Month: October 2022

Thank you to LIT SOFTWARE for sponsoring iPhone J.D. again this month.  And what an exciting time it is for users of LIT SOFTWARE’s apps!  As of the end of last week, the Mac versions of the three apps are now out of beta and available for everyone to download.  Simply go to the App Store on your Mac and download the full and complete version of TrialPad, TranscriptPad, and DocReviewPad.  The same LIT SUITE subscription that gives you access to these incredible apps on the iPad will now give you full access to these apps on your Mac—assuming that you are using the same Apple ID on both your Mac and your iPad, which should be true for virtually everyone.  Your Mac needs to be running macOS Monterey, but that has been out for about a year now, so I presume that most folks have already installed that update.

As I mentioned last month, having the LIT SUITE apps on your Mac gives you more flexibility.  You can use the larger screen of an iMac or the external display connected to your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air to see more as you prepare your trial demonstratives and exhibits using TrialPad.  Or you can use your Mac laptop to run a TrialPad presentation in court whenever it makes more sense to use the computer instead of an iPad.  You can work with transcripts using TranscriptPad on the same computer that you are using to draft a motion.  You can perform a document review using DocReviewPad.  And by storing your files in your iCloud account, you can easily go back and forth between the Mac and the iPad.

I’ve been such a happy use of LIT SOFTWARE’s iPad apps for so long that whenever I launch one of their apps on my Mac, it always brings a smile to my face.  It’s that same surprise and delight that you get when you see an old friend in a new venue.

The introduction of the Mac versions of the apps wasn’t the only big announcement from LIT SOFTWARE last week.  What do you do if you want to use one of the these apps but you think it would help to have someone work with you to get the most out of these apps?  In that situation, it makes sense to use an experienced consultant, but who should you pick?  LIT SOFTWARE is now teaming up with Brett Burney to provide one-on-one training via Zoom.  Brett can provide advice for getting the most out of the apps for your specific needs, showing off his own iPad’s screen so that you can follow along on your device as he teaches you.  Simply click here for more information and to sign up for a training session.

So who is this Brett Burney?  Brett is a former lawyer, now full-time legal technology consultant, who has been working with other lawyers for decades.  I’ve attended legal technology classes that Brett has taught and I’ve co-presented with Brett at numerous CLEs, so I know first-hand what a great teacher he is.  The picture to the right shows me with Brett in 2015, when Brett was the chair of ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago.  Brett and I also co-host the In the News podcast every Friday, so I talk to Brett every week.  In the past, when I have been asked to recommend a consultant to help an attorney use an iPad in a law practice, Brett has been my #1 recommendation.  It is great seeing that LIT SOFTWARE is now making the same recommendation.  You can learn more about Brett and his credentials in this recent post from the LIT SOFTWARE blog.

I should emphasize that one of the things that I love about LIT SOFTWARE’s apps is that they are easy to use.  You don’t need to work with a consultant to get a ton of value out of these apps.  And the online help available on the LIT SOFTWARE website is very useful.  On the other hand, considering how incredibly powerful these apps are, if you have been deterred from getting started because you were not sure if you could do everything on your own, now you have a safety net.  Download the apps to your iPad and you will quickly see how useful they are.  If you need help, you know where to go.

If you don’t yet use one of the LIT SOFTWARE apps, there is no better time to get started.  The apps on the iPad have been around a for a very long time, so they are full-featured.  Lawyers around the world have used these apps—and raved about them—for years.  Now that the same apps are available on the Mac, you gain even more flexibility and can use the best tool for the job.  And if you need some assistance, the company’s relationship with Brett Burney makes it easy to get a helping hand.  Download the apps, sign up for a LIT SUITE subscription, and take your law practice to the next level.

Click here to get LIT SUITE: 

There was a surprisingly large number of topics to address in this week’s episode of the In the News podcast, even though it has been several weeks since Apple’s big September event, and even though we are still waiting to learn what new products Apple will announce this month.  Brett and I started by discussing the iPhone 14 Plus—the big version of Apple’s less-expensive iPhone—which went on sale yesterday.  We then talked about lots of new features that are coming to iOS 16 in the future.  We addressed lots of Apple Watch topics today, including the improved GPS in the Apple Watch Ultra, how the Apple Watch compares to a similar new product from Bose, and more.  We also discussed Apple’s MagSafe Battery, crash detection in the iPhone 14 and the newest Apple Watch, and other topics.

In our In the Know segment, Brett recommends Calcbot, a calculator app that you can use on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.  I recommend Now Playing Plus for the Apple Watch, which gives you a watch face complication that you can tap to see whatever is playing—a podcast, a song, etc.

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

This week, the European Parliament voted 602-13 (with 8 abstentions) that by the end of 2024, all mobile phones, tablets, and cameras sold in the EU must use a USB-C charger.  Natasha Lomas of TechCrunch reports that there are a few more steps before this law is official, and devices that are already in the market when the change becomes official in 2024 can still be sold.  But because Europe is such a huge market, the sense is that this will force all device manufacturers, around the world, to shift to USB-C.  The rumor is that Apple was moving towards USB-C on the iPhone anyway, as it has already done on many of its other products, so as a practical matter, this law may not change things in the short run.  The goal of the law is to reduce waste by encouraging a single charging standard for all devices.  That’s a good goal. But considering how many different types of USB-C there are (with more coming in the future), I question whether this will actually result in a single charger that you can use with all of your devices.  Moreover, if Apple or someone else comes up with a better charging cord solution—much like when Apple introduced Lightning as a much better alternative to 30-pin—this law would prohibit that new product from coming to market.  Sure, a company like Apple could lobby to change the law, but who knows how long that would take, and that process makes it impossible to surprise and delight customers with a better interface on a new product, which discourages development of the superior product.  Imagine that the EU had passed this law 10 years ago.  Would they have required USB, and would we be stuck with that now instead of USB-C?  And what if there had been an even earlier law, banning the use of bulky albums and instead requiring cassette tapes; would such a law have prevented the introduction of CDs?  I have trouble believing that legislators are the best people to decide what technology should be used and how many people should use it.  I hope that my concerns are wrong and that this will turn out to be a good thing for consumers.  We’ll see.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• One of the improvements in the Apple Watch Ultra over prior models is a better GPS, one that uses two frequencies instead of just one.  How much more accurate is it?  Zac Hall of 9to5Mac shares the results of Reddit user suburbandad1999 who compared an Apple Watch Ultra to an older Apple Watch to mow the grass and had each watch record what it thought was the path.  He shares pictures of the results, and this is an example of a picture—or more precisely, two of them—speaking 1,000 words.  It is immediately obvious how much more precise the GPS is on the Apple Watch Ultra.
• Mark Gurman of Bloomberg wrote one of the best Apple Watch Ultra reviews that I’ve read, and he also offers some good suggestions for improvements in future generations of this watch.
• In a detailed review, Andy Boxall of Digital Trends reviews the Apple Watch Ultra, calling it a “rugged smartwatch that non-rugged people will want to own — and they’ll be very pleased with it when they do.”
• Last week, linked to a report from Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that, based on the latest beta of iOS 16.1, the first generation AirPods Pro will also gain the new Adaptive Transparency feature in the second generation AirPods Pro.  It turns out … not so much.  A follow-up article from Clover notes that, as reported to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, that was just a bug in a beta of iOS 16.1.  If you want the enhanced version of Transparency mode that lets you hear the outside world while also reducing the volume of annoying sounds that are over 85 dB, you need to purchase the second generation version of the AirPods Pro, presumably because the new H2 chip is required for this feature to work.
• In another article for MacRumors, Clover also compares the second generation AirPods Pro with the new Bose QuietComfort II earbuds.  As explained in a video by Dan Barvera, on most of the metrics, the AirPods Pro came out on top.
• In a press release, Apple celebrated 100 million songs being available on Apple Music.
• The iPhone 14 Plus was announced with the other three models in the iPhone 14 line, but today is the first day that it is officially available.  Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac reports that those who pre-ordered are now starting to get their devices.
• Allison Johnson of The Verge reviews the new iPhone 14 Plus and says that it has the best battery life of any iPhone and has a large display that many people will love.
• Justine “iJustine” Ezarik shows off and discusses the different colors available in the iPhone 14 Plus.
• iOS 16 has been out for a few weeks now.  What is coming next?  Joe Rossignol discusses 10 new features coming to iOS 16.
• The funny xkcd comic strip came up with a perfect solution to iPhone battery life.
• Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack has been out for over a year.  I reviewed it three months ago and explained why it is a fantastic product.  Wesley Hilliard of AppleInsider has been using this product for over a year and explains why it is still a fantastic product.
• This has no connection to Apple products, but this week, I read what may be my all-time favorite legal brief, an amicus brief in favor of granting a writ of certiorari filed by The Onion.  It has been making the rounds this week because it is so well done, but if you haven’t read it yet, you should do so.  This post by Kevin Underhill of Lowering the Bar gives you a little background, or you can just jump right in and read the brief from the Supreme Court website (PDF).  Eduardo Medina of the New York Times wrote about the brief too, explaining why The Onion decided to file it. 
• I take that back, I may be able to come up with a way to connect this brief to Apple products.  The Onion’s brief will be read by the Justices of the Supreme Court.  The newest is Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.  And as noted by Steven Mazie, according to pictures from her investiture ceremony, Justice Jackson wears an Apple Watch with a white band.  (She wore the same Apple Watch when she was sworn in a few months ago.)  That connection isn’t enough for you?  How about this one: when the iPhone was introduced and for a number of years later, in Apple’s advertisements, the time on the iPhone was always 9:42—the time that Steve Jobs first introduced the iPhone.  When the iPad was introduced, they changed that to 9:41.  If you zoom in on Justice Jackson’s watch in those pictures posted by Mazie, although some of the watch face looks to be blurred out, you can see that the time is 9:42—an obvious homage to the iPhone.  This is just the sort of hard-hitting reporting that you will only find here on iPhone J.D.
• And finally, Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal has a reputation for going above and beyond in the videos that she creates to accompany her tech articles.  To test Apple’s claims that the new iPhone 14 and new Apple Watch models can detect a car crash, she worked with a demolition-derby drive to crash cars.  The result was the video posted below, and this article.  What I found particularly interesting is that when a car was just sitting there and then was suddenly crashed into, an iPhone in that car did not call 911.  It turns out, this is by design.  Apparently, the iPhone needs to think that someone is driving the car, even if it is temporarily stopped (like at a traffic light).  The iPhone looks at things like whether it is connected to CarPlay or a car via Bluetooth, how much the iPhone has sensed a change in distance prior to the crash that would indicate driving, etc.  It is nice to learn more about when this feature works and how it works, so bravo to Joanna Stern for this video:

I had a great conversation with Brett Burney in this week’s episode of the In the News podcast about Apple’s three new products because Brett recently purchased all of them!  We start by going deep on the new Apple Watch Ultra, and Brett answers a lot of questions that I (and perhaps you as well) had about this new device.  Then we both talk about the features that we are both using in the new second generation Air Pods Pro.  We also talk about new features in the iPhone 14 Pro, including the improved camera. 

In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for how you can use that word “Search” that started appearing at the bottom of the iPhone Home Screen in iOS 16.  My tip is to check your Wi-Fi calling status because it may have turned off if you upgraded to a new iPhone or you updated to iOS 16.

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