There were some minor iPhone-related stories in the news this week, but frankly nothing of real consequence worth linking to today. We all know why. The U.S. presidential election dominated the news this week, and I know that many folks are still trying to come to terms with the surprising result as they work through the stages towards acceptance.
One of the people to try to get us there is Apple CEO Tim Cook. Only a few months ago, Donald Trump was calling for a boycott of Apple because of the company’s position on privacy, and Trump accused Cook of “looking to do a big number, probably to show how liberal he is.” And as the first openly-gay CEO on the Fortune 500 list, Cook is likely one of many who are worried about Mike Pence’s long-time opposition to gay rights and his arguments for public funding of conversion therapy. Considering how deeply personal this must be for Cook, I was even more impressed by the letter that he sent to Apple employees on Wednesday evening. Technology reporter John Paczkowski of BuzzFeed published a copy of the letter, and I’ve pasted it below. It is well-written and offers good advice.
Team,
I’ve heard from many of you today about the presidential election. In a political contest where the candidates were so different and each received a similar number of popular votes, it’s inevitable that the aftermath leaves many of you with strong feelings.
We have a very diverse team of employees, including supporters of each of the candidates. Regardless of which candidate each of us supported as individuals, the only way to move forward is to move forward together. I recall something Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said 50 years ago: “If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” This advice is timeless, and a reminder that we only do great work and improve the world by moving forward.
While there is discussion today about uncertainties ahead, you can be confident that Apple’s North Star hasn’t changed. Our products connect people everywhere, and they provide the tools for our customers to do great things to improve their lives and the world at large. Our company is open to all, and we celebrate the diversity of our team here in the United States and around the world — regardless of what they look like, where they come from, how they worship or who they love.
I’ve always looked at Apple as one big family and I encourage you to reach out to your co-workers if they are feeling anxious.
I love to share stories on iPhone J.D. about how attorneys use an iPhone or iPad in their law practice. Today’s story comes from D. Todd Smith, an attorney in Austin, Texas. Todd is the founder and managing partner of Smith Law Group, a Texas civil appellate boutique, where he focuses on handling appeals, presenting legal issues to trial courts, and helping trial lawyers preserve error. When Todd left a large firm ten years ago, he set out to create a practice that capitalized on technology to level the playing field and operate with maximum efficiency. He uses a Mac, an iPhone 6 Plus (he is about to upgrade to the iPhone 7 Plus), an iPad Pro 12.9″ (the same model I use), and an Apple Pencil. He has been using an iPad in his law practice for about four years. Todd writes about his appellate practice on his blog, Texas Appellate Law.
Todd read my recent post about how I use my iPad Pro to prepare for appellate oral arguments, and was nice enough to share his own experiences using an iPad Pro to argue a federal appeal on his blog. Todd gave me permission to reprint his recent post for iPhone J.D. readers. Take it away, Todd!
Reviewing and marking up the appellate briefs and record is an essential component of argument preparation. For me, that once involved having hard work copies made from master versions in a physical file that sat on a shelf or in a cabinet somewhere in my office. We’re talking about an awful lot of paper to keep up with and store. Now that Texas appellate courts have joined the Fifth Circuit as all-electronic, it’s easier than ever for me to forego paper and maintain everything in digital form. I use PDF Expert and Dropbox to sync files between my MacBook Pro and my iPad. Instead of paper work copies, I create an “OA” folder in Dropbox using this structure…
…which, in PDF Expert, looks like this:
I use a combination of PDF Expert on my iPad and Adobe Acrobat on my MacBook (connected to two 27″ Thunderbolt monitors when I’m in the office) to display the briefs, record, and important cases I’ve downloaded from Westlaw. With PDF Expert’s handy two-way sync feature, annotations I make on my iPad (using the Apple Pencil) will show up on my MacBook and vice-versa. This gives me the ultimate flexibility to prepare wherever I am using the device most convenient for me at the time and capture my analysis in one place.
Mind Maps
I recently started using a mind-mapping app called iThoughts. Mind-mapping is a great tool for organizing complex concepts and visualizing how they fit together. Much like PDF Expert, iThoughts will two-way sync between the iPad and MacBook through Dropbox, the only caveat being that you have to purchase both the iOS and Mac versions of the app to access a file on both devices. When you come to appreciate the power of mind-mapping, though, the investment is well worth it.
To give you a better idea what I’m talking about, here’s a simplified version of the map I made when gearing up for this week’s argument (with all my mental impressions removed, of course):
Argument Outline
So far, I’ve stuck to my old habit of preparing an argument outline in Microsoft Word. As shown above, I save the document in the OA folder and convert the final version to PDF. This still seems a bit archaic; I can envision using iThoughts to outline my arguments instead. I think that would work very well when viewed on the big monitors in the office, but with my aging eyes, it could be somewhat challenging when relying on the relatively small iPad Pro screen.
At the Lectern
Unlike Jeff, I have fully transitioned to using the iPad at the lectern in place of all paper except perhaps a legal pad and a few key documents. My former practice was to double-side print my outline and put it in a small notebook, which allowed me to see two pages at a time while speaking and was often helpful if I needed to jar my memory. My new approach allows me to make changes until the very last minute, pull up the final outline in PDF Expert, manipulate the image size, and move between pages using finger gestures. These advantages help offset the fact that, practically speaking, the most I can view on the iPad is one page at a time.
Despite some initial trepidation, the new approach has worked well for me so far. The only complication I’ve experienced is that the Fifth Circuit does not allow use of electronic devices in the gallery. That makes reviewing my outline when I’m second or third in line for argument a bit more challenging. However, I’ve acquainted myself with the notification system in the attorney lounges, which keeps me informed about when I need to enter the courtroom for my case and thus allows me to go over the outline in “game conditions” while I’m waiting to be called.
I waited a long time for Apple to release the big iPad Pro. When I bought one, I knew it would become an integral part of my practice. I look forward to refining my argument-preparation process and discovering new ways to use this wonderful technological tool.
– – – – –
Thank you so much, Todd, for sharing this great post with us!
If 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 in case you missed any of them, here are stories that I previously shared from other attorneys:
This article won the LitigationWorld Pick of the Week award on November 10, 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.
How is Apple doing in the smartphone industry? Here is an interesting statistic. Patrick Seitz of Investor’s Business Daily reports that, according to analyst Tim Long, Apple accounted for 103.6% of the profit in the smartphone industry in the third quarter. How does a company get more than 100% of the profit? It’s because other vendors lost money in the quarter. Thus, Apple alone had more smartphone profit than the industry netted overall. And now, the news of note from the past week:
My favorite password manager app is 1Password. It is fast, has tons of features, is built-in to many other apps, and works on all of my devices (PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch). But if you want a less expensive option with fewer features, Ian Paul reports for Macworld that LastPass has expanded its free app such that if you just want the basic features, LastPass may give you want you need for free. Whatever app you use, I strongly encourage you to use something. Yes, there is a learning curve at first, but once you get past that you will have both greater security and greater convenience.
For those interested in using Apple’s HomeKit technology to control their home using an iPhone and other devices, iHome has released a 5-in-1 SmartMonitor which senses motion, humidity, temperature, sound and light. As reported by Mike Wuerthele of AppleInsider, this $80 device can help you turn on a fan when the temperature rises, turn on a light when motion is detected, etc.
If you only need to detect motion, Wuerthele reports that Elgato announced the $50 Eve Motion.
Brooke Lea Foster of the New York Times reports on how an iPhone can cause problems in a relationship when one person spends too much time paying attention to their device instead of paying attention to … ah … just a second … hmm … OK, I’m done. Just had to respond to an email there. What was I saying? Oh yeah, don’t let a smartphone get in the way of paying attention to others.
The Apple Watch Nike+ is now available for sale. It is just like the Series 2 aluminum Apple Watch, but has a special Nike band, special Nike watch faces, and special Nike+ complications. Christian Zibreg of iDownloadBlog tried one out and posted this review.
Abdel Ibrahim of WatchAware reports that the new watchOS 3.1 improves battery life for folks using a (new) Series 1 or Series 2 Apple Watch. I’ve noticed this with my 42mm Series 2 Apple Watch. Even after a very long day, I now often have 50% to 60% power remaining when I got to bed.
And finally, a $149 device called CMRA was announced this week. It is an Apple Watch band that adds two HD camera to the watch, so that you can take photos and videos of what you are seeing, and also take photos and videos of yourself. I have some serious questions about this product; I find it hard to imagine that any time that you might use this it wouldn’t be easier to just use your iPhone. Cella Lao Rousseau of iMore came up with some reasons that this product might be awesome or awful. But it is certainly an interesting idea for a product. Here is a fun video that shows it off:
iOS 10 has been available for over six weeks, and during that time I’ve had lots of attorneys ask me questions about the changes. By far, the #1 question that I have received has been along the lines of “how do I fix my email after upgrading.” And I just received that question again yesterday, so I know that folks continue to be annoyed.
After asking what they mean, everyone seems to be discussing the same pattern, the way that iOS 10 can group your emails together. If you receive multiple emails on a subject, such as a group email to more than one person in which there are multiple responses, the Mail app in iOS 10 can group all of those messages into a single thread. Tap on that single thread to see all of the associated messages.
You can tell that threading is being applied to a message because you will see >> — two blue chevrons — at the far right next to a message thread.
If you tap on the message, you will then see a bunch of individual messages, each separated by a thin gray bar.
I can understand how this view might be appealing to some, but I don’t like it. I’d rather see each of my email messages on its own, appearing in my list of emails by date, and not grouped together in any way. If threaded emails also annoy you, you can turn threading off by going to the Settings app on your iPhone and then selecting Mail.
On the next screen, scroll down until you see the Threading options. Turn off the first one called “Organize by Thread.” I actually have all three of the Threading options turned off, but just turning off the first one should be enough for you.
Hopefully, these steps will return your Mail app to the way that you think it is supposed to be working.
Apple invited select members of the press to its campus yesterday for product announcements. The main event was the new MacBook Pro, but Apple also had some iOS-related announcements. For example, Apple announced a new app for the Apple TV called, simply, TV. The TV app acts as a central place to watch television shows from other apps (like HBO), and makes it easy to pick up where you left off with a show. The iOS angle is that, before the end of this year, Apple will also bring a TV app to the iPhone and iPad. Luke Filipowicz of iMore has the details on the new TV app. Netflix is not included in the new TV app, but Brian Barrett of Wired reports that Netflix says that it is “evaluating the opportunity” so maybe it will be added in the future. And now, the news of note from the past week:
Tim Cook announced during yesterday’s announcement that the new Memories feature of the Photos app, which just came out in iOS 10, has already been used by people to watch 400 million videos of their photos/videos. Cook also said that 60% of users are already using iOS 10.
I had hoped that Apple would announce at yesterday’s event that its new AirPods bluetooth headphones are now available. Instead, as reported by Matthew Panzarino of TechCrunch, Apple announced this week that AirPods will not be available in October as originally announced. An Apple spokesperson said: “We don’t believe in shipping a product before it’s ready, and we need a little more time before AirPods are ready for our customers.” I’m very eager to try the new AirPods, so hopefully they will be available soon.
There were lots of Apple system software updates this week. iOS 10.1 came out, and if you have an iPhone 7 Plus you’ll want to upgrade to take advantage of the new Portrait Mode feature in the camera app. Andrew Cunningham of Ars Technica reports on all of the improvements.
If you have an Apple TV and you have kids, then I suspect that you will be a hero when you tell them that, as reported by Chance Miller of 9to5Mac (and announced at yesterday’s event), Minecraft is coming to Apple TV later this year.
Speaking of my kids … um, I mean kids in general, of course … Rene Ritchie of iMore reports that from now until November 1, there are additional treats in the Pokémon Go app (more candy awarded when you catch a Pokémon, etc.).
When you travel and check a bag, airlines have a way to keep track of where your luggage is located. Soon, you will too. Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac reports on an announcement by Delta this week that you will be able to track your bag’s location while you travel. It will be nice to have the peace of mind of knowing that your bag made it on the plane.
The iPod turned 15 years old this week, which prompted Rich Stevens of The Pixel Project to create this amusing comic strip for iMore.
I normally find myself agreeing with David Pogue of Yahoo, but this week he wrote, and created a video, explaining why he doesn’t like the Apple Watch. Read his article for his viewpoint, but I couldn’t disagree more. For example, in his short video he complains no less than three different times that you need to charge the Apple Watch every night. My response: so what? Why is this a problem? Don’t people normally take off a watch to go to sleep at night? The only explanation that he gives is that charging at night means that you cannot use the Apple Watch as a sleep tracker, but the fact that the Apple Watch cannot do one thing doesn’t take away from all of the amazing things that it does do during the day. I charge my iPhone every night too, but that doesn’t detract from it being a useful device.
And finally, if you want to buy a T-shirt, mug, water bottle, etc. with an Apple logo on it, you won’t find any such item at an Apple Store … unless you are shopping at the Apple Store on Apple’s main campus in Cupertino, CA. Zac Hall of 9to5Mac has a set of pictures showing off what the 1 Infinite Loop Apple Store looks like and some of the items that you can purchase at the store, such as this picture showing lots of T-shirt designs:
New survey results indicate that a record number of attorneys are using an iPhone in their law practice — 68.4%, up from 60.8% last year — and the number of attorney using iPads is also on the rise. These numbers come from the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center, which conducts a survey every year to gauge the use of legal technology by attorneys in private practice in the United States. The 2016 report is just now being released, and as always, I was particularly interested in Volume VI, titled Mobile Lawyers. No survey is perfect, but the ABA tries hard to ensure that its survey has statistical significance, and every year this is one of the best sources of information on how attorneys use technology. Note that the survey was conducted from January to May, so even though we are looking at these numbers in the Fall of 2016, remember that the survey answers were given in the first part of 2016. My reports on prior ABA surveys are located here: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010.
Almost seven out of ten attorneys use an iPhone
There were two notable changes in the survey results this year: more attorneys are using smartphones, and for those attorneys using smartphones, more of them are using an iPhone.
The survey asks each attorney “Do you use a smartphone (e.g. BlackBerry, iPhone, Android) for law-related tasks while away from your primary workplace?” In 2011 and 2012, the number of attorneys answering no was around 12%. In 2013, 2014 and 2015 that number hovered around 10%. In 2016, the number is down to an all-time low of 6.8%.
To be honest, I’m somewhat surprised the number is still that high. I find it hard to believe that there are many attorneys in 2016 not using a cellphone, and virtually every cellphone nowadays is a smartphone. And while I’m sure that there are some attorneys who have a smartphone or other cellphone and don’t use it for a law-related task, I would expect that number to be very low. If nothing else, don’t virtually all attorneys use a smartphone to check email? I guess not. According to this study, if you assemble a random sample of 100 U.S. attorneys in private practice, there still will be 6 or 7 in the group who don’t use a smartphone to check work-related emails. Presumably, that number will get even lower in future years.
As was the case in the last few years, once again in 2016 there was a slight correlation between law firm size and smartphone use. For example, in 2016, 10.5% of solo attorneys do not use a smartphone and 7.6% of attorneys in a firm of 2-9 do not use a smartphone. On the other hand, in firms with 50-499 attorneys, the attorneys not using a smartphone goes down to 3%-4%. Forr those attorneys in law firms of 500 or more attorneys, the number increases somewhat to 5.7%.
For those 93.2% of attorneys who are using smartphones, 73.6% reported in 2016 that they were using a personally owned smartphone, and 28.5% used a smartphone permanently assigned by their law firm. These percentages haven’t changed much in recent years.
Whether they buy it themselves or it is purchased by their law firm, what smartphones are attorneys using in 2016? In 2013, the big news was that over half of all attorneys were using an iPhone. In 2014 and 2015 the percentage was around 60%. But this year saw a big increase to 68.4%. Thus, we can now say that almost 70% of all attorneys in private practice in the U.S. are using an iPhone in their law practice, which is an all-time high.
Hopefully, all of them are reading iPhone J.D. regularly. Ahem.
If 68.4% of all attorneys are using an iPhone, and 6.8% of attorneys are not using any smartphone, what are the others using? Most of them are using an Android smartphone, although that number is down from previous years. Specifically, 21.2% are using an Android phone in 2016. The Android percentage was 20% in 2013, 22.3% in 2014 and 23.9% in 2015.
What about BlackBerry? Back in 2011, 40% of all attorneys used a BlackBerry, and I’m sure all of us remember a time when it was incredibly common to see another lawyer with a BlackBerry. However, BlackBerry use by attorneys has dropped sharply since 2011. In 2016, the number reached a new low of only 2.8%. As you may have seen in the news a few weeks ago, BlackBerry announced late last month that it was getting out of the hardware business completely. It is going to continue to develop software, and it is going work with other companies who will make similar smartphones that use the BlackBerry name. But with BlackBerry itself no longer making BlackBerries, I suspect that we are not far from the day when virtually no lawyers are using a BlackBerry device. Indeed, we are almost there now.
Finally, there are 1.9% of attorneys using some sort of Microsoft Windows operating system on their smartphone in 2016, and 0.7% of attorneys who say that they don’t know what kind of smartphone that they use.
If you add the numbers, you’ll notice that they add up to 101.8%. But it makes sense for the number to be slightly over 100% because I know that a small number of attorneys use multiple smartphones.
The following pie chart is somewhat imprecise because, as I just noted, the actual numbers add up to just over 100%, but if you don’t pay attention to the percentages listed on the pie chart and instead just generally look at the size of each slice of the pie, this pie chart gives you a general, graphical sense of the relative use:
To place these numbers in historical context, the following chart shows lawyer smartphone use over recent years. The two dramatic changes in this chart are of course the plunge in BlackBerry use and the surge in iPhone use. There has been a more gradual, but noticeable, decrease in the number of attorneys not using a smartphone at all. As for Android use, there was a slight increase from 2011 to 2015, but then a slight decrease in the last year. Microsoft Windows smartphone use over the years is so small that I have grouped together Windows, other, and those who don’t know what smartphone they are using into the “Other” category.
Why are attorneys choosing iPhone, Android or BlackBerry? Much like previous years, firm size seems to have something to do with it. Almost all of the attorneys still using a BlackBerry are at larger law firms, and the percentage of BlackBerry users increases as firm size increases. On the other hand, Android use is highest among solo attorneys. This chart shows what I mean:
What are these attorneys doing with their iPhones and other smartphones? Almost all are using them to make phone calls and handle emails. Around 75% are regularly using smartphones for calendars and contacts. Other popular uses are internet access, text messaging, GPS/maps, taking pictures and mobile-specific research apps. Only 10% use a smartphone to track time and expenses.
In recent years, more and more attorneys have said that they use a password to protect their smartphone — from 77% in 2011 up to 94% in 2015. I was disappointed to see that number drop slightly to 92% in 2016. Smartphone security is a big issue in the news, and of course security is especially important for attorneys who have confidential attorney-client information on their smartphone. It is time to see 100% of attorneys putting a passcode on their device. In 2016, that 100% number was reported for lawyers at larger firms (50 or more attorneys), but was as low as 88% for solo attorneys.
43% of attorneys use an iPad
Apple introduced the original iPad in 2010, and for the first few years it resulted in a surge in lawyer tablet use. In 2011, only 15% of all attorneys responded that they use a tablet. That number more than doubled to 33% in 2012, and rose to 48% in 2013. But since then, the number has essentially held steady: 49% in 2014, 49.6% in 2015, and 50.6% in 2016. Having said that, we can finally say that more than half of all attorneys now use a tablet in their law practice.
It used to be that around 90% of attorneys using a tablet were using an iPad. It was 89% in 2011, 91% in 2012, and 91% in 2013. From 2014 to 2016, that number has stayed around 84%.
As for the lawyers using a tablet but not using an iPad, in 2016 10.1% use Android, 5.2% use an older Windows Mobile device, 1.4% use the new Windows Surface, and 1.7% use something else or don’t know what they use.
Looking at the past six years on a chart shows visually how the percentage of attorneys using a tablet increased substantially from 2011 to 2013, and then has slowly inched to just over 50% this year. And even though iPad marketshare has been slightly lower in the last few years, the iPad is still the overwhelming choice for attorneys who use a tablet device.
That relationship between firm size and platform use seems to exist in the tablet world too. Of the attorneys using a tablet, only 75% of solo attorneys use an iPad, but that number is over 90% in many larger firms. Android tablet use is highest for solo attorneys, at 16%, but much lower in larger law firms, at only 2.1% in firms with 100 to 499 attorneys.
What are these attorneys doing with their iPads and other tablets? Pretty much the same thing that they are doing with their smartphones (other than the phone function), with over half of attorneys reporting that they are regularly using their tablets for internet access, email and calendars.
Popular apps
The survey also asked attorneys to identify apps that they use. I want to start by making the same objection that I made last year: I don’t like how the ABA asks the question. The ABA first asks “Have you ever downloaded a legal-specific app for your smartphone?” In 2016, 40.3% said yes. When I see the word “smartphone” in this question, I think of my iPhone, not my iPad. Then the next question asks: “What legal specific app(s) did you download?” When I read the questions in that order, I’m thinking of the apps that I downloaded on my iPhone, not my iPad. But others must be reading the question differently because I see TrialPad and TranscriptPad in the answers, and those apps exist only on the iPad, not on the iPhone. I would have never mentioned those apps when answering the question, even though I use them on my iPad.
So while I question how much value you can put in these answers, for what it is worth, the top 12 apps listed are, in order of the percentage of attorneys mentioning them:
Westlaw
Fastcase
Lexis Advance
A legal dictionary app
TrialPad
TranscriptPad
Courtlink
HeinOnline
LexisNexis Get Cases & Shepardize
LexisNexis Legal News
Clio
Westlaw News
The ABA then asked about general business apps, and the questions have the same ambiguity: the ABA first asked if the attorney ever downloaded a general business app to a smartphone (40.2% said yes), and then the ABA asked which apps were downloaded, without making it clear whether the question was asking about the iPhone and iPad. The answers provided were, in this order:
Dropbox
LinkedIn
Evernote
GoodReader
Documents to Go
QuickOffice
Box
LogMeIn
Notability
It amazes me that Microsoft Word is not on this list (nor was it on the list last year). It is surely one of the most useful general-purpose apps for lawyers, and it is now available for both iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.
Apple starts a new fiscal year at the end of September every year. Yesterday, Apple released the results for its 2016 fiscal fourth quarter (which ran from June 26, 2016 to September 24, 2016) and held a call with analysts to discuss the results. Note that Apple's largest financial quarter is always the first fiscal quarter (the one that we are in now) because it includes the holiday sales during November and December. As for the last fiscal quarter, the new iPhone 7 went on sale on September 16, so there was about a week of sales of the new iPhones included in the fiscal fourth quarter. Yesterday, Apple announced quarterly revenue of $46.9 billion and quarterly net profit of $9 billion. If you want to get all of the nitty gritty details, you can download the audio from the announcement conference call from iTunes, or you can read a rough transcript of the call prepared by Seeking Alpha. iMore also prepared a transcript. Apple's official press release is here.
As always, I'm not particularly interested in the financial aspects of this call. But I'm always interested in the statements of Apple executives that pertain to the use of the iPhone and iPad. Here are the items that stood out to me:
iPhone
Apple sold just over 45.5 million iPhones in the last fiscal quarter. By my count, that means that Apple has sold about 1,033,476,000 as of September 24, 2016. Sorry, it's not very often that I get to write a number that is over a billion, so it was fun to write that one out in full. Thanks for indulging me.
Worldwide demand for the iPhone 7, and especially the iPhone 7 Plus, significantly outpaces supply. By the end of the current quarter, Cook believes that Apple will be able to catch up with demand for the iPhone 7, but may not be able to catch up with iPhone 7 Plus demand Nevertheless, Apple says that it is working hard to catch up to demand, so if you are still waiting for your new iPhone, hopefully you will have it soon.
Apple sells iPhones to three groups of customers: new smartphone users, users switching from another brand (typically Android), and users upgrading from an older iPhone. Apple CEO Tim Cook announced yesterday that, looking at fiscal 2016 as a whole, Apple saw more switchers from Android in 2016 than ever before.
iPad
Apple sold almost 9.3 million iPads in the last fiscal quarter. By my count, that means that Apple has sold over 337 million iPads as of September 24, 2016.
Apple said that, according to the independent company NPD, 82% of tablets sold in the U.S. in the last quarter above $200 are iPads.
Etc.
Cook noted that Apple Pay continues to expand around the world. The service launched in Russia and New Zealand this month, and is coming to Spain in the next few months. There were more Apple Pay transactions in the month of September 2016 than all of fiscal 2015.
Cook said that Siri gets two billion requests every week, which means that Apple has shipped more assistant-enabled devices than any other company.
Apple expects that there will be over 100 HomeKit-compatible products on the market by the end of this year.
Cook was asked about what Apple is doing in the automobile space. I expected Cook to simply decline to discuss theoretical unannounced products, but Cook said a little more than that: "I can't speak about rumors, but as you know, we look for ways that we can improve the experience and the customers' experience on different sets of products, and we are always looking at new things. And the car space in general is an area that it's clear that there is a lot of technologies that will either become available or will be able to revolutionize the car experience. And so it's interesting from that point of view, but nothing to, certainly nothing to announce today."
Cook was also asked about Apple's plans for television. Cook said: "I would confirm that television has intense interest with me and many other people here. In terms of owning content and creating content, we have started with focusing on some original content, as you point out. We've got a few things going there that we've talked about. And I think it's a great opportunity for us, both from a creation point of view and an ownership point of view. And so it's is an area that we're focused on."
You probably have a single spot at your home where you charge your Apple Watch every night. If you want to charge your Apple Watch away from home, you need another way to do so, such as bringing an Apple Watch charging cord and a USB power plug with you. But what if you don’t have easy access to a wall outlet? One solution is a self-contained Apple Watch charger, and that is what I am reviewing today: the Apple Watch Portable Charger by Archeer. Archeer sent me a free review sample of this device, and I’ve been using it for the last few weeks. You can buy it for $35.99 on Amazon.
The device is circular in shape. It is 1 1/8″ high with a diameter of 3″. To charge an Apple Watch, you simply press the side button on the Archeer charger once to turn it on, and then place your watch on top of the device.
The bottom of the device has a rubber pad in the middle so that it has friction and won’t slide around on a flat surface.
The Archeer device has a 1500mAh battery inside of it. Archeer says that is enough to charge an Apple Watch from 0% to 100% three times. If you press a button on the side of the device, between one and four blue lights will illuminate to give you a sense of how much power the battery has left. You recharge the battery in this device by using a Lightning cable (not included) plugged in to the port next to those four lights.
This device does not come with a charger for the Apple Watch itself. You need to supply your own Apple Watch charging cable, such as the one that came with your Apple Watch or another one that you buy from Apple for $29. I discussed this issue when I reviewed the Studio Neat Material Dock last week; because third party Apple Watch chargers are not as good as what Apple sells, you are probably better off using an official Apple cord. But since it is somewhat cumbersome to remove the charging cord from this Archeer device, you might want to buy an extra one and just keep it in this device all the time, which raises the total effective price of this device from $36 to $65.
To add your Apple Watch charging cord to this Archeer device, you untwist the silver top. Then you need to plug the USB end of the charging cord into the device — which is actually more difficult than it should be because of the awkward angle and the limited space provided. Then you wrap the remainder of the cord around the inside of the device. Finally, you place the charging end on top.
Apple makes two different types of watch chargers. The less expensive Apple Watch models (like the one that Apple used to call the Apple Watch Sport) include a white plastic charger. The cord included with the more expensive models has a white top but a silver metal on the charging end — that’s the version you see in this pictures. The metal charger is a little bit thinner than the plastic charger. Accordingly, this Archeer device provides you with a thin piece of foam that you can add to the top to provide a little extra height if you are using the silver metal charger. Thus, both types of chargers will be at the right level at the top of this Archeer device.
In my tests over the last few weeks, this device works as advertised. I took a business trip to Denver and put this device on the nightstand next to my bed in my hotel room. It charged my watch overnight, and I didn’t have to worry about finding an outlet close to the bed. (I’ve never understood why so many hotels fail to provide an accessible and unused outlet next to each nightstand!)
It is rare that I need to charge my Apple Watch during the day, especially my 42mm Apple Watch Series 2. But my wife has the first generation 38mm Apple Watch, which has a smaller battery inside, and she occasionally finds her watch going into power reserve mode at the end of the day because battery power is low. If you like the idea of having an easy way to boost your Apple Watch power during the day — perhaps because you use a 38mm model, or perhaps because you use apps that run down the battery more quickly — a portable, self-contained device like this is a nice accessory. In my tests with both my new 42mm Apple Watch Series 2 and my original 42mm Apple Watch, this Archeer charger typically added about 5% of battery life approximately every seven minutes. (That’s roughly the same speed that the Apple Watch charging cord adds power to my watch when it is connected directly to a wall outlet.)
After living with this device for a few weeks, my conclusion is that it works well, but I’m not sure that I really need it. I virtually never need to charge my Apple Watch during the day, and at night when I travel I already have lots of other devices that I need to charge — iPhone, Apple Watch, etc. — so if I have to set up near an outlet for those devices, I can do the same for my watch. But of course, everyone has different needs. If you like the idea of being able to recharge your Apple Watch no matter where you are, without having to find an outlet, using a small and light self-contained device, then the Archer Apple Watch Power Charger does this for you for $36 (plus $29 if you decide to add a dedicated charging cord and you don’t already have an extra one).
Apple has invited select members of the press to its campus on Thursday, October 27 for a product announcement at 10 Pacific / 1 Eastern. This is widely expected to be an event focused on updates to Apple’s laptop and desktop computers, but there is always the possibility that Apple will announce something related to iOS, such as perhaps an updated iPad. (The invitation simply says “Hello again,” which as Stephen Hackett notes is a throwback to previous Apple Mac announcements.) This is also expected to be the last product announcement event that Apple will host on its current campus; by next year, the new Apple Campus 2 (which features a main building in the shape of a huge circle) should be ready with its new auditorium. For all of us who did not get an invitation, there will be a live stream on Apple’s website. And now, the news of note from the past week:
John Gruber of Daring Fireball reports that, according to Patently Apple, Apple has filed suit against a company that was selling counterfeit power adapters and charging cables on Amazon, claiming that they were made by Apple. Apparently, even if you buy a product that says it is sold “by Amazon.com,” it can still be a cheap counterfeit.
For those of you who remember the days when Apple and IBM were competitors, here is an interesting article by Dennis Sellers of Apple World Today. IBM now has the largest Mac deployment in the world, and is adding 1,300 new Macs every week. IBM reports that it is three times more expensive to support PCs than to support Macs. And 66% of IBM employees use iPhones and/or iPads. We’ve come a long way from this picture.
The Simpsons celebrated 600 episodes — impressive! — with a VR version of the coach gag. As reported by Matt Brian of Engadget, you can download the free Spotlight Stories app to see it on your iPhone. It works even better if you have Google Cardboard, but that isn’t required.
I’ll admit it. One of my guilty pleasures on my iPhone is Candy Crush. When I have a few minutes to kill, it is a fun way to pass the time. But what if you want even more Candy Crush in your life? Nellie Andreeva of Deadline Hollywood reports that a Candy Crush game show is coming to CBS. No explanation of how you are supposed to swipe on your TV screen.
And finally, David Pogue of Yahoo put together a great list of hidden iOS 10 tips. This video is worth watching for the magnifier tip alone. If you don’t want to watch the video, or if the embedded video below isn’t working, you can read all of the tips (and view the video) here.
What do you do with your Apple Watch and iPhone when you go to bed at night? If you are like me, you keep them close to your bed, such as on a nightstand, so that they are with easy reach as you go to bed and when you wake up. And of course you want to charge your devices every night. You can just use their charging cords to do so, but then the cords fall off of the table when you are not using them and everything gets messy. The solution is to have a dock to hold those cords and charge your iPhone or Apple Watch — or better yet, both. The Material Dock by Studio Neat is a charger made to be used on a nightstand or desk. It comes in two versions, one for just the iPhone ($45), and one for both the iPhone and Apple Watch ($70). Studio Neat sent me a free sample of the iPhone and Apple Watch model to review, and I’ve been using it for a few weeks now. I really like this dock. It has a few drawbacks that for some folks will make something like the Spigen Apple Watch Night Stand (which I reviewed last year) a better option, but it has some advantages too, such as its professional appearance and the ability to charge both an iPhone and an Apple Watch.
The Material Dock is an attractive dock. The base is made of solid walnut and has a matte finish. The part that holds up an iPhone or Apple Watch is made of cork. Unless that lighter wood color scheme doesn’t work in your room, I think that most folks would consider this a very professional looking product, whether it is used in a bedroom on a nightstand or in an office on a desk. The wood is a nice contrast to the glass and metal of the iPhone and Apple Watch. And these materials are also environmentally friendly and recyclable.
The two guys behind Studio Neat — Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt — have designed lots of other interesting products for the iPhone (plus some cool cocktail tools), and they have a podcast with Myke Hurley called Thoroughly Considered. On episode 18, they have an interesting discussion of the design and production of this product, including how they selected the wood, cork, and other materials used to make this.
The dock holds your iPhone in the middle. The dock holds your Apple Watch in the front, and has a round shape which allows the band to naturally curve around the dock. And unlike some docks that hold your Apple Watch with the buttons on the side, Studio Neat positions the Apple Watch with its buttons on top, which is the orientation that lets you use the Nightstand mode. The nightstand mode is incredibly useful when an Apple Watch is charging because you can see the time, date and other information. I would never want to use a dock for the Apple Watch that lacked this orientation.
It is very easy to place the iPhone in the dock. And you can be very casual about placing the watch on the dock; the magnet always puts the Apple Watch where it needs to be. Even when the lights are turned off in my bedroom, I find it easy to put both of my devices on the Material Dock.
The Material Dock has some assembly required, but it is incredibly easy to do, and the Studio Neat website has pictures and videos that walk you through the process. Here is what you get in the box:
What you don’t get are the cords necessary to charge your devices. You have to supply a Lightning cable to charge your iPhone, and you have to supply the Apple Watch charging cord to charge your watch. However, you do get everything else that you need, including even a small (and very high quality) screwdriver.
The cork that holds the iPhone up is adjustable. This means that you can adjust the distance between the Lightning connector and the back of the iPhone, so the Material Dock can support an iPhone with virtually any case on it. The instructions explain how to keep the middle cork loose, then slide it close to your iPhone, and then tighten the screws so that in the future it is a perfect fit. I sometimes use Apple’s leather case on my iPhone, so I configured the dock for that case. But I also find that when I’m not using the case, the dock still holds up my iPhone just fine.
The bottom of the Material Dock has groves to hold both of the cords in precisely the right position. There are other fasteners that ensure that the Lightning connector on the top of the unit is very sturdy and won’t move around as you are putting your iPhone on and off of the dock. Likewise, the Apple Watch charger is firmly in place.
The net result is that both chargers work perfectly in this dock. But there is a downside: it is cumbersome to remove the cords from the Material Dock, so I suspect that you will want to just keep them there all of the time. I suspect that many iPhone J.D. readers already have lots of Lightning cords, but you may only have one Apple Watch charging cord. Thus, if you use this dock with the cord that came with your Apple Watch, you’ll probably want to spend $29 for an extra Apple Watch charging cord to use when you travel. On the podcast episode that I mentioned above, the guys at Studio Neat explained that they looked into buying third party cords to include with the device, but they were unsatisfied with the quality compared to the superior cords made by Apple. Thus, they decided that it was better to ask folks to use their Apple cords with the Material Dock (and buy new ones if necessary) to end up with a high quality dock. I think that this was the right decision, but if you need to buy an extra Apple Watch charging cord you might think of this as a $99 product instead of a $70 product.
Contrast this to the Spigen Apple Watch Night Stand that I really like; it is super easy to remove the Apple Watch charging cable from that stand, so you don’t need to have an extra charging cable for when you are away from home.
The bottom of the Material Dock has a micro-suction pad. It does an excellent job of holding the dock steady on a flat surface. I placed the Material Dock on the nightstand next to my bed, and it is very sturdy. Even though the Lightning connector holds my iPhone very well, I can remove my iPhone just using one hand and the base never moves. It just works.
Because micro-suction is just a bunch of tiny suction cups, you can remove the Material Dock without leaving any sticky residue on the surface of your table. I had no trouble moving the Material Dock when I pulled up the dock slowly. Note, however, that I see that Josh Centers posted a review of this product for TidBITS, and he reported:
The Material Dock perhaps sticks a little too well. I had to remove it to make some adjustments, and it took some of my nightstand’s finish with it! My nightstand is kind of beat up anyway, but you might not want to place the Material Dock on any family heirlooms.
I don’t know anything about the nature of the nightstand that Josh Centers was using, and again, I didn’t see this problem at all.
The Material Dock has a few drawbacks; you may need to buy an extra cord (or two) to use it, and depending upon the surface to which you are attaching the dock, I suppose you might need to be careful about moving it. But otherwise, this is an excellent product. I have been very happy using the Material Dock on the nightstand next to my bed for the last few weeks, so much so that I don’t think I’ll go back to the Spigen stand. It is just so convenient to have both the iPhone and Apple Watch in a central location on a nice looking stand. Plus, it keeps your two devices in a compact location, so they are not sprawled out all over your nightstand or desk. If you are looking for a sturdy, attractive dock for both your iPhone and Apple Watch, one that works well and keeps your Apple Watch in the correct orientation to use the Nightstand feature, you should definitely consider this product.
