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I don’t use a keyboard with my iPad all the time, so for me, it is overkill to have an iPad case with a keyboard built-in.  There is no reason to add extra weight to my iPad all of the time.  But when I do use a keyboard, I want it to be a good keyboard so that I can type just as easily as if I was using the PC in my office or my Mac at home.  For a long time now, Apple has made one of the best Bluetooth keyboards for the iPad.  First, Apple made the Apple Wireless Keyboard.  On October 15, 2015, Apple retired the Apple Wireless Keyboard and replaced it with the thinner and lighter Apple Magic Keyboard.  Perhaps one of the reasons that these keyboards are so good is that they are not designed to just be iPad keyboards; these are the same keyboards that Apple has sold with its desktop computers such as the iMac. 

Apple’s keyboards don’t come with any sort of a case.  If you are carrying them around in a purse or briefcase, this means that it is possible for something to get under a key cap and break off a key.  It has never happened to me, but I know other attorneys who have met this fate.  Thus, it makes sense to have a case for the keyboard.

Back in 2012, I reviewed a great keyboard case called the Origami Workstation for iPad by Incase.  That product provided a cover for the Apple Wireless Keyboard, and as a bonus also folded into a stand so that you could prop up an iPad while you used the keyboard.  But Incase did not update that product in 2015 when Apple released the Apple Magic Keyboard.

Studio Neat filled that void by creating the Canopy, a product that works with the Apple Magic Keyboard and is even better than that old Origami Workstation.  Studio Neat sent me a free review unit of this $40 product, and I have been trying it out for the last few weeks.  It works really well.

A case

The Canopy works great as a case.  It uses micro-suction pads – not glue.  They keep the Apple Magic Keyboard firmly in place.  But you can remove the keyboard from the Canopy without leaving a mark, and these suction pads don’t lose their stickiness when you remove the keyboard.

To protect the keyboard, just fold up the Canopy around it, and snap the button.  It would be virtually impossible for something in your briefcase or purse to damage the Apple Magic Keyboard when it is inside of the Canopy.

One of the nice features of the Apple Magic Keyboard is that it is thin and light.  Fortunately, the Canopy is as well.  The exterior is a synthetic canvas which is strong but light.  And it has a nice professional look to it as well.  I will often walk around my office to go to a meeting room with my Apple Pencil in a shirt or coat pocket and my iPad Pro and the Canopy (with keyboard) in one hand.  With that combination, I can use my keyboard to type notes as if I want to type, or I can use my Apple Pencil to write or annotate whenever that makes more sense for whatever work I am doing.

Moreover, because the Canopy and keyboard are so thin and light, you can just keep them in a briefcase, purse, messenger bag, etc. all of the time.  That way, you have the keyboard for whenever you need it, but it is out of the way if you don’t need it.

The interior of the Canopy is a soft microfiber, so it won’t scratch the keyboard when you fold the Canopy around it.

A stand

When typing with an external keyboard, you will usually want the iPad screen to be propped up.  I use an Apple Smart Cover for my iPad, and it folds up into a stand that props up my iPad at a nice angle.  But with enough pressure, the Smart Cover-as-stand will collapse.

In contrast, the Canopy is very strong when it is being used as a stand.  You simply unfold the Canopy and use the leather strap and stainless steel snap to create a sort of a tent to act as the stand.  The snap is very secure, so the stand is very secure as well.  I have been using the Canopy with my iPad Pro 12.9" and even though this larger version of the iPad Pro is wider than the Canopy itself, the Canopy has no trouble holding this larger and wider iPad. 

And by the way, if — like me — you used to use the Incase Origami Workstation, the Canopy is much better.  Unlike the Origami Workstation which used Velcro straps which wore down over time, the snap is very strong.

I’ve used the Canopy with my iPad Pro over the last few weeks both when I have been in a meeting in a conference room in my office, and also when I was traveling and relying on my iPad to get all of my work done.  Whether I was in my office, at a meeting outside of the office, or in a hotel room catching up on work at the end of the day, the Canopy worked really well.

I didn’t try smaller iPads with the Canopy, but I’m sure that they would work just as well.  I did try an iPhone, and that also worked — although I only rarely have a need to use an external keyboard with an iPhone.  The Canopy is specifically designed for the Apple Magic Keyboard, so I doubt it would work with any other keyboard.  But you can put any size iOS device in the stand, so even if you currently use an older 9.7" iPad and you plan to update to a 12.9" iPad Pro, the Canopy will continue to work great with different iPad sizes.

An iPad (or iPhone) just sits right behind the keyboard on the Canopy when it is in its stand mode.  It works really great on a table.  But if you are planning to put the Canopy on your lap, I didn’t find that very stable with my iPad Pro 12.9".  It works just OK if you are laying back on a couch or bed.  Thus, the Canopy works best when you are at a table.

Although my second-generation iPad Pro 12.9" is still running iOS 10, I also have a first-generation iPad Pro 12.9" which is running the beta version if iOS 11.  In iOS 11, you need to swipe up from the bottom to make the dock appear when you are in another app, and you need to swipe up from the bottom to make the Control Center appear.  Those functions worked great on an iPad Pro 12.9" even when the iPad was sitting in the Canopy stand.

I don’t have access to a new 10.5" iPad Pro running iOS 11, but I know that the 10.5" iPad Pro has an even thinner bezel.  I mention this because I don’t know if the thinner bezel will make it harder to swipe from the bottom of the screen in iOS 11 while it is sitting in the Canopy being used as a case.  I’ll update this post whenever I have a chance to test that out.

[UPDATE:  Here is what Studio Neat told me about the 10.5" iPad Pro and the Canopy:  “On the 10.5" iPad Pro, the keyboard does not obstruct the screen, but it is indeed difficult to swipe up from the bottom edge due to the reduced bezel size.  Thankfully, Apple has implemented a keyboard shortcut in iOS 11 to bring up the dock (Command + Option + D).”  That’s a good point, and frankly a keyboard shortcut sounds faster than swiping up anyway.]

Conclusion

This is the third product I have reviewed from the folks at Studio Neat, and every single one of them has been excellent — featuring a clever design, high-quality materials and nice construction.  (I previously reviewed the Material Dock and the Glif + Hand Grip.)  These guys know what they are doing.

The Apple Magic Keyboard is a great external Bluetooth keyboard for the iPad, but the Canopy by Studio Neat turns it into a much better and more useful product.  The Incase Origami Workstation was a pretty good product for its time, but the Canopy + Apple Magic Keyboard combination is better in every way:  smaller, lighter, more stable, and longer-lasting thanks to the use of a snap instead of Velcro.  Indeed, the Canopy works so well that it makes me want to use an external keyboard with my iPad even more, and this is good timing for that because iOS 11 will have even better keyboard support when it comes out this month.

Click here to the Canopy from Studio Neat ($40).

If you are an iPhone enthusiast like I am, then September is the most magical time of the year.  Since 2012, September has been the month that Apple announces all of the new features of the next generation of the iPhone.  This year, ten years after Apple introduced the first iPhone in 2007, there is even more anticipation than normal because of rumors that Apple is introducing not only a normal and plus (larger) version of the iPhone, but also a higher-end model that I suspect Apple will call the iPhone Pro.  Yesterday, Apple announced that its September event will take place on Tuesday, September 12 at 10 Pacific / 1 Eastern.  The invitation says “Let’s meet at our place.”  For the first time, the event will take place at the brand new Steve Jobs Theater on Apple’s brand new Apple Park campus — which also features a circle-shaped, 2.8 million-square-foot main building surrounded by the world’s largest panels of curved glass.  I’m very excited to see what Apple will show us in less than two weeks.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Dorothy Atkins of Law360 reports that a California trial court judge dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit against Apple claiming it had some liability for the death of a college student who was killed when another driver was texting on his iPhone instead of paying attention to the road.  The judge ruled:  “The chain of causation alleged by the plaintiffs in this case is far too attenuated for a reasonable person to conclude that Apple’s conduct is or was a substantial factor in causing plaintiff’s harm.”
• California attorney David Sparks says that augmented reality may be one of the biggest improvements in iOS 11.
• According to Ben Arnold of The NPD Group, 900,000 totally wireless headphone units have been sold in 2017, and Apple’s AirPods account for an astounding 85% of those sales.  Even though AirPods have been on sale since December of 2016, there is still a backlog when you purchase them.  (They are currently shown as shipping in 2-3 weeks on Apple’s website.)  I can understand why; I use mine every day, and they are one of my all-time favorite Apple products.
• Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook to discuss Apple and its role in the world.
• Lauren Lyons Cole of Business Insider recommends using Apple’s iPhone Upgrade program when you buy a new iPhone.
• Jeff Benjamin of 9to5Mac compares and contrasts Apple’s two iPad keyboards — the Smart Keyboard and the Magic Keyboard.
• Ben Court and Spencer Lowell of Men’s Health got an inside look at the Apple lab that tests people exercising with an Apple Watch to improve the fitness features.
• Dan Moren of Six Colors discusses the new additions to Pedometer++, now in version 3.0.
• If you liked the Sphero version of BB-8 that you could control with your iPhone, you’re going to love Sphero’s new Star Wars droids.
• And finally, Nicole Lee of Engadget discusses an upcoming product from Lenovo that works with the iPhone called Star Wars: Jedi Challenges.  It uses your iPhone, an AR headset, and a Bluetooth lightsaber to make you feel like you are Rey fighting Kylo Ren, or even play Holochess.  It will cost $199, and I suspect that it will be on many of Santa’s lists this year.  That Engadget post includes a video that gives you a sense of what it will look like when you wear the device.  Here is the official video preview for the product:

Way back on April 10, 2009, I decided to round up some interesting stories from the past week and link to them in a post called In the news.  Today’s post is the 400th edition of In the news.  (For some background on these posts, see In the news #100.)  So much has changed in the iPhone universe in the 8+ years since that first post.  Here is one example that was in the news this week:  Siri.  Apple introduced Siri in October 2011 with the iPhone 4S and iOS 5.  Since then, Siri has gotten a lot smarter, but Siri also sounds different as Apple has improved the voice.  Apple now publishes an online publication called the Machine Learning Journal, which features academic articles on artificial intelligence.  The latest edition features an article from the Siri Team.  Most of the article is rather technical, but I encourage you to look at the article and scroll down to the very end to the section called “A New Voice.”  That part of the article features phrases with multiple play buttons so that you can hear what Siri sounds like in iOS 9, in iOS 10, and in the upcoming iOS 11 that Apple is expected to release in just a few weeks.  One thing that you cannot miss is that the new female voice in iOS 11 is a very different voice from iOS 10.  The original Siri voice was in iOS 5, based on voice recordings by Susan Bennett.  (Here is a TEDx presentation by Bennett giving some details on that.)  Starting with iOS 7, Apple stopped using Bennett’s voice recordings, but every Siri voice up to iOS 10 sounded to me like an incremental change from iOS 5.  That’s changing now.  As the article states:  “For iOS 11, we chose a new female voice talent with the goal of improving the naturalness, personality, and expressivity of Siri’s voice.  We evaluated hundreds of candidates before choosing the best one.  Then, we recorded over 20 hours of speech and built a new TTS [text-to-speech] voice using the new deep learning based TTS technology.  As a result, the new US English Siri voice sounds better than ever.”  It will take some time to get used to this new Siri, but such is the price of progress.  And now, here is the news of note from the past week:

• California attorney David Sparks and Florida attorney Katie Floyd released one of my all-time favorite episodes of their long-running Mac Power Users podcast this week.  In episode 392, the topic is must-have iOS utilities, and they discuss a ton of useful apps.  All of the apps are listed in the show notes, but you need to listen to the episode to hear about what these apps can do.  There are some real gems in there.
• Speaking of podcasts, the latest episode of Brett Burney’s Apps in Law podcast includes an interview with St. Louis attorney Todd Hendrickson who talks about the fantastic Trial Pad app. 
• On Brett Burney’s Apps in Law website, he discusses Timeline 3D for iOS, an app that you can use to create timelines that you can use in court.
• Chicago attorney John Voorhees of MacStories discusses Luna Display, a hardware accessory that turns your iPad into a second display for your Mac.
• Speaking of John Voorhees, on August 22, the aforementioned David Sparks recommended TextTool 2, an $4.99 iOS app with lots of tools for manipulating text.  On David’s recommendation, I bought the app that same day.  I barely had a chance to use the app before David posted on August 23 that the developer had discontinued the app, and I see that it is no longer on the App Store.  Well, so much for that five dollars.  David then recommended a $2.99 app called Clean Text, which was recommended to David by John Voorhees.  I purchased Clean Text, and I actually like it much better then the recently deceased TextTool 2.  It does a great job of cleaning up text.  Plus it has the added advantage of still being alive on the App Store — always a useful feature for an app.
• Brian X. Chen of the New York Times discusses some of the features that have made the iPhone great for the past 10 years.  He also says that sources tell him that Apple will soon announce a premium version of the iPhone that will start at $999.  (Since Apple already uses “Pro” to designate premium versions of other products such as the iPad, my guess is that this will be called the iPhone Pro.)
• What do you do when you, or your client, needs to access data on an iPhone of someone who is deceased?  Joseph Keller of iMore has a few tips that might work.
• John Gruber of Daring Fireball discusses AccuWeather’s response to the discovery that its app was sending locating-identifying information to a company that makes money from that information, even if you turned-off location tracking in the app.
• Joseph Keller of iMore discusses some of the best apps for writing text on an iPad.
• I’ve been trying out the beta version of iOS 11 on an old iPad.  I love it, but there is a learning curve associated with the new features.  Realizing this, Apple produced six short, informative, and entertaining videos called How to do even more with iPad Pro and iOS 11.  I strongly recommend that you look at them to get a sense of how things will change on the iPad in just a few weeks.
• David Chartier also created a good video showing how you can use one hand to do multitasking on an iPad in iOS 11.
• It was fun to experience the partial eclipse in New Orleans earlier this week.  But after reading this fantastic report by David Pogue of Yahoo, who saw the full total eclipse in Tennessee, I can’t help but consider traveling to the path of totality in 2024.
• And finally, Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal offers some good advice for managing notifications on the iPhone in this video:

Every year, attorneys in Louisiana need to take a one-hour CLE on professionalism.  I’ve been to some good professionalism CLEs, but I’ve also been to many that seem to repeat everything you have heard before.  The Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board made the smart decision to try to do something different in the realm of professionalism, and has released a Professionalism and Technology one-hour online CLE.  I was pleased to be a part of it.  The CLE is s lively panel discussion moderated by Loyola Law School Professor Dane Ciolino, a leading authority on Louisiana legal ethics.  The participants were me, Abid Hussain, Rajan Pandit, and Brandi McNeil.  The four of us have very different practices (for example, Brandi is a public defender) so we all had different perspectives on technology and professionalism.  We recorded this three months ago at the WLAE studio in Jefferson, LA, and the CLE became available just a few days ago.

LADB is only charging $20 for this CLE, and since it is an online CLE you can just watch it at your desk over your lunch hour, making this a cheap and easy way to get your professionalism credit.  And if you are trying to decide whether to watch this CLE, LADB even produced a trailer for the CLE, thus making this the first time that I have ever appeared in a trailer.  (I think it would have been better if they had added a Don LaFontaine-style “In a world” voice-over.)  Here is the trailer:

If you are a Louisiana attorney looking to get your professionalism credit before the end of this year, I think that you would enjoy this one.  Click here to sign up.  (Scroll down to the “E-Learning Courses” section.)

I was supposed to be in trial on Monday, but my trial was continued, which means that I won’t be stuck in a courtroom when the solar eclipse happens between Noon and 3pm Central.  Unfortunately, I didn’t buy solar eclipse glasses, and it now seems impossible to buy them for a reasonable price — although the current weather report in New Orleans is cloudy on Monday anyway, so perhaps it won’t make a difference for me.  If you plan to take a picture of the eclipse with your iPhone, Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac has some helpful tips for doing so.  My law firm actually has offices in two of the cities that will be lucky enough to experience a total eclipse (Nashville, TN and Columbia, SC), and thus for about three minutes on Monday, I’ll be jealous of my partners in those offices.  But of course, in only 61 years, they will all be jealous of me when the May 11, 2078 total solar eclipse occurs in New Orleans — and I suspect that the 2078 version of the iPhone is going to have a really awesome camera.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• New York attorney Nicole Black explains why the Apple Watch is perfect for female attorneys in an article for Above the Law.
• California attorney David Sparks writes about the future of the Workflow app, a great automation app for the iPhone/iPad which was recently acquired by Apple.  David sees signs that Apple may enhance automation in iOS.  I hope he is right because it would allow iPads and iPhones to become even more powerful.
• I recently mentioned that you might want to turn off your iPhone before crossing an international border so that a customs agent cannot make you use your finger to unlock the device and instead will need a passcode.  Killian Bell of Cult of Mac reports that in iOS 11 — which I expect to be released next month — you will be able to press the home button five times to quickly disable using Touch ID to unlock a device.
• Speaking of crossing the border with an iPhone, Debra Cassens Weiss wonders in an article for ABA Journal if it makes sense to just use a burner device when traveling internationally.
• Andrew Hayward of Macworld has some tips for using Google Cardboard on an iPhone.
• Speaking of Google and the iPhone, Todd Haselton of CNBC reports that Google will pay Apple an estimated $3 billion in 2017 to remain the default search engine on iOS devices.
• John Gruber of Daring Fireball discusses a report on the Wall Street Journal that Apple is preparing to spend $1 billion on acquiring and creating video content, which is about half of what HBO spent last year.
• I recently reviewed the Glif tripod mount from Studio Neat, and I really liked it.  Serenity Caldwell of iMore just posted a review of the Glif, and she really likes it too.
• In another post at iMore, various staff members share their favorite Apple Watch bands.  My favorite bands are the Milanese Loop (which I wear at work) and XL version of the Sport Band (which I wear at night, on weekends, and when working out).  But the Woven Nylon band is also nice.
• Dieter Bohn of The Verge says that the iPad is the best tablet you can buy. 
• Jared Newman of Fast Company examines why the iPad Pro smart connector isn’t very popular for third party accessory manufacturers.  I’m now on my second iPad Pro, and I don’t think that I have ever used that connector.
• And finally, here is a video describing the Bios Incube, a device that lets you take the ashes of a deceased person and turn them into a plant that can communicate with you via your iPhone.  I don’t think that I’m interested in having dead people send me text messages through a plant, but I will give credit for originality.  I can honestly say that I have never thought of this as a use for my iPhone:

Over the last few days, in response to President Trump’s remarks regarding the tragedy in Charlottesville, a number of business leaders resigned from White House councils which President Trump had formed.  As more and more CEOs did so, I kept waiting to see what Apple CEO Tim Cook would do with regards to the American Technology Council — and other attorneys who know that I follow Apple news have asked me about this too.  After all, at the American Technology Council meeting two months ago, Cook was pictured sitting right next to President Trump (although many thought that Cook didn’t look too happy about that).  However, last night I saw this article from Kif Leswing of Business Insider in which he explained that Cook and other tech CEOs are not actually on the American Technology Council; they were simply invited to speak at the June event.  Jackie Wattles of CNN reported the same thing.  Because Cook isn’t even a member, there was nothing for him to resign from.

President Trump has had a very rocky relationship with Apple over the past year.  Last night, Tony Romm and Kara Swisher of Recode wrote about some of the details of that history.  They also shared an articulate letter that Cook wrote to Apple employees yesterday regarding the horrible events in Charlottesville and the disgraceful response of President Trump.  Like many of Cook’s statements on issues relating to equality and fairness, it is well-written and I think it is worth reading:

Team,

Like so many of you, equality is at the core of my beliefs and values. The events of the past several days have been deeply troubling for me, and I’ve heard from many people at Apple who are saddened, outraged or confused.

What occurred in Charlottesville has no place in our country. Hate is a cancer, and left unchecked it destroys everything in its path. Its scars last generations. History has taught us this time and time again, both in the United States and countries around the world.

We must not witness or permit such hate and bigotry in our country, and we must be unequivocal about it. This is not about the left or the right, conservative or liberal. It is about human decency and morality. I disagree with the president and others who believe that there is a moral equivalence between white supremacists and Nazis, and those who oppose them by standing up for human rights. Equating the two runs counter to our ideals as Americans.

Regardless of your political views, we must all stand together on this one point — that we are all equal. As a company, through our actions, our products and our voice, we will always work to ensure that everyone is treated equally and with respect.

I believe Apple has led by example, and we’re going to keep doing that. We have always welcomed people from every walk of life to our stores around the world and showed them that Apple is inclusive of everyone. We empower people to share their views and express themselves through our products.

In the wake of the tragic and repulsive events in Charlottesville, we are stepping up to help organizations who work to rid our country of hate. Apple will be making contributions of $1 million each to the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. We will also match two-for-one our employees’ donations to these and several other human rights groups, between now and September 30.

In the coming days, iTunes will offer users an easy way to join us in directly supporting the work of the SPLC.

Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” So, we will continue to speak up. These have been dark days, but I remain as optimistic as ever that the future is bright. Apple can and will play an important role in bringing about positive change.

Best,
Tim

One of the least glamorous aspects of practicing law is doing time entry every day.  We know that we need to do it to get paid, but it can be such a chore.  Worst of all, sometimes you forget to record time for an activity, perhaps because you are out of the office when you work on a project, which means that you are essentially working for free.  iTimeKeep from Bellefield Systems is an app which lets you enter time using your iPhone or iPad and have the time go straight into your law firm’s billing system.  I’ve been using the app for the last two months at my firm, and it works great.

I wasn’t involved with setting up the back-end software for iTimeKeep at my firm — our IT folks did that — but I know that iTimeKeep works with many popular time and billing systems.  We use Elite at my law firm, but I see that it also works with Aderant, Equinox, Juris LexisNexis, Omega, LawBase, Tabs3, Amicus, PCLaw, TimeMatters, and many other systems.

Once the software on the server-side is installed, users get an email with an account name and password.  They activate an account, and then that’s it.  The free iTimeKeep app can be downloaded from the App Store.

Entering time

When you start the iTimeKeep app, you see a list of your latest time entries — the past seven days by default, but you can load more days if you need to do so.  The app shows time entries regardless of whether you entered the time in iTimeKeep or if you (or your secretary) entered the time directly in your firm’s billing system using a computer.  You can edit prior time entries (as long as they have not been finalized in your billing system) or tap the plus at the top right to enter new time.

On the time entry screen, at the top you indicate the client and matter.  The app can default to the last matter on which you entered time, and if that isn’t correct you can easily select the right matter by just tapping the matter area at the top.  This brings up a list of your recent matters, plus a search field so that you can do a full text search of client and matter names on your billing systems.  I was amazed how quickly the full text search works.

The app defaults to “today” for the time entry date but you can change that if you are entering time for another day.  To record hours, you can either press start to begin a timer or you can just directly enter the time by tapping on the 0.00.

 

I usually just enter my time directly, but the timer feature is pretty sophisticated.  If you need to switch to another matter, you can pause time on one matter and then start a timer for another time entry.  If you need to adjust the time (for example, if you forgot to press the START button when you started working) you can use the NUDGE button to add or subtract 1, 5 or 10 minutes.  Tap END to stop the timer.  Even when you use the timer to initially record time, you can still tap on the time to manually change the time entry as needed.

There is a description field where you enter your time description.  You can use the iPhone/iPad built-in Siri dictation to speak your time entry if you prefer.  You can also use the iPhone’s keyboard shortcut feature to speed up time entry.  (In the Settings app, go to General -> Keyboard -> Text Replacement.)  For example, if I type “tcw” on my iPhone, it automatically changes that to “Telephone conference with ” so I just need to type the name and the “re” information.

If your matter requires a task code, iTimeKeep will know that and will prompt you to select one from a list (or search for one).  I encourage you to enter your description first, because iTimeKeep is smart enough to read what you wrote and will suggest, at the top of the task code list, the likely applicable task code. 

When you are finished with your entry you can tap Submit to send it to your time entry system.  If you are not yet finished with the entry, you can also flip the switch for Save as Draft.  This is helpful if you want to just enter part of the information now and fill in the rest later; when an entry is a draft, iTimeKeep won’t yet validate it against your time entry system.  Turn off the Save as Draft function and tap Submit when you are finished.

Review your time

When you are on the main iTimeKeep screen, the word Calendar is at the bottom right.  Tap that word to see a summary of all of your time for the month.  At the top you see your total hours month-to-date, including an indication of how many were billable hours and how many were non-billable.  Then you will see specific daily totals.

You can tell iTimeKeep your daily hourly goal, such as 8.0 hours a day.  That way, if you tap the Missing Time tab at the top of the calendar screen, the app will show you any days in the current month when you didn’t record 8.0 hours.  For example, when I took the below screenshot, I had not yet entered my time for the day, so iTimeKeep showed me that “today” was the only day so far in the month when I had not yet recorded at least 8 hours:

Apple Watch

If you own an Apple Watch, you can even use your watch to do at least some of the work of recording your time.  Start the iTimeKeep app and press the plus sign to start a timer.  Then do your work.  If you need to pause at any point, just tap the pause button on the watch, and then tap resume when you are ready to start again.

 

When you are finished with your task, tap the End button.  This will cause iTimeKeep to convert the time into .1 increments and will show you the total.  Then tap Next and iTimeKeep will start Siri dictation on the watch for you to dictate your time description.  Tap Done when you are finished.

 

The Apple Watch app will then send this time entry to your iPhone.  The entry will be incomplete — there won’t be a client / matter assigned yet — so you’ll need to tap the entry to fix the details.  But the most important parts will be there:  what you did, and how long it took you to do it.

Other ways to enter time

iTimeKeep also has a web browser interface, so if you are at your home computer you can enter time using your full size keyboard.  There is also an Android app, which is nice if some of the folks in your law firm don’t use an iPhone. 

Security

Your time entries obviously contain lots of confidential and privileged information.  As you would expect, Bellefield takes security very seriously, and has a page of its website devoted to all of the security features.  For example, all data communication is encrypted using SSL.

Conclusion

iTimeKeep has been around since 2011, and I’ve been watching it from afar over the years as the product has improved.  Now that I’ve been able to use iTimeKeep at my law firm for the last few months, I’m really impressed.  iTimeKeep is fast, simple and intuitive to use.  I can enter time on my iPhone (or iPad) just as easily as I can on my computer, and sometimes even faster because of keyboard shortcuts and the ability to use Siri.  I know that iTimeKeep is communicating with my law firm’s servers to work, but the whole thing works so incredibly quickly that it feels like everything is just running on the device.  And best of all, iTimeKeep makes it easy to enter time, and is a far better option than just jotting down time on a piece of paper that you might lose.  This is not only a convenience, but it can also help you to enter your time at the time that you are working — even when you are out of the office — so that you don’t forget to enter the time.  In this way, iTimeKeep can actually help you to make more money.

The cost of iTimeKeep varies depending upon the number of lawyers at your firm, and I wasn’t involved with the price discussions at my law firm.  But the product is incredibly useful, so I encourage you to check it out.

Click here for more information on iTimeKeep.

I’ve become a big fan of the TripIt app combined with TripIt Pro (which I reviewed earlier this year) whenever I travel.  It is nice to have all of my travel info in one spot, and the TripIt Pro service has saved my bacon in the past by altering me immediately when flights are cancelled are delayed.  This week, the app was updated this week to add searchable airport maps.  The feature looks quite useful.  The airport maps are detailed, and make it easy to see what is around you.  I don’t think you can get a full list of restaurants at a terminal, like you can in the Gate Guru app I reviewed way back in 2010, but Gate Guru doesn’t seem to be as up-to-date as it used to be so I’m glad to see that TripIt is adding this feature.  Not only can you look around the map to see what is at a terminal, you can also search for just about anything at an airport such as “restaurant” or “burger”.  And the app can give you step-by-step walking directions in an airport.  I’m sure that I will be using this the next time that I travel.  Click here for more information from the TriptIt website.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• In the latest episode of the Apps in Law podcast, Brett Burney interviews Columbus attorney Sean Harris to discuss the Notability app for the iPad.
• Burney also released a video with three tips for using an iPad in a law practice.
• California attorney David Sparks discusses changes to the Timeline 3D app, an app which creates exactly what its name says.  I know of many attorneys who have used this app to create 3D timelines used at trial.
• I always use Microsoft Word when I draft anything in my law practice, but I know that some attorneys have various reasons for preferring to draft in a plain text editor.  If that describes you, Jason Snell of Six Colors explains why Editorial is his favorite iPad app for writing text.
• David Pierce has tips on improving the Wi-Fi at your home or office in an article for Wired.
• I recently discussed how the Apple Watch is in some ways a successor to the iPod nano.  Jason Snell had a similar thought this week, and wrote about it in an article for Macworld.
• Marco Arment, developer of the great Overcast podcast app, explains why he is removing the feature to send a podcast to an Apple Watch to allow you to listen to a podcast even if your iPhone isn’t around.  This feature didn’t always work for me, but when it did work, it was incredibly useful.  I hope that the feature returns in the future.
• Dropbox now lets you use the Dropbox app on your iPhone for two-step verification.  More details are available on the Dropbox blog.
• Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac reports that the Uber app is being updated so that if a driver needs to contract you, there is a chat function within the app.  Thus, you and the driver don’t have to use text messages to communicate.
• If you subscribe to Apple Music, you can now watch the first episode of Apple’s new “TV” series, Carpool Karaoke.  It features James Corden and Will Smith. Sonia Saraiya of Variety wasn’t very impressed with the episode, but I thought it was pretty good, and it made me want to watch other episodes that feature folks I’m interested in.  I believe that there are 20 episodes in the first season, and starting next week there will be two episodes released each week.
• And finally, I didn’t run across any interesting Apple-related videos this week, so instead I’ll share this teaser trailer for Ready Player One, a Steven Spielberg movie coming out March 30, 2018.  I absolutely loved the book by Ernest Cline, which I listened to in audiobook format (read by Wil Wheaton).  It is a futuristic sci-fi thriller involving virtual reality and a huge number of references to the 1980s, which is a lot of fun if you are around my age and were also a teenager in the 1980s.  I hope that this movie is as good as the book, and based on this video, maybe it will be:

I often use my nice Nikon DSLR camera to take photos because the telephoto lens and add-on flash allow it to take fantastic pictures, typically (although not always) better than my iPhone.  But I don’t use my Nikon camera to take video anymore because as the quality of video on the iPhone has improved over the years, it now usually does a better job than my more expensive SLR camera.  The videos are bright and always in focus, and I can even shoot in 4K or 60 fps.  But holding up an iPhone in my hand to take videos of more than a few minutes makes my hand tired, which makes my hand shake, which reduces the quality of the video.  The Glif by Studio Neat is a clip that attaches to the iPhone, making it possible to keep the iPhone steady by mounting it on a tripod.  The Glif has been around for a while, but it was significantly improved this year, and can now be purchased with a hand grip accessory.  Studio Neat sent me a free review unit and I’ve been testing it out for the last few weeks.  It works incredibly well.

Glif

I’ve tried lots of different devices over the years that purport to hold an iPhone for taking pictures or videos.  The only ones that really felt secure were iPhone cases, but those stop working whenever Apple releases a new iPhone model with a different shape.

The Glif has an ingenious solution to this problem — one of those solutions that once you see it, you wonder why everyone hasn’t been doing it this way all along.  The Glif has a lever on the back.  With the lever pulled back, you can freely move the clamps on the Glif up and down to accommodate any size iPhone, even when in a case.  It can open wide to about four inches, big enough to even accommodate the huge SnowLizard SLXtreme case I reviewed a few weeks ago. 

Once the clamp of the Glif is around your iPhone, you push the lever in.  This makes the clamp go down just a little more, enough for the rubber inside of the clamps to hold the iPhone snug.

And I do mean snug.  The Glif has a fantastic grip on an iPhone, and the iPhone feels very safe and secure in the Glif.

With the iPhone in the Glif, you can use screw holes to attach the Glif to any standard tripod.  There are holes on the top, bottom, and the side so you can easily mount the iPhone in either portrait or landscape orientation.  And if you are really into iPhone photography and want to attach other accessories like an external light or flash and external microphone, you might have a reason to use all three holes at once. 

Here is the Glif attached to a Joby GorillaPad tripod — which is useful because you can use it as a normal small tripod, or you can wrap the feet around most any object to mount your iPhone in a location.

With the iPhone in the Glif on a tripod, it will stay very still.  This is nice for shooting videos when you can have a stationary camera.  It is also nice for taking photos when you don’t want the camera to move, especially when taking time-lapse photos or photos in low light.  Of course, pressing the button on the iPhone to take the picture can make the iPhone move, but you can instead use the timer function on the Camera app.  Or better yet, if you have an Apple Watch, use the Camera app on the watch as a remote shutter for the iPhone, which is a great way to make an iPhone take a picture without touching the iPhone.

Hand Grip + Wrist Strap

Studio Neat also sells a great accessory for the Glif called the Hand Grip — another one of those devices that seems so obvious once you start using it.  One of the things that I dislike about taking video with my iPhone is that my hand and forearm get tired when I am holding it up for an extended period of time.  But holding the Hand Grip feels much more natural, making it easier to keep the iPhone steady, easier to pan the iPhone, and, most importantly, easier to hold the iPhone for much longer.

The Hand Grip is made of cherry wood, and it looks great and feels really nice in the hand. It has a short screw at the top which is perfect for attaching the Glif to it.

The Wrist Strap attaches to the bottom of the Hand Grip and allows you to place your hand through the strap for added protection.  Even if you were to drop the Hand Grip, the strap should prevent your iPhone from falling on the ground.

The Hand Grip is not a gimbal so don’t expect to keep your iPhone perfectly steady, but it does make it much easier to keep the iPhone steady.  And even if you are walking, and thus you are going to naturally have some up-and-down motion in your video, the Hand Grip keeps the iPhone more steady.  Here is a short 90 second video that I shot this past weekend in a park with my kids.  In the first part of the video, I am staying in one spot and panning my iPhone.  In the second part of the video, I am walking and trying to keep up with my kids on scooters.  The video is not perfectly steady, but it is far better than it would have been if I was just holding my iPhone only using a hand.

I look forward to trying out the Glif and Hand Grip the next time that I am on vacation taking video.  Both are small enough to easily put in a pocket, and they will make it much easier to take videos.  I can also imagine using the Hand Grip to hold up an iPhone over a crowd — although this might annoy the folks in the crowd behind you.

And again, the best part is that even after a long time of shooting video in the park, my hand was very comfortable holding the Hand Grip and the Glif.  When not filming, you can let your hand drop as you hold the Hand Grip, and the Glif has such a secure hold on the iPhone that the iPhone remains very safe.

I’ve been talking about taking video because that is where the Hand Grip works incredibly well.  My kids at first called this a “selfie stick” but that isn’t accurate.  I don’t find that the Hand Grip works well for taking photos because you have to manually reach up and push the button to take each photo.  If I am going to have to do that anyway, I think it is just as easy to just hold the iPhone in my hand.

Conclusion

Studio Neat, the same company that makes the great Material Dock stand, has come up with another clever and useful product.  If you want to take better photos with your iPhone, keeping the camera perfectly still, the Glif is a fantastic device.  It is inexpensive at $28, and it is future-proof because it can adjust to any size iPhone.  Thus, you can purchase this device and use it for years.  If you want to take video, the Hand Grip and Wrist Strap are great accessories.  The next time you need to film your kids at a piano recital, film a birthday party, or just take some great nature videos. the Hand Grip will make it much easier to take video and the quality of the video will vastly improved.  And with just a simple pull of the lever, you can release your iPhone and use it normally.  The quality of these two products is top notch, and I highly recommend them to anyone who wants to use an iPhone on a tripod or with a grip.

Click here to get Glif on Amazon ($27.99).

Click here to get Glif + Hand Grip + Wrist Strap on Amazon ($54.99)