Jeff Richardson

There are times when you want to get a file on or off of your iPhone or iPad without using the Internet to do so — either because your connection is too slow (or nonexistent) or because the file is too large.  The Olala iDisk ID300 is a flash drive with both a USB and Lightning connector so that you can get data on or off of your iPhone, and on or off of another device that has a standard USB connection.  The company sent me a free review sample of this product, which you can get for only $34.99 on Amazon, and I’m impressed.  The hardware works well.  The software is more disappointing, but it is sufficient for most purposes.  This is a very useful device that is nice to keep with you in a purse or briefcase for whenever you need it, and it would make a great stocking stuffer for an iPhone or iPad user.

Hardware

The ID300 looks like a normal USB thumb drive.  It is less than two inches long, just over a half an inch wide, and about a quarter of an inch high.  So it is very small and light

The ID300 is the third generation of the Olala iDisk, and I think it is the best design yet.  The first generation version, the ID100, is much larger.  I have another Olala iDisk device, the ID102, which Olala previously sent me, and while the ID102 is smaller than the ID100, it is cumbersome because it requires a separate proprietary cord to connect to USB.  Here is a picture of the new ID300 next to the ID102.  I far prefer the ID300’s small design which has everything you need built-in.

Olala also sells the ID200N version of the iDisk.  It looks like a wide cord that folds in two and which can also be used to charge an iPhone.  It is also much larger than the ID300.

Looking at all of the different Olala iDisk designs, I think that the small size makes the ID300 the best version.

The ID300 model that Olala sent me has a 32GB flash drive, but for an extra $14 you can buy a 64GB version.  Just plug the USB end into a computer, and you can transfer files on and off of the device just like any other flash drive.  The USB connector uses USB 3.0 with read speed up to 100MB/second and write speed up to 30MB/second, so it is fast enough.

What makes the ID300 special is that you can rotate the main part of the unit to hide the USB connector and reveal a Lightning connector. 

It is a sturdy, long Lightning connector, so it may even work with some iPhones that are in cases (although I didn’t test that).  The Lightning connector has a read speed of up to 15-25MB/second and a write speed of up to 8MB/second.

Software

You download a free app called “iDisk me” to your iPhone or iPad to communicate with the ID300.  When you plug in the ID300, your iOS device asks for permission to communicate with the ID300.  Tap allow and the iDisk me app launches

 

The button at the bottom right of the app will open up your ID300 and show you the files and folders.  This is similar to what you would see if you plug the ID300 into a computer and you view the contents.  I created a folder called Video and used my computer to transfer a bunch of large home movie files that are too large for me to normally want to keep on my iPhone or iPad.  I could then use the iDisk me app to view the folders and files, including a list of all of those home movie files inside of the Video folder.

Tap on a movie file to play the movie.  I tested using an iPhone 7 and an iPad Pro, and the ID300 was fast enough to send the data so that I could watch the movie with no stuttering at all.  It wasn’t perfect; almost no movie loaded the first time that I tapped the Play button, but after a few seconds I could press play and it worked.  I did notice that if you exit a movie before the movie ends, the sound of the movie would sometimes keep playing unless you force quit the app.  Suffice it to say that the video playing function needs more attention, but it does essentially work, and it was nice to watch very large video files on my iPhone or iPad without having to take up space on my iPhone or iPad to do so.

Note that iDisk me cannot play videos that you purchase from iTunes.

This next feature doesn’t work for videos, but for many other file types such as pictures, PDF, Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint files, you can tap to view a file in the iDisk me app and then use the share button at the top right (the box with an arrow) to open the document in another app on your iPhone — thus transferring the file from the external iD300 device to your iPhone.  Here is an example of me using the iDisk me app to access from the ID300 the PowerPoint slides from a presentation that gave back in 1998 on how to use email.  I was then able to use the share button open the PowerPoint slides in the PowerPoint app on my iPhone.

 

If any of you are interested in learning about this fascinating technology called email, let me know and I’ll email you my old slides.

The iDisk me app also has its own storage area.  You can copy or move a file from the ID300 into the iDisk me app so that you can access the file even after you remove the ID300.  For example, you could copy a large video file, then remove the ID300 and watch the video file from within the ID300, and then delete the video file after you watch it so that it no longer takes up space on your iPhone or iPad.  This is also a way to get around the (minor) annoyance with having the ID300 sticking out of the end of your iPhone or iPad getting in your way.  You can transfer the file, and then remove the ID300 to get it out of the way.

Using the buttons in the circle pattern on the main part of the app, you can directly access pictures, videos and other types of files, from either the ID300 or the internal storage area.  Frankly, this seems a little unnecessary considering that you can also tap the icons at the bottom left or right to view all of your files.

In short, you can use the ID300 as a go-between for getting files from a computer to an iPhone or iPad, and with the 32GB of storage (or 64GB if you get the larger model), you can also use the ID300 as external storage for your iPhone or iPad so that you have access to large files when you need them, but they won’t otherwise take up space on your iPhone or iPad. 

The iDisk me app also has a feature that allows you to take pictures or videos using your iPhone (or iPad) and save them directly to the ID300.  If your device is low on space and you want to continue to use the camera on your iPhone or iPad, this feature would help you out.

Unfortunately, the iDisk me app is quite disappointing when it comes to getting information from the iPhone to the ID300.  It works fine for photos and videos stored in your Photos app because there is a function to access your Photo Library.  Thus, if you take a big video on your iPhone and you want to move it from the iPhone to the ID300 to save space on your iPhone, you can do that.  And you can move photos too, so you can take photos with your iPhone and then use the ID300 to put the photos on a flash drive that you can hand to someone using a computer.

But that’s it.  The iDisk me app doesn’t appear in the iOS “Open in…” share sheet screen on the iPhone, so you cannot move any other sort of file to the ID300.  This is a huge oversight and I hope that the developer of this app adds this feature.  It would be so nice to be able to take a large file, such as presentation slides or a huge PDF document, and then transfer the file to the ID300 so that you could hand it to someone else to plug into their computer.  I know that this is technically possible because many other apps do something similar.  For now, this is a glaring omission in this app which prevents the ID300 from living up to its full potential.

Another problem is that the app only works in portrait orientation (except when you are viewing a video).  I didn’t mind that much on my iPhone, but on the iPad it felt awkward to hold it that way.

As you can tell, I am not a fan of the current version of the iDisk me app.  Having said that, most of the time it did what I wanted, and thus made the ID300 very useful.

Conclusion

The hardware of the ID300 is a great.  It is inexpensive, it gives you access to files that otherwise would not fit on your iPhone or iPad, and it makes it easy to transfer files from a computer to an iPhone or iPad without having to worry about an Internet connection.  Unfortunately, due to the (current) limitations in the software, you cannot use the ID300 to get files off or your iPhone, other than photos and videos in the Photo Library.  Bit of you can get past that limitation, the Olala iDisk iD300 is a very nice and useful device, and it is cheap enough to justify buying it just so that you have it for whenever you might need it.

Click here to get Olala ID300 from Amazon:  ($34.99)

Just in time for your holiday travel over the next few weeks, Netflix now lets you download content to your iPhone or iPad so that you can watch a video even when you have no Internet connection (such as on a plane) or just a poor Internet connection (such as in an airport, or at a relative’s house).  I just downloaded the entire Season 2 of the Netflix series Narcos (10 episodes, each one almost an hour) and it and that took up about 2.4 GB on my iPhone.  Similarly, ten hour-long episodes of Black Mirror took about the same amount of space.  Even when I have an Internet connection, I sort of like the idea of fully downloading in advance so there is no risk of stuttering.  Raymond Wong of Mashable has additional details on downloading from Netflix.  I suspect that this will be a popular new feature.  And now, the news of note from the past two weeks:

• Legal tech consultant Brett Burney reviews Typic, an app that you can use to add text to a photo on your iPhone.
• California attorney David Sparks has some holiday gift recommendations, most of which relate to the iPhone or iPad in some way.
• Sparks also talks to New York lawyer Joshua Holt about the apps on his iPhone home screen.
• San Diego attorney Jeff Bennion recommends that lawyers use a password manager in an article for Aobf the Law.  I use 1Password and cannot imagine not using it.
• AT&T DirecTV Now is a new streaming service that lets you stream live TV to your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV.  It is cheaper than a cable subscription, but has certain limitations, such as no DVR and no ability to pause live TV.  Geoffrey Fowler of the Wall Street Journal talks about the new service and similar streaming options.
• Ryan Christoffel of MacStories discusses some of the uses of an Apple Pencil.
• If you use an Apple Magic Keyboard as an external keyboard for an iPad, the new Studio Neat Canopy looks like a nice way to protect your keyboard and prop up your iPad when you want to use it.
• When the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were released and Apple noted that they are water resistant, many folks decided to push the envelope and actually take them underwater, such as using them for underwater photography.  But they really are not designed for that, and Serenity Caldwell of iMore learned that the hard way when she destroyed her finacé’s iPhone by using it in a pool. 
• Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reviews the Kanex GoPower Watch, a portable charger for the Apple Watch that is similar to the Archeer Apple Watch Portable Charger I recently reviewed.
• Looking for a new Wi-Fi router for your home or office?  Mesh systems are currently all the rage, and Dave Hamilton of The Mac Observer takes a look at the best options on the market. 
• Jim Slater similalry looks at the best Wi-Fi router options in an article for The Wirecutter.
• Apple’s own Wi-Fi router, the AirPort Extreme, has long been one of the best-loved routers.  Just this week, J.D. Power named it the most-loved router.  But does it have a future?  Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reports on rumors that Apple is getting out of the Wi-Fi router business.  Of course, these are just rumors; maybe Gurman is wrong, or maybe Gurman is only half-right — for example, Apple could be giving up on the AirPort Extreme only to replace it with a better product, such as perhaps a competitor to the Amazon Echo.  I love my Apple AirPort Extreme Base Stations for the reasons noted in this review, but if I were buying something new today, I’d probably get an Eero.
• And finally, if you want to see more of Apple’s new coffee table book, Stephen Hackett of the Relay FM podcast network shows off many of the pictures in the book next to many of the actual products (thanks to his extensive collection of old Apple items) in this video:

I received an email this week from Hon. Joseph C. Adams, a judge in York County, Pennsylvania, telling me about a fantastic CLE that took place on October 13, 2016 sponsored by the York County Bar Association.  The first part of the hour was a mock trial that takes place in the Star Wars universe in which the Empire was prosecuting Han Solo for first degree murder:  shooting Greedo in the Mos Eisley Cantina with a concealed blaster.  Evan Kline acted as the prosecutor, and he used Keynote on both a Mac and an iPad.  Edward Paskey represented Han Solo, and he used TrialPad on an iPad.  The mock trial was very impressive and utilized many trial technology tactics that could be used in almost any kind of litigation.  And if you are a Star Wars fan (like I am), there were lots of great jokes and references.

In the second part of the hour, Kline, Paskey and Judge Adams went behind-the-scenes to explain how the iPad (and Mac) were used to create the demonstrative exhibits and display them (and even annotate them) using Keynote and TrialPad along with an Apple TV.

Judge Adams posted on YouTube a video of the presentation, and the judge did a great job creating a video in which it is easy to see the slides.  I seriously doubt that you can get CLE credit for watching YouTube, but I can tell you that if you watch this presentation, you will learn lots of great tips for using an iPad as a presentation tool.  I really enjoyed watching it.

Here is a link to the video, and I’ve also embedded the video below.  A big thumbs up to Kline, Paskey and Judge Adams for doing such a great job.

[UPDATE:  As noted in a comment to this post by New Jersey attorney Victor Medina and in a tweet by Evan Kline, this presentation was based on an earlier presentation by Illinois attorney Mark Metzger at the 2015 MILOfest conference (which is now called MacTrackLegal).  I’m glad to hear that Metzger was nice enough to give permission for someone else to use his original idea because I myself would love to give a presentation like this one day.  Metzger:  we’ll talk!]

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This article won the LitigationWorld Pick of the Week award on December 7, 2016. The editors of LitigationWorld, a free weekly email newsletter for litigators and others who work in litigation, give this award to one article every week that they feel is a must-read for this audience.

Thank you to Lit Software for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month.  This company produces three of the very best iPad apps designed for attorneys:  TrialPad, TranscriptPad and DocReviewPad.  TrialPad was first released in 2010 — the same year that the iPad itself debuted — and has seen numerous major updates over the years.  Earlier this year, I reviewed TrialPad version 4.5.  The app has since been updated to version 4.6, which adds a new bookmarks feature.  This feature was a direct result of lawyer feedback, and lets you have multiple custom-named bookmarks to make it quick and easy to jump around within a document to specific pages of a document.  Click here to see a short video of how the feature works.  If you want to present evidence to a jury, judge, or other audience, the app gives you powerful tools for displaying and annotating documents, including the Callout tool that most jurors expect to see nowadays.

In my own litigation practice, I spend a lot of time working with deposition transcripts, such as preparing for a motion for summary judgment.  Thus, TranscriptPad is the Lit Software app that I use the most.  My last major review of the app was in November of 2014, and that review still gives you a solid overview of what the app can do.  But the app has had many updates since then and is now even more powerful.  Indeed, I hear that another update is planned before the end of the year  Whether I am drafting a motion, or I am in a subsequent deposition and I want to quickly see all of the relevant testimony on a subject during prior depositions, TranscriptPad does exactly what I need.  On several occasions, other attorneys have watched me use TranscriptPad and then remarked that they need to get an iPad.  When an app is so useful that it is a reason for attorneys to buy an iPad, you know it is a good app.

DocReviewApp is the newest app from Lit Software, and I reviewed it in October of 2015.  This is an app that you can use to review and annotate documents on your iPad, so this app is especially useful during the request for production of documents process.  Just a few days ago, the company released version 1.5 of the app.  This update adds the ability to add notes to each page (as opposed to just the whole document).  These notes, like tags and issue codes, appear in beautifully formatted reports.  Also, you can choose to include the notes when you export.  For example, if you have notes on page 4 and 6 of a 10 page document, DocReviewPad will export a 12 page document with all your notes from page 4 on the fifth page, and your notes from page 6 on the seventh page.  [UPDATE 12/1/16:  In response to a question raised by an iPhone J.D. reader, Ian O’Flaherty, the head of Lit Software, gives more details on the new features in a comment to this post.  So be sure to read the comments if you want more info.  Thanks, Ian!]

All of Lit Software’s apps are already feature-rich, but the frequent updates mean that the apps continue to get even more powerful.  Indeed, the company is always looking for good ideas for improving the apps, and encourages attorneys to send emails to support@litsoftware.com with any ideas that you have for useful additional features.

Thanks to Lit Software for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month, and more importantly, a big thank you to Lit Software for creating software that allows us to use our iPads to be better attorneys.

[UPDATE:  Lit Software is having a Cyber Monday sale today.  If you get the Ultimate Litigation Package, which gives you all three apps, you pay $249.99, a savings of $60 compared to buying each app individually.]

Click here to get TrialPad ($129.99): 

Click here to get TranscriptPad ($89.99): 

When I walked into my office building yesterday morning, I was a little surprised to see that the halls had been fully decked.  Garland with twinkling lights hung from the ceiling of the main corridor of the building, and red bows and decorated Christmas trees were everywhere.  I’m sure that I am not alone in thinking that it just seems weird to see Christmas decorations before we have even had Thanksgiving.

If you feel the same way, then stop reading now, and come back to iPhone J.D. on Friday to read the rest of this post.  And speaking of Black Friday, Apple has just announced that it will be having a sale that day; click here for more details.

For those of you who are ready to think about the most wonderful time of the year even before you eat your turkey and stuffing, then read on.  Today’s post is about Apple’s Holiday commercials, because yesterday Apple released its new 2016 spot.

Before talking about the new ad, let’s talk briefly about the commercials that ran in the past.  One of my favorites is the one called “Misunderstood” that run in 2013.  Like many of Apple’s best ads, it tells a story, includes a twist, and brings a tear to your eye:

For a good collection of Apple ads from the past 30 years, you can look at this compilation video:

I love the Christmas-themed “I’m a Mac / I’m a PC” ads that appear around the 3:30 mark in the above video.

With that history providing some context, here is Apple’s ad for 2016.  Like the other recent spots done by Apple, it doesn’t sell any particular Apple product (although there is an iPhone used) but instead the ad promotes the spirit of the holidays.  But unlike prior years, this one features a character who I don’t think anyone associates with the Christmas holiday season.  I won’t say more until you watch it so as to not ruin the surprise:

When I first saw this ad, called “Frankie’s Holiday,” I thought it was pretty bizarre.  But the more that I think about it, the more I like it.  It is certainly a memorable commercial, and it reminds me of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  And like the other great Apple holiday ads, it tells a story, includes a twist, and brings a tear to your eye.

If you want some of the back-story on the making of this commercial, Jeff Beer of FastCompany interviewed Apple’s Vice President of Marketing Tor Myhren.

What do you want first, the bad news or the good news?  We’ll start with the bad news.  Neal Boudette of the New York Times reports that last year saw the largest annual percentage increase in highway fatalities in 50 years, and 2016 looks to be even worse.  A big cause of this statistic is folks looking at an iPhone and other mobile device when they should be driving.  Let’s all be careful out there.  The good news is that, unlike last week, there were lots of interesting iOS-related stories in the news this week.  So let’s get started.

• Legal technology consultant Brett Burney reviews PDFpen Scan+ as a way to take a PDF file that is already on your iPhone or iPad and then OCR it so that you can select text.  I love using the GoodReader app to highlight words and sentences in a document, but that feature requires that the document be OCR’d.  PDFpen Scan+ is a good app to accomplish that task.
• Teresa Matich of Clio recommends apps for attorneys.
• Dan DeSilva of 9to5Mac describes a new feature in the Amazon app that I myself used last night.  It is called the X-Ray feature.  The idea is that if you have one or more Amazon boxes and you are not sure what is in the box, you use the app to scan the shipping label and the app shows you a picture of what you ordered.  For example, if you have a bunch of Amazon boxes with Christmas presents in them and you want to make sure that you are opening the right one, this app makes it easy.  It’s a simple trick but useful, and it was smart of Amazon to add this feature to their app.
• One of the newest trends in hacking is for hackers to take over not your computer, but instead your devices in your home.  Equipment such as security cameras which have tiny computers inside and can access the Internet can be hijacked by hackers to take part on massive distributed denial of service (DDos) attacks, and this very thing happened earlier this month.  Dave Hamilton of The Mac Observer reports that devices which use Apple’s HomeKit can be far safer because of Apple’s strict security requirements for HomeKit (which, for example, prevents a hacker from sitting outside of your house and turning off or on your lights, air conditioning, etc.)  But if those same devices have other holes outside of HomeKit, then you may not be completely safe.  It’s a potentially big problem that device manufacturers need to be looking at.
• Apple announced earlier this year that it was going to start to remove from the App Store older apps that had not been updated to work with current iPhones and iPads.  Sarah Perez of TechCrunch reports that Apple has now started to do this, and 47,300 apps were removed last month.
• Jason Snell of Six Colors reports on an update to the Google Photos app that lets you use the app to create a digital version of an old photograph.  The app detects edges, straightens the image, rotates it to the correct orientation, and removes glare.  Unfortunately, Snell reports that the quality is just OK, and not as good as what you can get with a flatbed scanner.  But the app is free, and it is quick and easy to use.
• Apple released a coffee table book this week called Designed by Apple in California which includes big, beautiful images of Apple products such as the iPhone created over the last 20 years.  Like many art books of this genre, the book isn’t cheap; there is a $200 version, and a larger $300 version.  Tony Chambers of Wallpaper interviewed Jonathan Ive, Apple’s Chief Design Officer, to discuss the book.  Here are images of the book showing off the original iPhone and an Apple Watch:

• Serenity Caldwell wrote an article for The Wirecutter identifying the best styluses for an iPad or other touchscreen device.  Of course, if you have an iPad Pro, the Apple Pencil is by far the best option.  But if you have another device, Caldwell has some other good picks.
• Speaking of the iPad Pro, Brent Dirks of App Advice reports that Apple is now selling refurbished 9.7″ models of the iPad Pro.
• Speaking of Apple saving you some money, Rene Ritchie of iMore reports that Apple is cutting the price of USB-C adapters now that the new MacBook Pro only uses USB-C.  If you use a 12.9″ iPad Pro, this is nice because you can now save $6 on a USB-C to Lightning Cord (now $19 for 1m or $29 for 2m).  Apple’s 29W USB-C power adapter itself is not discounted, so it will still cost you $49.  As I explained in this post earlier this year, the combination of a 29W USB-C power adapter plus a Lightning to USB-C cord is the fastest way to charge a 12.9″ iPad Pro.
• And finally, I normally only showcase interesting Apple commercials for iOS-related devices, but Apple released a really good commercial for the MacBook Pro yesterday called “Bulbs,” and it does have a minor connection to the iPhone.  The commercial shows innovative ideas throughout the ages, and of course the iPhone is one of the good ideas shown (albeit briefly).  The video is fast-paced and fun, and every time I watch it, I see something new:

On November 17, 2008, I started iPhone J.D. and published my first post, explaining why I found the iPhone a valuable tool in my law practice.  That makes iPhone J.D. eight years old today.  The iPhone has changed substantially in eight years, but today’s iPhone 7 is still unmistakably a descendant of the original iPhone released in 2007.  And now, we have so many more iPhone-related devices, such as the iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and — hopefully any day now — the new AirPods.  As the iPhone universe has grown, its appeal to attorneys has increased as well.  As I reported just a few weeks ago, a record number of attorneys are now using an iPhone:  about 68% of all attorneys in the United States. 

Over the past eight years, I’ve written almost 1,500 posts on iPhone J.D., including reviews of over 300 apps, reviews of every major iOS device released by Apple (from the iPhone 3GS to the new iPhone 7 and all models of the iPad) and reviews of over 100 accessories.  I’ve also tried to provide lots of tips and tricks for getting the most out of your iPhone and iPad, and discussed all of the tech news that I think that you might want to know about if you use an iPhone or iPad.  If you haven’t checked out the iPhone J.D. Index recently, click the “Index to Prior Posts” link at the top of any page to get there.  The index will direct you to lots of posts that are as useful today as they were when they were written, although there are others with only historical significance.

By far the best part of publishing iPhone J.D. has been the great feedback from readers like you.  I’ve learned so much from talking to and reading notes from readers, and many of those interactions result in posts.  Please keep the feedback coming!

As more and more attorneys use iPhones and iPads, site traffic has grown every year.  I remember that at the end of the first year, I was amazed to see over 300,000 page views.  The current count is over 7.5 million page views in eight years.

Popular posts this year.  Every year on the birthday of iPhone J.D. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), 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 might reveal something about the topics that iPhone and iPad owners have been thinking about lately.  Here, in order, are the top ten most viewed posts published in the last 12 months:

1. Review: iPad Pro — the largest iPad ever, with support for Apple Pencil. It comes as no surprise to me that this was the #1 post over the past year.  The iPad Pro is a perfect tablet for attorneys.  It is super fast and responsive.  The Apple Pencil makes it easy to highlight and annotate exhibits, cases, Word documents, etc.  And if you can learn to live with the hassle of carrying a larger device, the huge screen on the 12.9″ model is fantastic for lawyers working with documents.  (And if you cannot get used to that size, there is still the 9.7″ model of the iPad Pro.)  The iPad is such an amazing device for lawyers that you could make an argument that this website should be called iPadJD.com.
2. Review: Fisher Chrome Clip — clip that works on Apple Pencil.  Support for the Apple Pencil is one of my favorite features of the iPad Pro, and I am constantly talking to other attorneys who feel the same way.  Thus, there were quite a few posts in the Top 10 this year that concern the Pencil.  I’ve been using this inexpensive clip on my Apple Pencil nonstop since I wrote this review, and I can’t imagine not having a clip on my Apple Pencil.
3. Review: L/XL Sport Band — Apple Watch band for larger wrists.  I am seeing more and more people wearing an Apple Watch, and it reminds me of the early years of the iPhone when I slowly but surely started to see more and more attorneys using that device.  I love that it is so easy to swap bands on an Apple Watch.  The XL size of the Sport Band that I reviewed last December is still one of my favorite bands for my Apple Watch.
4. Review: Apple Pencil Magnet by Moxiware — attach your Apple Pencil to your iPad Pro (guest review by Darrell Phillips).  For the first time ever, a guest post on iPhone J.D. made the Top 10 list.  I hope that this happens every year going forward.  I love hearing about apps and accessories that other lawyers find useful.  If you ever find that there is something that you especially enjoy using on or with your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, I encourage you to reach out to me about writing a guest post.
5. Review: Apple’s 29W USB-C Power Adapter and USB-C to Lightning Cable — fast charging for 12.9″ iPad Pro.  This one almost counts as two posts.  When I first wrote the post in March of this year, it got a decent amount of attention because using the USB-C power adapter is a great way to charge a 12.9″ iPad Pro more quickly.  But then just a few weeks ago, Apple released its new MacBook Pro, a laptop computer that only has USB-C ports on it.  As a result, lots of people searched for posts about a USB-C to Lightning Cable that could be used to connect an iPhone or iPad to a new MacBook Pro, and thus once again this became a popular post.  As a result of this post becoming popular twice in one year, it ranks as #5 on this year’s list.
6. Apple Pencil tip: a place for the cap while charging.  This is such a simple tip, and yet I still use it every time I charge my Apple Pencil.
7. Review: Scanner Pro 7 by Readdle — the best way to scan documents using an iPhone.  There were only two iOS apps that made the Top 10 list this year, and they come it at #7 and #8 on the list.  Scanner Pro has been around for a long time, and Readdle is a fantastic developer.  Thus, it should come as no surprise that Scanner Pro 7 is a really fantastic app.  I love that I can use the powerful Scanner Pro app and the impressive camera on my iPhone 7 to take really nice scans of documents without having to locate a full-size scanner.  The quality is not quite as good as what you can get with a full-size scanner, but for most tasks it is more than good enough.
8. Word for iOS updates — Draw on an iPad, contextual commands on an iPhone.  Microsoft Word is one of the most useful apps on my iPhone and iPad.  I use it almost every single day.  In this post, I talked about this incredibly useful app being updated to support the Apple Pencil that so many of us love so much — a great combination of software and hardware.
9. Create a PDF of an email on an iPhone 6s.  This is another example of a post that describes a simple tip, but simple doesn’t mean inconsequential; I still use this tip regularly to make PDF versions of emails and other documents.
10. Review: Field Muzetto by WaterField Designs — messenger bag for iPad Pro.  After many years of the iPad staying the same size, Apple finally released a larger iPad when it introduced the 12.9″ iPad Pro last year.  That meant that many long-time iPad users had to buy new iPad accessories, such as cases and bags.  The Field Muzetto is a really nice device, but I ended up preferring the Tom Bihn Ristretto, and I still use the Ristretto every single day.

Visitors to iPhone J.D.  Ever year, I use this post to share some information on iPhone J.D. visitors, to the extent that I can figure it out using the tools at my disposal.  Don’t worry, I’m not spying on you … although who knows what the NSA or FBI might be doing.  But I can use Google Analytics to get some basic information on iPhone J.D. readers.

During the past 12 months, a record 60% of readers visited iPhone J.D from an iOS device, which includes about 18% from an iPad and about 42% from an iPhone.  About 22% used Windows, which is what I use in my law office.  About 12% used a Mac, which is what I use at home.  Almost all of the other visitors (about 4.8%) used Android, which is higher than you might have expected given the nature of this website, but remember that (1) every year lots of folks switch from Android to iOS, and (2) some of the third party accessories that I have reviewed can also be used with an Android device, and even some iOS apps have a version available for Android.  So everyone is welcome here, even those using Android.

About 62% of iPhone J.D. visitors are in the U.S., but the site also gets a huge number of visitors from the U.K., Canada and Australia.  Looking at the cities of iPhone J.D. readers, New York has been #1 every single year except for last year, when there were a few hundred more visitors from London.  New York is back on top again this year:

1. New York
2. London
3. Los Angeles
4. Chicago
5. Sydney
6. Houston
7. Melbourne
8. Dallas
9. Washington, D.C.
10. San Francisco

Dallas appears on the list for the first time since 2012.  Toronto was on the list last year, but this year was just barely squeezed out by San Francisco.  New Orleans, where I live and practice law, hasn’t been in the top ten since this website’s second birthday, but this year proudly sits at the #25 spot, right above Calgary.  (Come to think of it it, it’s not often that you see New Orleans and Calgary mentioned in the same sentence.)

Most importantly as I start the ninth year of iPhone J.D., thanks to all of you for reading and offering comments and encouragement along the way.  I look forward to another year of writing about the world of iOS hardware and software that is of interest to attorneys, and I hope to hear from many of you during the coming year.

I wear my Apple Watch every day, so it is nice to have different watch bands for different occasions.  I bought my first Apple Watch with a leather band, but I rarely wear that one anymore because I far prefer wearing the Milanese Loop during the day — a band that looks great and feels really good.  (My review.)  At night, when working out, and on the weekends, I like wearing a Sport Band, especially once the larger XL size came out.  (My review.)  In March of 2016, Apple introduced a new band called the Woven Nylon band.  It costs the same as the Sport Band ($49.00) and those two are the least expensive watch bands sold by Apple.  I’ve been curious about the Nylon Band for many months now, and my family bought me one for my birthday earlier this month.  I’ve now been wearing it almost every day for over a week to put it through its paces.  I like this band a lot because it is so comfortable.  I had expected to find that this band is even better than the Sport Band for exercising, but I actually found just the opposite.  Here are my thoughts on this band.

The look

Apple describes the Woven Nylon band as follows:  “Every Woven Nylon band is made from more than 500 threads woven together in a unique, colorful pattern.  Monofilaments connect four layers of the weave to create a single durable band with a comfortable, fabric-like feel.”  The buckle is made of stainless steel. 

The band has a wavy weave pattern.  It currently comes in seven color combinations.  For five of them, the first listed color is the accent, and the second listed color is the main color:  Light Pink/Midnight Blue, Yellow/Light Gray, Space Orange/Anthracite, Toasted Coffee/Caramel, Navy/Tahoe.  (These colors were all added by Apple in September of 2016.)  Apple also continues to sell the Woven Nylon in Pearl, Blue and Black.  Because Apple changes those colors from time to time,  you are reading this post in 2017 or later, I suspect that the available colors will have changed.  I have the Navy/Tahoe Blue Model, and it looks like this:

Here is a closer view, which allows you to better see the weave.  (As always, you can click on a picture to see a larger version.)

I think that the Woven Nylon band looks nice.  None of the colors have that super-bright look that some of the Sport Band colors do, which makes this band somewhat less casual than the Sport Band.  Having said that, my personal opinion is that Woven Nylon band is still a little too casual for work.  My law firm has an office casual dress code, so I usually only wear a suit when I am going to court, visiting clients, etc.  I wore my Woven Nylon band on six days when I wasn’t wearing a suit and instead wore just a long-sleeve button-down shirt with slacks, I often felt that the Woven Nylon band was just a little too casual — close, but not quite there.  And for the one day last week that I wore a suit, I switched to the Milanese Loop because I just couldn’t imagine wearing this band with a coat and tie.

But of course, fashion works in different ways for different people, so maybe this look is formal enough for you.  I do occasionally see attorneys wearing a stripped NATO-style nylon watch band with traditional watches, so I suppose this look can work for some people.  Also, I have seen some people online claim that the Black version of the Woven Nylon band looks more formal.  Perhaps that one would look more appropriate with more formal clothes, but I’m not sure.

The feel

I expected the band to feel like a piece of cloth.  It doesn’t.  It’s thicker and stiffer than that, although perhaps the stiffness will wear off after a few months of use. 

Even so, it is incredibly comfortable to wear, and it is arguably the most comfortable band that Apple makes.  It feels really good against my skin.  It is also very light.  If you are a looking for a band that you barely notice when wearing it, I think that this is the best one that Apple offers.

Length

Apple says that the 42mm version of the Woven Nylon band that I have fits 145-215mm wrists.  (For 38mm watches, the Woven Nylon band fits wrists 125-195mm.)  The Woven Nylon band is just a tiny bit longer than the L size of the Sport Band which is made for wrists up to 210mm, and not nearly as long as the XL size which is made for wrists up to 245mm.  In this picture, the black band at top is the XL size Sport Band, the bright blue band is the L size Sport Band, then you see the Woven Nylon band, and finally you see the white M size Sport Band.

As you can see, the holes on the Woven Nylon band extend just a tiny bit farther than the L size Sport Band, but not much.  I have a larger wrist; using a measuring tape from my wife’s sewing kit, I measure it right at 210mm.  When I wear a L size Sport Band, I use the very last hole.  (That’s why I prefer the XL size Sport Band, as I explained in this post.)  But with the Woven Nylon band, I can use the second-to-last hole for the same fit. 

Using one of the last holes on the Woven Nylon band is much better than the using one of the last holes on a Sport Band because with very little of the band left over to tuck using the pin-and-tuck enclosure of the Sport Band, that band can pop open, especially if you accidentally pull it or if it gets caught on something.  The Woven Nylon band uses a buckle, and while I don’t like that so little of the band is left over to tuck when I use the second-to-last hole, it is definitely secure and I have zero concern that it will disconnect and cause my watch will fall off of my wrist.  Having said that, if there was an XL version of the Woven Nylon band, I would definitely prefer it.

Exercise

If you are like me, you aim to get your 30 minutes worth of green exercise circles on your Apple Watch every day.  When you work out, you are going to sweat.  I find that the Sport Band works great for exercise, but I thought that the Woven Nylon band might be even better because I had read some reviews in which folks praised the Woven Nylon band for breathing more when you sweat.

I have never had a problem with the Sport Band when exercising.  Sweat has never caused it to feel itchy or anything.  But with the Woven Nylon band, I find that there are two minor annoyances when I work out.

First, for the first five minutes or so of a workout, I find that it slips up my arm a little.  Once I start to sweat enough, the band stays in place and this is no longer a problem.  But it is a tiny bit annoying for the watch to move.  Also, I wonder if that movement affects the accuracy of the readings by the sensors on the bottom.

Second, after I finish working out, I notice that the Woven Nylon band has absorbed sweat, which makes it a little damp.  Indeed, the band is water resistant so it is okay for it to get wet, but if you go swimming with it or get caught in a big rainstorm, it is going to take a while to dry.  With a Sport Band, you can just wipe off the water with a towel and then it is dry.

So maybe the Woven Nylon band breathes more than the Sport Band.  And if you find that the Sport Band makes you uncomfortable or itchy when you work out (a complaint I have heard some make before), then perhaps the Woven Nylon band might work better for you.  But my preference is to use the Sport Band when I am perspiring.

Conclusion

I expected this to be a great band for exercise, and that didn’t turn out to be true for me.  I prefer the Sport Band for exercise, and the Sport Band also seems to make the most sense if you are going to get wet.  And because I consider the Woven Nylon band to be somewhat casual, now that this post is written and my testing period is over, I am going to return to wearing my Milanese Loop for work every day — especially when I am wearing a suit.  But for weekends and other times when I want to wear a more casual and incredibly comfortable watch band, the Woven Nylon band is fantastic.  I really like this band, and if you use an Apple Watch and don’t currently have a Woven Nylon band, I encourage you to check it out.  At only $50, it isn’t too expensive to get as a second band for your Apple Watch, and that is a good price for someone to give it to you as a gift (how I got mine) or for you to give one to the Apple Watch wearer in your life.

Click here to get the Woven Nylon band from Apple ($49.00)

Last week, I shared a story from Austin appellate attorney Todd Smith about how he uses an iPad for appellate arguments.  One of the responses that I received was from Scott Bassett, a family law appellate attorney in Michigan.  Scott has practiced law for 35 years, and during that time has briefed and argued many appeals.  He has also taught at three law schools:  Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, FL, the University of Michigan Law School, and Wayne State University Law School in Detroit.

Scott uses Windows in his law practice (as do I) and Scott’s first Apple device was the iPad 2 in 2011.  He has since upgraded to a refurbished 4th gen iPad with Verizon 3, and he often uses it as a second screen for his Microsoft Surface Book using the Duet Display app.  Although Scott had been a long-time Android user, a few weeks ago he bought his first iPhone, an iPhone 7 Plus. 

Scott reached out to share with me and iPhone J.D. readers how he is using his iPad in his appellate practice:

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I also use an iPad to prepare for and deliver appeal oral arguments. But not exclusively. I will explain that below.   

When I use my iPad for oral argument, I use the Oral Argument app by TabLit Apps. You reviewed it on June 14, 2012. You were underwhelmed. I actually like the app, but would not do any of the prep work and editing on the iPad itself. Instead, I get all of my notes, arguments, and pop-up boxes into the app by syncing it from the browser interface on my PC. I am not sure if that feature was available when you reviewed the app four years ago.   

[UPDATE 11/15/16 from Jeff:  The Oral Argument app is no longer available in the App Store.  The developer tells me that the app was pulled because it was never updated for iOS 10 and therefore is not 100% functional.  But the developer is considering an update to the app, so perhaps the app will return in the future.]

Using the browser interface (I go to the Oral Argument web site and log in with my account credentials), I can quickly copy and paste case law quotes, statutes, notes, and arguments from my briefs directly into the app. When I am done, I open the app on my iPad and click the sync button. My entire argument from the web interface is then available on my iPad. I also have the briefs and other key documents loaded into the iAnnotate app on my iPad for quick tab-based access. I have always preferred iAnnotate to GoodReader and other PDF reader/annotation apps on the iPad.  

I have also experimented with two other devices for use at the podium during appeal arguments. They are the Sony Digital Paper (think giant Kindle) and the detached screen of my Microsoft Surface Book laptop. Both provide larger displays than my 4th generation iPad. But neither has an app equivalent to Oral Argument. On the Surface Book, I use the very decent DrawBoard PDF app. It also offers a tabbed interface to access all open PDFs. There is a full range of annotation options that work with the very good Surface Pen (which is equivalent to the iPad Pro’s Pencil).  

The Sony Digital Paper can pre-load multiple PDFs with a tab-based interface for relatively quick access. Because it is a e-ink screen, it is not particularly fast to respond to page turn commands or switching between documents. Slow screen refresh is its primary flaw for use “live” at the podium. I have done it, but the slow page refresh rate causes some additional anxiety. However, for reading large volumes of transcripts and trial court file materials away from court, there is no better device. No backlighting, therefore little or no eyestrain.  

Each of these three devices has advantages and disadvantages for use at appeal arguments. I am not sure which I prefer, but perhaps I “voted with my feet” by using the iPad with the Oral Argument app at my last two appeal arguments. I may try to borrow the larger iPad Pro from someone and give it a try. It may have the right combination of features to be a long-term solution.

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Thanks for sharing, Scott!  Although we both use our iPads for appellate arguments, we do so in very different ways.  You should consider upgrading your 4th generation iPad to a new iPad Pro, which is much more powerful.  Given your experience with other large tablet devices, I think that you would make good use of the 12.9″ model, which is what I use.  I think you would also like using an Apple Pencil, since you already enjoy using the Surface Pro pen.

If any of you are willing to share your own experiences using an iPhone or iPad in your law practice with other iPhone J.D. readers, I’d love to hear from you.  And no, you don’t have to be an appellate attorney!  In case you missed any of them, here are stories that I previously shared from other attorneys:

• Christopher Abernathy:  1/8/15
• William Axtell:  2/19/13
• Zane Cagle:  1/1/12
• Carolyn Elefant:  10/8/15
• Megan Erickson:  5/11/11
• Jeff Forbes:  3/21/13
• Tom Freeland:  7/13/10
• Will Harrelson:  8/19/14
• Cliff Maier:  12/22/08
• Lindsay Rakers:  12/18/12
• Alfred Saikali:  5/4/11
• Mike Schneider:  4/28/09
• Todd Smith:  11/7/16
• Clark Stewart:  7/22/10
• Joe Suhre:  12/3/13
• John Walker:  7/2/13