of an album.  I explain why I have been using SmugMug for a decade to share photos with friends and family members.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just use your podcast player of choice.  You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

Lit Software makes some of the best iPad apps for litigators: DocReviewPad, TranscriptPad, TrialPad, and ExhibitsPad.  The subscription cost for these apps is easy to justify if you have paying clients, but what if you don’t?  This week, Lit Software announced a new program called LIT SUITE For Good, designed for “legal advocates who offer their services to the vulnerable or under-served people in our community.”  What a great way to promote the critical goal of justice for all.  Bravo to Ian, Tara, and the rest of the team.  If you want to apply for free annual license codes, go to this page on the Lit Software website and fill out the form.  I look forward to hearing the war stories from advocates who used their iPad with TrialPad or one of the other Lit Software apps to achieve justice for their clients.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• South Carolina attorney Justin Kahn reminds of all of how useful it is to ask Siri to remind you to do something.  I use this tip almost every single day, telling my iPhone or my Apple Watch something like “remind me at X time on Y day to do Z.”  I cannot even begin to count the number of times that Siri has been incredibly helpful when I’ve done so.
• Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories wrote a roundup of some of the top products introduced last week at CES.
• Apple released iOS 15.2.1 and iPadOS 15.2.1 this week.  As Josh Centers of TidBITS explains, the update addresses numerous bugs, including:  (1) sometimes the Messages app would not load photos sent using an iCloud link, and (2) sometimes third-party CarPlay apps would not respond to input.  The update also includes important security updates, including a HomeKit vulnerability that a hacker could use to crash your device and, perhaps, do even more.  I had no issues installing the updates, and I encourage you to do so.
• Sarah Perez of TechCrunch discusses Locket, a new app that places a widget on your iPhone’s home screen that displays photos.  The twist is that other folks (to whom you gave permission) can make their photos appear on your home screen and vice versa.  It’s a social network app that lives in a widget.  It launched on New Year’s Day and now has more than two million users, making it the #1 free app on the App Store.  I love the serendipity of Apple’s Photos widget; it is fun when it surfaces a great picture that I haven’t seen in a long time.  Thus, I can appreciate how it might be fun to be surprised by pictures that your friends send to your iPhone — assuming, of course, that they don’t abuse the privilege.  Although I suspect that, for some, that is precisely what makes the app fun.
• Back in 2018, Apple added a Walkie-Talkie feature to the Apple Watch, making it easier for two people to talk back and forth.  I thought it was an interesting idea, and I’ve tested the feature in the past, but I haven’t yet found a reason to use it.  But if you like the idea, then you will be interested to learn that, as reported by José Adorno of 9to5Mac, there is now a Walkie-Talkie feature in Microsoft Teams on the iPhone.
• There have been some recent news stories about folks reporting that an Apple AirTag was being used to trace them.  Some of these stories have discussed what seems to be a true misuse of the product, but other stories have left me scratching my head because there simply wasn’t much evidence of what happened.  Glenn Fleishman of TidBITS wrote the best discussion of the supposed risks from AirTags that I have come across.  He dives deep into all of the reports to date, explains what seems to be real and what does not, and offers practical advice.
• Vanessa Hand Orellana of CNet shares helpful Apple Watch tips for runners. 
• I don’t use ride-sharing services very often, but if I did, I would think that it would be useful in many circumstances to call for a ride using an Apple Watch.  But as Parker Ortolani of 9to5Mac reports, Uber has now abandoned its Apple Watch app, directing users to use the iPhone instead.
• Here is an interesting idea for an Apple Watch stand:  NightWatch.  As Jason Snell of Six Colors explains and shows in his review, it is sort of like a big clear globe that magnifies your Apple Watch screen so that you can see it better at night next to your bed.  My words are not doing it justice … just click the link to see the picture and you’ll understand what it does.
• Andrew O’Hara of AppleInsider reviews the Weemo Smart Video Doorbell, saying that it is the best HomeKit video doorbell.  Although it doesn’t support HomeKit, I’ve been happy with the eufy wireless doorbell.
• Back in 2017, I reported that Apple acquired a Finnish company called Beddit that sold sleep-tracking devices.  At the time, I thought that Apple would use the acquisition to improve sleep tracking in the Apple Watch.  Apple kept that company running for five years, but as Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reported this week, Apple has stopped selling the Beddit hardware.  Is this an indication that Apple is now poised to take some big step in the field of sleep-tracking?  I guess we’ll see.
• A few months ago, I reviewed the Satechi 108W USB-C 3-Port GaN Wall Charger, an incredibly useful device that provides all the power that you are likely to need to three different USB-C ports.  I use that product every day and I highly recommend it, although I see that for some reason it is currently unavailable on Amazon.  If you want something somewhat similar, Satechi currently sells a 100W desktop charger with two USB-C ports and one USB port, and Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac reports that the company unveiled at the end of CES last week an upcoming version with four USB-C ports and 165W of power.  I hope that the model I recently reviewed is restocked soon because it has worked so well for me.  During the holidays, it was the only charger I used while I traveled across the country, and it was everything that I needed.  And now that I’m back in my office, I love that it takes up very little space but provides me with the maximum power I need for my iPad Pro, iPhone/AirPods Pro, and my Apple Watch (with fast charging).
• And finally, multitasking with side-by-side windows on the iPad is incredibly useful.  It’s not something that I do every day, but I do use the feature often, and it makes me much more productive when I can see something on one half of the screen while I am writing or doing something else on the other side of the screen.  This short video from Apple Support was released a few months ago but it does an excellent job of walking you through all the parts of the process.

There are lots of iPhone apps that will tell you the weather in your city.  If you want to know the weather at your specific house, you need a device that can provide you with temperature and other readings.  Back in 2015, I reviewed a device called Eve Weather that checked the temperature, humidity, and air pressure.  That product was discontinued and replaced by the Eve Degree, which I reviewed in 2018.  The Eve Degree was an improvement because it was smaller and it displayed the temperature right on the front of the device, making it possible to learn the temperature without having to open an app on an iPhone.  The Eve Degree is now discontinued and its replacement is (once again) called Eve Weather.  Eve Systems sent me a free review unit of this device ($79.44 on Amazon) and I’ve been putting it through its paces.  Like its predecessors, this device does a great job of telling you the weather at your home (or wherever you place the Eve Weather).  And this new Eve Weather is the best version yet.

Hardware

Like the prior two generations, the new Eve Weather measures the temperature, humidity, and air pressure. Unlike those prior units, the new Eve Weather displays all of that information on the front of the device.  (The prior Eve Degree displayed the temperature, but not the humidity or air pressure.)  In the following picture, the new Eve Weather is on the left, and the older Eve Degree is on the right.

As you can see, both the Eve Degree and the new Eve Weather are the same size:  2.1" x 2.”1 x 0.6".

Temperature is a number that we all understand, and I suspect that most folks understand the humidity percentage as well.  However, air pressure is often measured in inches of mercury (inHg) or millibars of mercury (mbar), and I suspect that most of us don’t understand the significance of any specific number.  Plus, to really know the significance of an air pressure number, you need to know not just what it is now but how it has changed.  Thus, instead of displaying a specific, current value for air pressure, the Eve Weather smartly uses the barometer information to predict the 12-hour weather trend (such as sunny, partly cloudy, rainy, etc.) based on the current barometric pressure and how quickly it has changed over the prior few hours.  An icon corresponding to that weather trend is displayed on the front.

The Eve Weather is designed to be placed outside.  The Eve website says that the Eve Weather is IPX4 water-resistant, which means that it is fine for water to splash on the device, but you should not spray a water jet at the device, and it is best to avoid direct rain.  (Note that the Eve manual says that it is IPX3, but I reached out and a representative of the company told me that the correct number is IPX4.)  There is a hole on the back that can be used to hang the Eve Weather on a wall.

You should not place the Eve Weather in a location where it will receive direct sunlight.  If you do that, the sun will heat up the housing and make the temperature readings too high.  Instead, you want a spot that is always in the shade, such as a location on a porch or a place on the north-facing side of a home.  The device works best if it is about six feet above the ground level.  At my house, the Eve Weather sits in the corner of a window sill that is on my back porch, the same place that an Eve Degree used to sit.  There have been rare occasions, such as during Hurricane Ida last year, when it was blown down, but otherwise, that location has worked well for me for many years.

The device comes with a CR2450 coin cell battery.  You can replace it as needed by twisting off the battery cover on the back of the device.  I don’t remember how often I replaced the battery on the Eve Degree, but it was fairly rare.  Maybe once every year or so?

Software

Although it is nice that you can get information from the Eve Weather by looking at it, the real advantage of this device is that it works with your iPhone — both with the built-in Home app and with Eve’s own free app.

In the built-in Home app, you can see the temperature and humidity.  However, the Home app does not show the barometer reading or the associated weather forecast.

The Eve app provides you with more information.  First, you can easily see not only the current temperature but also the high and low temperature for the past 24-hours.  Second, you can see the current barometer reading and the icon indicating the 12-hour forecast.

Additionally, with the Eve app you can tap to get even more information.  If you tap the line with the current temperature, you can also see a chart showing the temperature for the past hour, day, week, month, or year.  You can swipe to see older information. 

For example, using the year view, I can easily see that the coldest day at my home last year was Mardi Gras day, February 16 — a day that would normally be devoted to parades, but instead the streets were quiet because of COVID-19.  (Although it was a very cold Mardi Gras day, it was not the coldest:  that was in 1899 when it was 22 degrees.)

Even though I was using the former Eve Degree back in 2021 instead of the new Eve Weather, the Eve app can migrate data from an older device so that you can continue to track weather even as you upgrade to a new Eve device.

If you tap even further, you can see the specific measurements that are recorded in the app every ten minutes.

Seeing all of this information, including trends over time, is nice.  But note that the Eve Weather itself, like the Eve Degree, can only hold past data for about two weeks or so.  Thus, you need to open up the Eve app on your iPhone at least once every two weeks for the most recent data to be copied into the app.

Eve Weather, like Eve Degree, uses Bluetooth.  Thus, one way to see the latest temperature is to get within Bluetooth range of the Eve Weather.  Eve Weather is more useful when it is within Bluetooth range of a HomeKit hub, such as an Apple TV or a HomePod mini.  That way, you can access the latest weather information from Eve Weather from any location — either at your home or away from home.

Eve Weather also supports Thread, which is an open protocol that Apple and other manufacturers are supporting.  Right now, there are very few Thread-compatible devices, but I suspect that number to increase in the near future.  Once you have a Thread network at your house, you won’t have to worry about keeping an Eve Weather within Bluetooth range of a HomeKit hub, and instead you just need to keep it in the general area of a device that supports the Full Thread protocol. 

Automation

You can use the information provided by Eve Weather to trigger home automation.  For example, if you have a HomeKit-compatible blue light somewhere in your house, you can create a simple automation to make that blue light turn on any time the weather gets below a certain point, such as below freezing.  HomeKit automations options are rather limited right now, so you currently cannot do much more than turn other HomeKit devices on or off.  In the future, I’d like to see more advanced options, such as the ability to send yourself a text message if it gets below or above a certain temperature.  But those limitations are due to Apple, not Eve.

Conclusion

Eve Weather gives you an easy way to see the current and past temperature at your house.  It works so well with the Eve and Home apps on your iPhone that you may never look at the face of the Eve Weather itself, but if you do, it is nice that you can now see all of the data, not just the current temperature like you could on the Eve Degree.  And if you want to use the weather at your home to trigger HomeKit automations, the Eve Weather can help you do that as well.  The features are similar enough to an Eve Degree that if you are still using that now discontinued device, I don’t see much reason to upgrade for the sake of upgrading.  But if you need to replace an Eve Degree or if you are ready to start using a weather station at your house, the Eve Weather works great.

Click here to get Eve Weather from Amazon ($79.44)