This week’s episode of the In the News podcast opens with an extensive discussion of emojis. Yes, we discuss the latest emojis approved by the Unicode Consortium and Apple’s fun new game for Apple TV+ called Emjoi Game, digging deeper into the two topics I discussed in yesterday’s post. But Brett Burney and I also examine the interesting impact that emojis have on civil and criminal litigation. Next, we explore why Apple has decided to invest $500 million into the company MP Materials for rare earth magnets and what impact this is likely to have on the Apple devices that you and I purchase in the future. We also review the initial results from the recently completed Apple Heart & Movement Study, the ongoing Apple Health Study, the Research app on the iPhone that uses data from an Apple Watch, and what all of this may mean for your health in the future. We then turn to the upcoming iOS 26 Maps app, share useful iPad tips, discuss CarPlay Ultra, explore the history of the crayon color picker, highlight recent Apple TV+ Emmy nominations, and more.
In our In the Know segment, we share some Siri music tips. Brett discusses using Siri with Spotify, and I discuss letting Siri pick music that matches what you are doing and what you are in the mood for.
Yesterday was World Emoji Day. This year, that meant two things for users of the iPhone and iPad. First, the Unicode Consortium announced several new emojis that will be included in the next version of the standard, giving us a sneak peek at upcoming options for text messages and other uses. As William Gallagher of AppleInsider noted, eight new emojis were announced yesterday: Apple Core, Ballet Dancers, Bigfoot, Distorted Face, Fight Cloud, Orca, Treasure Chest, and Trombone. The Unicode standard offers general descriptions for each emoji, but individual platforms design their own unique versions. I suspect that in Spring 2026, we will see the Apple designs for these new emojis as they are unveiled in a future update to iOS 26. Second, if you subscribe to Apple News+ (either on its own or as part of the Apple One bundle), yesterday Apple added a new game called Emoji Game. This clever and entertaining casual game is worth checking out. The game provides you with a phrase that is missing some letters (think Wheel of Fortune) along with a clue. Players must select one or more emojis to fill in the blanks. For example, in one of the debut puzzles, the phrase consisted of two words. The first word, which was five letters long, turned out to be “DREAM.” To solve it, players needed to select two emojisāthe sleeping face (š“) and the thought balloon (š)āand drag them into the blanks. As for the second word … I won’t spoil it, but it did make me chuckle. I enjoy casual games like this on that don’t require racing against the clock or quick reflexes; they’re simply fun diversions that can be enjoyed in a few seconds or minutes. It looks like the Emoji Game is going to join other games like Wurdle and the New York Times crossword puzzle that are a part of my regular rotation. And now, the news š° of note šµ from the past week šļø:
Rare earth metals are, according to Reuters, “a group of 17 elements” that are “used in a wide range of products including consumer electronics,” especially by companies like Apple. Despite their name, these elements are not “rare” in the sense of being uncommon, as they are found throughout the world. However, they typically occur only in small quantities and are expensive to mine. As that Reuters article notes, China currently controls about 90% of the world’s rare earth magnet output. Lisa Eadicicco of CNN reported this week that Apple announced a plan to spend $500 million over a number of years to buy rare earth magnets from a U.S. company, MP Materials. Some of these rare earth magnets will be produced from recycled materials, including used electronics and post-industrial scrap, at a new recycling facility in California. Apple will also help MP Materials to build a plant in Fort Worth, Texas, which starting in 2027 will eventually provide materials for hundreds of millions of Apple devices. This initiative will enable Apple to reduce its dependence on imports from China and increase the global supply of rare earth magnets. Apple announced that “nearly all magnets across Apple devices” in use today “are made with 100 percent recycled rare earth elements,” and Apple believes that it will have even more access to this critical material as a result of this investment.
The upcoming watchOS 26 does not introduce many new features to the Apple Watch, but one that I am eagerly anticipating is the new wrist flick gesture, which can be used to dismiss notifications. Tim Hardwick of MacRumors notes that this feature will only work on three models: the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. Those are the same models that support the Double Tap gesture that was added in watchOS 10.1 (released on October 25, 2023).
The Research app on the iPhone allows users to participate anonymously in various studies that utilize data from their iPhone and Apple Watch. I’m currently participating in one sponsored by Apple and Birgham and Women’s Hospital called the Apple Health Study. One study that is now completed is the Apple Heart & Movement Study, which started on November 14, 2019, and ended on March 1, 2025. Apple has now released an academic paper from that study, and according to William Gallagher of Apple Insider, the paper is called Beyond Sensor Data: Foundation Models of Behavioral Data from Wearables Improve Health Predictions. That may not be the most catchy title, but the findings are pretty interesting (although not yet peer-reviewed). For example, the data reveals that devices like the Apple Watch can be used to predict general infection with 76% accuracy, diabetes with 82% accuracy, and pregnancy with 92% accuracy. Impressive.
Chance Miller of 9to5Mac describes an interesting feature coming to Apple Maps in iOS 26: the (optional) ability to (securely and privately) keep track of the places that you visit. I could see this being useful when, for example, I’m trying to remember an interesting restaurant or shop that I visited in the past.
Michael Teo Van Runkle of Ars Technica spent a week trying out the new CarPlay Ultra (currently only available in Aston Martin cars), and wrote a detailed report with lots of pictures.
Emmy Award nominations were announced this week, and as Juli Clover of MacRumors notes, Apple did great, receiving 81 Emmy Award nominations. The shows with the most nominations were Severance and The Studio, but the other Apple TV+ shows nominated were Dark Matter, Presumed Innocent, Slow Horses, Shrinking, The Gorge, Bad Sisters, Dope Thief, Pachinko, Your Friends and Neighbors, Deaf President Now!, and Bono: Stories of Surrender.
Erik Pedersen of Deadline reports that Severance, with 27 nominations, got the most nominations of any show from any network. The only other shows with over 20 nominations were The Studio, HBO’s The Penguin, and HBO’s The White Lotus. HBO (with 142 nominations) and Netflix (with 120 nominations) received the most overall nominations, although they had a much larger number of shows in contention. Apple TV+ had a more limited roster, but a high percentage of its shows received nominations.
Marcus Mendes of 9to5Mac notes each category in which Apple TV+ got nominations. It got two of the eight nominations for Best Drama (Severance and Slow Horses), two of the eight nominations for Best Comedy (Shrinking and The Studio), and dominated the Comedy Guest Actor category with five of the seven nominations for five guest stars in The Studio (Bryan Cranston, Dave Franco, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsesse, and Anthony Mackie). It’s so nice to see up-and-comers like Ron Howard, Martin Scorsesse, and Bryan Cranston finally get some recognition.
It’s not just the industry insiders who like Severance. Hartley Charlton of MacRumors reports that Nielsen has identified the most viewed original streaming titles in the first half of 2025, and Severance is #5 on the list. (I’ll also give a shout-out to the HBO show The Pitt, which was #7 on the list and which I really enjoyed).
John Calhoun tells the story of how he came up with the crayon color picker for the Mac in the mid-1990s and almost got fired because of an Easter Egg in it. (I first became aware of Calhoun because of his game Glider, originally published as shareware for the Mac in 1988.)
And finally, here is a new video from Apple called Clean Up Photos: Cat, which shows how you can useāor not useāthis Apple Intelligence feature in the Photos app.
In 2009, photographer Chase Jarvis published a book titled The Best Camera Is The One Thatās With You, which featured pictures he took with an iPhone. While the iPhone’s camera quality in 2009 was far inferior to today’s standards, Jarvis emphasized that you can take great pictures with any cameraāthe key is having it with you when inspiration strikes. That remains a key reason that I love taking pictures with my iPhone. Unlike my Nikon DSLR camera, which is so bulky that I only take it with me on special occasions, my iPhone is always in my pocket. But sometimes, the iPhone alone is not enough; you also need a tripod to capture the perfect shot. For example, you might want to position your iPhone in one spot and control the shutter remotely so you can be in the photo. Or perhaps you want to keep the camera very steady to minimize blur and artifacts as you are taking a picture. Even when you’re not taking pictures, a tripod can be useful during FaceTime, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams calls, or simply when watching videos on your iPhone. The challenge is that, while you always have your iPhone with you, you probably don’t carry a tripod everywhere.
The Pocket Tripod by Geometrical aims to solve that problem. It is a tripod for the iPhone that folds down to the size of a credit card. This allows you to easily carry it in your wallet, purse, briefcase, or pocket at all times. I purchased one a few months ago, and I’ve found it to be very handy.
Design
The idea for the Pocket Tripod has been around for quite some time. Back in 2013, there was an article on Gizmodo by Steve Wozniakāyes, that Steve Wozniak, the one who co-founded Apple in the 1970s with Steve Jobs and who is commonly called “Woz”āpraising an item on Kickstarter called the Pocket Tripod 360Āŗ. Woz explained that, as a frequent traveler, he appreciated the idea of a portable device to prop up his iPhone for watching videos. After hearing about the Pocket Tripod, Woz remarked:
Sometimes the simplest things are the most useful, but rarely something makes me shake my head at how clever and cool it is like the Pocket Tripod 360Āŗ has. I keep thinking āwhy didnāt someone do this beforeā and āwhat a great idea that I wish Iād thought of.ā Iām still blown away that the angle is adjustable like that.
That original model was made entirely of plastic and designed for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5. A second-generation version added universal adapters, allowing it to be used with almost any smartphone. A third-generation model introduced carbon fiber legs and a more robust design.
The current version of the Pocket Tripod is the fourth generation, and that is the model I purchased a few months ago. The full name is the Pocket Tripod PROv2 Universal Kit, and it sells for $39.95. This fourth-generation version adds 1/4-inch threads so that you can use the Pocket Tripod with professional photography equipment.
When folded up, the Pocket Tripod is the length and width of a credit card and the thickness (and weight) of two credit cards. I’ve had it in my wallet for many months now, and I never notice that it is in there unless I pull it out.
Twisting the Pocket Tripod in the middle transforms it into a shape that resembles a triangle.
Next, fold up the two sides.
Now, you have something that can hold an iPhone. Simply slip the iPhone into the two adapter slots. Then, you can adjust the angle to make your iPhone screen (if you want to watch it) or camera (if you are taking a photo or video) go up or down.
If you want, you can easily separate each half of the Pocket Tripod. If your iPhone is in landscape mode, this allows you to spread the Pocket Tripod apart to obtain better stability.
I purchased the matte black version, but there are other colors available if you want something more eye-catching.
Adaptable to many different sizes
The Pocket Tripod holds the iPhone securely. It can do this because you select an adapter that works best for your iPhone model andāif you use oneāthe size of your iPhone case.
There are nine different sizes to choose from in the box. The Pocket Tripod comes with a “fit card” to help you select the best size. For my iPhone 16 Pro Max, which I use without a case, I selected the 8.0 mm size. If you have a thick case, like an Otterbox, you’ll want one of the larger adapters. If one of the nine included adapters doesn’t work for you, Geometrical sells other adapter sizes for $4.50 a pair.
Using the Pocket Tripod
When I first received my Pocket Tripod, it took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to twist it into the tripod shape and select the best adapter size. The included instructions are very clear. After that, I could easily remove the Pocket Tripod from my wallet and set it up in under 30 seconds. It is very easy.
Although the Pocket Tripod is very thin, it is sturdy and surprisingly strong. Its strength comes in part from carbon fiber coated with plastic. Here is an interesting video from the manufacturer that shows how the Pocket Tripod is made:
I’ve used the Pocket Tripod to take a picture of family and friends when I wanted to be in the picture. I set up my iPhone on the Pocket Tripod and then used the Camera Remote app on my Apple Watch to trigger the countdown timer for the picture. If you don’t have an Apple Watch, you can use the Voice Control function to tell your iPhone to take a picture; Tim Hardwick of MacRumors explains how to do so in this article. Or you can purchase a Bluetooth shutter remote for the iPhone.
I have also used the Pocket Tripod to hold my iPhone steady during a FaceTime call and while watching a YouTube video. That works great.
I’ve also used the Pocket Tripod to keep my iPhone as still as possible while taking photos at night in low light. I use the Camera Remote app on my Apple Watch with the three-second countdown timer turned off, allowing me to take a picture instantly without risking any movement from touching the iPhone
Keeping the iPhone steady is also essential for timelapse photography.
As noted above, a new feature of this fourth-generation model is that it contains two 1/4-inch threads. You can use either of those holes to attach the Pocket Tripod to a stand, which I imagine could be useful if you need some height or if you want more flexibility in where you place the tripod. For example, I have an older model of the excellent JOBY GorillaPod (somewhat similar to this model), and I can screw that into the Pocket Tripod. So far, however, I’ve only tested this setup; in real-world use, I typically only have the Pocket Tripod and my iPhone with me. Any time that I think to pack my GorillaPod, I also bring my Glif (my review), an even better device for attaching an iPhone to a 1/4-inch thread.
I’m a big fan of the Pocket Tripod. It’s so small and lightweight that I always have it with me, eliminating the need to plan ahead or pack extra equipment. Whether you use it for photography or simply to prop up your iPhone while viewing the screen, it’s a useful device and makes a great gift for any iPhone owner.
We start this weekās episode of the podcast discussing the iPhone 3G, which was released 17 years ago (time flies!) and was a big step forward for the iPhone. We also discuss how AI is changing medicine and why Apple is uniquely positioned to take advantage of that. Next, we discuss numerous ways that the beta versions of iOS 26 and similar upcoming releases for the iPad and Apple Watch are changing, how football is coming to CarPlay, how Apple makes the iPhone and other products so durable, and lots of new content on AppleTV+.
In our In the Know segment, Brett explains how you can view your body temperature as measured by the Apple Watch, and I discuss the steps to take if you want an Action button on an iPhone to do different things at different times of the day.
Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just listen using your podcast player of choice. You can also watch the episode on YouTube:
Seventeen years ago today, on July 11, 2008, I woke up very early so that, before dawn, I could show up at the AT&T store near my law firm and wait in line for an iPhone. This wasn’t the original iPhone, which was released in 2007 and sold about 6 million units. But the iPhone 3G was a major advance. It used the new 3G network, which was two to three times faster than EDGE on the original iPhone. It was the first iPhone with GPS. It was a better design, with edges that sloped to make the iPhone feel thinner in the hand. It came with the App Store, which Apple launched the same day. And critically for me, it supported Microsoft Exchange email, which meant that I could use it to get my law firm email, allowing this device to replace my Palm Treo 650. With all of these improvements, this model was a hit. Apple would eventually sell about 15 million units. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t have the iPhone 3G in my hands on opening day becuase that AT&T store only had in stock two of the models that I wanted (the black one with 16GB instead of 8GB). I was fifth in line. But I paid my money and ordered one, and my iPhone 3G arrived on July 22, 2008. The iPhone quickly became a key part of my law practice and my life. Two months later, I wrote about what made the iPhone 3G so special in an article on the ABA TECHSHOW blogāan article that seems to be lost to time. Two months after that, I took a picture of my iPhone 3G to create a banner for this website and wrote an updated version of that article to become the post that started iPhone J.D. on November 17, 2008. I know that there are many attorneys like me who started using an iPhone in 2008 because of the iPhone 3G that was released seventeen years ago today. And now, the news of note from the past week:
The biggest topic in all of technology today, including legal tech, is AI. Attorney Stephen Embry wrote an article for Above the Law in which he notes that Microsoft has announced an AI tool that is four times better than human doctors in making a diagnosis. I agree with Embry’s conclusion that AI has just as much potential as an aid to lawyers as it does as an aid to doctors.
Marko Zivkovic of AppleInsider reports that Apple has a new AI model that can predict your health based on data from your Apple Watch.
Although I’m not using the beta versions of iOS 26 or iPadOS 26, it is interesting to read about how Apple is tweaking and improving the software to prepare for the official launch in a few months. For example, a great feature on the Mac is the ability to shake the cursor to make it get bigger to help you find it on a screen. Chris Lawley notes on Mastodon that this feature was just added to the beta version of iPadOS 26 so that you can more easily find the cursor whenever you are using a trackpad or a mouse. Excellent addition.
David Sparks of MacSparky discusses the fact that the Liquid Glass interface in the beta is becoming a little less see-through.`
In a post on Threads, Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac shares pictures from the beta of watchOS 26 to show that while the prior beta version had light effects that were like a “disco ball” of colors, the latest beta is much calmer.
Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac describes an interesting new feature coming to Apple Maps in iOS 26. Maps learns the routes that you travel regularlyāsuch as your work commuteāand then if Apple learns of significant delays, the Maps app can warn you before you even begin to travel.
If you want some football while you are driving, Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reports that some NFL teams now have apps that support CarPlay, including the New Orleans Saints (Who Dat!), Buffalo Bills, and Chicago Bears.
I’m amazed how long it has been since Apple was forced by a court to remove the blood oxygen feature from Apple Watch units sold in the United States due to its litigation against Masimo. I assumed that Apple would have settled by now. Instead, Blake Brittain of Reuters reports that Apple appealed the decision and this week presented appellate oral argument to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. One of Apple’s arguments on appeal is that the U.S. International Trade Commission should not have entered the ban because Masimo wasn’t selling a device that used the patents in 2021, when Massimo sued Apple. My understanding is that, on average, it takes about six months after oral argument to get a decision from that court, so we may not see this issue resolved in 2025.
I was in an airport a few weeks ago and my iPhoneāwhich was not in a caseāslipped out of my hands and onto the hard floor. I feared the worst, but my iPhone doesn’t even have a scratch on it. Wow, and whew! This doesn’t just happen automatically. Apple works hard to make the iPhone as durable as it can. The folks at the website Counterpoint were recently given an opportunity to see and take pictures of one of Apple’s durability labs in Cupertino, California, to see how Apple stress tests devices to make them as strong as possible.
Wes Davis of Gizmodo reviews the Eero Pro 7. I have three Eero Pro devices in my home, and they work great for all of the reasons I noted in this review in 2020. I’m using the second generation of Eero devices. The Eero Pro 7 is one of the fifth generation of Eero devices. (Both the Eero 7 and the Eero Pro 7 were released in February 2025.) Based on my experience, I would definitely recommend Eero devices for anyone looking to improve the Wi-Fi in their home. Today is the last day of Amazon Prime Day, and. you can currently get a Eero Pro 7 3-pack (enough to cover up to 6,000 square feet) on Amazon for only $594.99, which is a discount of over $100 and appears to be the lowest price ever for this great product.
Here’s one more discount worth noting on Amazon today. I absolutely love the Anker Laptop Power Bank that I reviewed a few months ago. I use it often, and it works great. I bought it when it was on sale for $94.99, but then the price increased. Today on Amazon, it is down to $94.99 again. If you have been thinking about getting a portable power bank, this one is great. I love the display, the built-in cords, how it packs a ton of power, and everything else.
If you use Wemo smarthome products in your house, you will want to read this report by Chance Miller of 9to5Mac. Belkin announced this week that it is getting out of the smarthome market and its Wemo app will stop working after January 31, 2026. Fortunately, if you have a Wemo product that supports HomeKit, it will continue to work; just use Apple’s Home app to control the device.
I’m a big fan of the Apple Vision Pro, and it has been fun to watch the device improve since Apple first previewed the device over two years ago. Dan Moren of Six Colors has been writing about Apple products for about two decades, but he first started using a Vision Pro about a week ago. His first (of many) posts about the Apple Vision Pro is here. It is great to see the perspective from someone who is brand new to the device, such as the first time that the device made him say “whoa.” I still have lots of “Whoa!” moments with my Vision Pro.
The Apple movie F1 (which I reviewed a few days ago) is a box office hit. According to Jordan Hart of Business Insider, the box office receipts have already covered the cost of making the movie, and I’m sure it will continue to do well for a few more weeks. That sort of makes it a free movie for Apple to eventually bring to its Apple TV+ streaming service. (I look forward to watching it again using the virtual huge screen of my Vision Pro.) As I noted in my review, I really enjoyed the movie, and I hope that the success inspires Apple to create even more fantastic movies to complement the great TV shows on Apple TV+.
One of the best shows on Apple TV+ is Foundation, and Season 3 starts today. (Technically, Apple released it a few hours early on Thursday, as noted by Marcus Mendes of 9to5Mac.) Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac summarizes some of the early reviews of Season 3 from critics who got a sneak peek, and it appears that this will be an incredible season. I certainly know what I’ll be watching tonight!
I’ve also been enjoying Murderbot on Apple TV+, a show based on the bestselling and award-winning book series by Martha Wells. The Season 1 finale comes out today, and Apple announced yesterday that the show has been renewed for a second season.
According to my teenage son, who is the video game expert in my family, this game has been around for a while on other platforms. But I just learned about it, and it is included with an Apple Arcade subscription: Suika Game+. It’s a fun, very casual game that reminds me of a cross between Tetris and Candy Crush. And it’s cute. If you have an Apple Arcade subscriptionāI do because it is part of the Apple One bundleāI encourage you to check it out this weekend.
And finally, if you watch Foundation and want to prepare for Season 3, Apple posted a video with five of the best moments from the first two seasons. It is fun to watch:
My two-word review of the new movie from Apple: it’s great!
This past weekend, my son and I saw Apple’s new movie, F1 The Movie, in an IMAX theater. I know nothing about racing, I’ve never seen an F1 competition before, and I’m not a car enthusiast. But none of that stopped me from having more fun than I’ve had in a movie theater in a very long time. My son loved it, too.
The photography is so incredible, and the editing is so tight, that this film is exhilarating to watch. My heart was pumping the entire time. When the movie was over, we smiled with that same feeling you have after you ride a really fun roller coaster.
To be fair, this is yet another sports movie in which the protagonists overcome adversity. But the fact that the outcome is predictable doesn’t change how much fun the journey is along the way. I’m sure that this will be a fun movie to watch in the future on Apple TV+ (especially using an Apple Vision Pro), but the IMAX screen and theater sound system were perfect for this film. When you go to a movie theater to watch a summer blockbuster, this is the type of movie that you always hope to see.
Although Apple has had a large number of fantastic series on Apple TV+, most of Apple’s movies have been just fine, nothing special. But F1 is special. I hope that Apple takes what it learned from this movie and makes many more that are equally enjoyable.
In this Fourth of July episode of the In the News podcast, Brett Burney and I start with a red, white, and blue discussion of Apple Watch bands. Next, we discuss some of the interesting new features coming in iOS 26 and watchOS 26. We discuss the next new version of the GoodNotes app for the iPad, which is coming out this Fall. And we also share some travel tips.
In our Where Yāat? segment, we go deep on using the satellite text messaging feature of the iPhone when no cellular service is available, sharing some details of Brettās recent use of the service.
In our In the Know segment, we both share tips and information on using Eufy camerasāboth a video doorbell camera and and the new eufyCam S3 Pro.
As we observe Independence Day in Americaāour annual celebration of the hard-fought freedom to not be subject to the unchecked whims of a monarchāthe #1 app in the “Social” category of the App Store sits at the intersection of the iPhone and the law. Amid recent reports that the federal government has shifted its focus from violent illegal immigrants to legal immigrants with viewpoints that the Trump administration disagrees with, and with the President himself discussing plans to deport even U.S. citizens, Joshua Aaron decided to create an iPhone app. In an interview with Callum Sutherland of Time magazine, Aaron explained: “When I saw what was going on in this country, I just really felt like I had to do something.” Aaron’s free app is called ICEBlock. The app displays a map of the user’s current location and shows any reported ICE sightings in that area. A user can report an ICE sighting by tapping a button. Reece Rogers of Wired reports that the Trump administration has responded not only by threatening to prosecute the developer, even though there is nothing illegal about the app, but even by threatening to prosecute CNN for simply reporting the news that the app exists. Fox News also reported the news that the app exists, and speaking on Fox News, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi mentioned the app’s developer Joshua Aaron and remarked, “we are looking at him, and he better watch out.” And now, the other news of note from the past week:
There are lots of new features coming to the Photos app when iOS 26 comes out this Fall, and Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac runs down what is new in Photos.
Nick deCourville of The Mac Observer has been using the beta version of iOS 26 for several weeks, and he lists his favorite features so far, including new app icons and new folders for spam texts.
The headline features in the upcoming iOS 26 have been getting lots of attention in the tech press, but Sanuj Bhatia of Make Use Of reports on eight less obvious features that are also very interesting, such as the ability to create custom snooze times for alarms and an indication on the lock screen of how much longer it will take to charge your iPhone.
When iPadOS 26 comes out this Fall, we will also see a major new update to the GoodNotes app, my go-to app on the iPad for taking handwritten notes. As noted on the GoodNotes blog, the app will include a Whiteboard feature with an infinite canvas size, so if you need more space on the edge of a page, it is there for you. The app will also let you use AI to do things like transform your scribbled handwriting into organized meeting notes. I’m also excited to use a new Text Documents feature, which is a block-based editor that looks like it will vastly improve adding typed notes to a notebook.
Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac reports that the new “hints” feature of the upcoming watchOS 26 is an especially nice improvement.
If you want Apple Watch bands in some new colors, Woot is once again offering a deep discount. Apple’s Solo Loop bands, normally $50, are on sale for $14.99 each. Apple’s Braided Solo Loop bands, normally $100, are only $29.99. The Braided Solo Loop is my current favorite Apple Watch band because its stretchy woven yarn is incredibly comfortable. I’m wearing one as I type these words. The only criticism that I noted in my review is that I think the $100 price is too high. But $30 is much more reasonable. I’ve purchased numerous Apple Watch bands from Woot during previous sales, and the buying experience was excellent. If you are interested in adding to your collectionāperhaps by purchasing some red, white, and blue bands today?āthis is worth checking out.
Being able to unlock your Mac just because you are wearing your Apple Watch is a pretty cool feature. But sometimes, it doesn’t work, and Glenn Fleishman explains in a post on Six Colors how you can get it working again.
If you have travel plans this summerāeither for vacation or for businessāEd Hardy of Cult of Mac recommends his favorite travel gadgets, including chargers, hubs, and more.
Speaking of travel, Brett Burney and I recorded a special edition of the In the News podcast three years ago to recommend tips and accessories for travel. Most of those recommendations are still good today, although there are now updated versions of many of the accessories that we praised. For example, I recommended the Weego Jump Starter 22 (which I still use today), but you can now get the Weego 44S for $99.99 on Amazon. And while I previously recommended the eufyCam 2 Pro for keeping an eye on your house while you are away, you can now get the eufyCam S3 Pro, which comes in a 2-pack for $549.99 on Amazon. I purchased a 4-pack of the eufyCam S3 Pro a few months ago to upgrade my home security cameras, and while I haven’t written a formal review yet, I can tell you that I really like that product.
Speaking of Brett Burney, his wife shared with Brett, and Brett shared with me, this report from Josh LaBella of the CTPost in Connecticut. Two people from Kentucky were camping in Rhode Island when thieves broke into their car and stole numerous items, including AirPods. The couple was able to track their AirPods to a location in Connecticut, which led the police to execute a search warrant, and most of the stolen items were recovered.
Maddie Rhodes of KDVR in Denver reports that a man in Colorado became injured as he was over 10,000 feet and climbing down a mountain, and was no longer able to climb down on his own. Although he had no cellphone service, he was able to use his iPhone’s satellite texting feature to contact a family member, and he was subsequently rescued by a mountain rescue team.
And finally, here is a video from Apple called Camera Control that shows off how much more quickly you can take pictures using an iPhone that has a Camera Control button.
Thank you to SaneBox for sponsoring iPhone J.D. SaneBox is a service that works in the background at the server level, so you continue to use your Inbox of your current mail program the same way that you always do. But thanks to SaneBox, your Inbox is suddenly much better. Primarily, this is because your Inbox changes from being overpopulated with lots of unimportant stuff into a short list of the most important messages. Thus, when you open your Inbox, you essentially see just the good stuff that matters. But SaneBox also gives you powerful features so that your email is smarter.
SaneBox keeps your Inbox tidy because less important emails, such as newsletters, are moved to subfolders. That way, you can deal with them when you have time, and it is often faster to deal with the items moved to a subfolder all at once. Additionally, if you tell SaneBox that there is an email sender from which you never want to see email again, those go to the SaneBlackHole folder. It is so satisfying to move an item into the SaneBlackHole folder, knowing that I’ll never be interrupted by that sender again. (If I later change my mind, I can always just move an email out of SaneBlackHole and back into Inbox to train SaneBox that I now want those emails. But I think I’ve only done that once in my many years of using SaneBox.)
And that’s just the beginning. SaneBox also gives you lots of tools that you can (optionally) enable to make you more productive. For example, I love the SaneNoReply folder. It gives you an overview of all the emails youāve sentāemails that you initiatedāthat havenāt yet received a reply. Sometimes, no reply is necessary. (If you don’t need a response, simply delete the email from SaneNoReplies, and SaneBox will stop tracking it.) But I often skim the emails in this folder and then see that there is something for which I did need a reply, and so this SaneBox folder reminds me to follow up.
What if you know that you need to get a reply by a certain date (or time)? SaneBox can help you when you use the SaneReminder feature. When you send the email, send a BCC to an address that tells SaneBox when you need a response by. For example, you can use “1.day@sanebox.com” or “2.weeks@sanebox.com” or a day of the week such as “monday@sanbox.com” or “mon@sanbox.com.” If thereās no reply within that time period, the email will resurface in your Inbox for your attention.
Put all of this together and SaneBox makes your Inbox both more simple and more powerful. All at the same time.
Iāve been paying for and using SaneBox for many years, and I find the service well worth it. For my iPhone J.D. emails, when I look at the Inbox, I can quickly focus on the messages that matter the most to me, such as a reader sending in a suggestion with a news story for my Friday In the News post or interactions with someone who matters to me. Every once in a while, I’ll look in the SaneNews folder to see newsletters that I subscribe to or the SaneLater folder to see messages that SaneBox thinks are less important, but those messages don’t crowd up my Inbox.
If you want to try out SaneBox to see what a huge difference it can make in your life, click here to get a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. If you donāt like having a clean and tidy Inbox and decide to return back to how you had it before, no sweat. But if you appreciate having a better way of working with email, using this link in this post will give you a generous $25 credit for when you pick a planāand there are lots of different plans offered so that you can choose the one that gives you just what you want.
Thanks again to SaneBox for sponsoring iPhone J.D. and for giving all of us a more efficient way to work with email.
A power charger that plugs into an outlet may not sound like anything all that special. We have all been using these for many years. But the smart folks at Anker decided to make the best possible charger that they could, and as a result, came up with a fantastic device: the Anker Laptop Charger (140W, 4-Port, PD 3.1). It is useful not only when you need to charge a bunch of items in your home or office but also when you want a handy travel charger. I paid $99.99 for it on Amazon, and it was a great purchase. It has lots of useful ports and a great display, all in a compact package that makes this much more useful than a traditional power charger, including anything from Apple.
Four ports, lots of power
This charger has four different ports on it: three USB-C ports and one traditional USB-A port. Having four ports available means that you can often charge everything that you need with this one device.
This charger supports USB Power Delivery 3.1, a standard that allows for power transfer of up to 240W.
If you are charging one device, you can use either of the top two ports (marked USB-C1 and USB-C2) to get 140W, assuming that your cord can support that much of a charge. That is more than enough power to charge a laptop; the top-of-the-line current MacBook Pro can get a fast charge with a 96W USB-C power adapter. The USB-C3 port can deliver up to 40W, and the USB-A port can deliver up to 33W.
If you are using multiple ports, the amount of power that each port gets depends upon which combination of ports you are using. For example, if you use the USB-C1 and USB-C2 ports at the same time, they get up to 70W each (for a total of 140W from both ports combined). If you use the USB-C1 and the USB-C3 port at the same time, the first one gets 100W, and the second one gets 40W. If you use all four ports at once, you can get 65W on the USB-C1 port, 45W on the USB-C2 port, and 12W each on the USB-C3 and USB-A ports. That should be sufficient for many needs. You only need a 20W charger to fast-charge an iPhone or Apple Watch or to charge an iPad Pro.
Display
For a few months, I’ve been using an Anker Laptop Power Bank (my review), which is a great portable battery. One of the things that I love about that product is the display, which makes it easy to see things like the battery life and how much power is going out to each port. This is the first time that I’ve had a power charger that plugs into an outlet and that has a display. The color display is a great feature.
First, it is useful to be able to see how much power is going out of each port. This is an easy way to ensure that you are getting all of the power that you want for each device. It is also useful when troubleshooting why something doesn’t seem to be charging the way that it shouldāfor example, you may be using a cord that has a limit on my much power it can transfer. Also, if you are using multiple ports at the same time, the display lets you see how much total power each port is getting and can potentially get.
Second, the display can provide a temperature warning if it is getting too hotāand to compensate, the charger will decrease how much power it is providing to stay safe.
Third, the display can show other information, such as the total operating time of the charger and even, at times, an animated face.
There is a single round button on the face of the device. Press the button to switch between different displays. Long-press the button to rotate the screen, ensuring that you can read the display regardless of what direction you plug it in.
Portable
I am using this charger in my office. I purchased a 2-pack of Anker 100W USB-C cords that are six feet long with a rugged nylon exterior ($11.99 on Amazon) to use with the USB-C1 and USB-C2 ports. I use one cord to connect to my Anker 3-in-1 Cube with MagSafe ($129.99 on Amazon) (my review), which I use to charge my iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods Pro. I use the second cord to connect to my iPad Pro. I don’t regularly use the other two ports in my office, but they are there for when I need them.
When it is time to travel, this charger becomes very portable. Because this is one of the newer Gallium nitride (GaN) chargers, it is small and compact: only 2.72 Ć 2.72 Ć 1.42 inches. And the prongs fold down, so it is easy to pack.
I can throw this in my bag with a couple of cords, and I am good to go. Thanks to the four ports in a compact size, I can travel with just this one charger instead of multiple chargers that have only a single port.
USB-C cord included
This charger comes with a five-foot 240W USB-C to USB-C cable. I needed something just a little longer in my office to reach the top of my desk (and I didn’t need a full 240W of charging capacity) so, as noted above, I purchased a 2-pack of 100W six-foot USB-C to USB-C cords to use with the charger, but the five-foot cord that comes with this charger is also nice to have.
Conclusion
This is a great charger. It is small, perfect for travel, provides lots of power to up to four devices, has a very useful display, and comes with a USB-C cord. I highly recommend it.
