Episode 26 of the In the News podcast is now available. We start by discussing the new Apple Watch Series 7, which I’ve been using all week and I love. We then talk about possible interference between 5G and radio altimeters used by planes, and then we discuss putting your vaccination card in the Wallet app on an iPhone thanks to iOS 15.1. (I mentioned in the podcast that I had not yet used this new feature, but I subsequently used it when I went to a restaurant yesterday and had to prove that I was vaccinated to enter. It was fast and convenient, and is definitely what I will use going forward.) We then briefly discuss Apple’s holiday return policy and Apple’s new $19 cleaning cloth.
In our In the Know segment, we discuss two useful shortcuts, each of which is powerful but consists of only a single instruction, so you can create each one in the Shortcuts app in only seconds. Brett shared a tip for instructing your AirPods to connect to the device you are using, even before you start playing audio on that device. I shared a tip for quickly getting directions to a specific location, even if the Maps app normally has trouble finding that location when you use Siri. And the shortcut that I described also lets you name that location anything that you want when you say “Hey Siri…”
Many experts are advising folks to start holiday shopping early this year. COVID and other factors are causing product shortages and shipment delays, so you cannot wait until the last minute to get that perfect gift. Here is a tip if that perfect gift is a product sold by Apple. For example, I know that the new Apple Watch Series 7 is in short supply, and Alan Martin of Tom’s Guide reported this week that Apple appears to be cutting its iPad production in half so that the shared components can instead be used in new iPhones to try to keep up with large expected demand for the new iPhone 13. If you decide to purchase an Apple product now so that you are sure to receive it in time to give it as a present next month, you’ll be happy to learn that Apple is instituting a Holiday Return Policy, something that it has done in the past. This policy provides: “Items purchased at the Apple Online Store that are received between November 1, 2021, and December 25, 2021, may be returned through January 8, 2022.” Thus, you can buy something now, and you can return or exchange it for the next two months — much better than the normal 14-day return period for Apple. And now, the news of note from the past week:
Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post reports that AT&T and Verizon will delay part of the 5G expansion to address concerns that it may interfere with airplane safety systems. (Gift article, so anyone can read using that link.)
If you use the Apple Card credit card, you can share it with family members. And as Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports, if you do so this month, that person will receive $10 in Daily Cash when they make their first purchase using their new Apple Card. (Somewhat of a gift article, because it is an article about a $10 gift.)
Miller also discusses the new Beats Fit Pro, wireless earbuds that are similar to AirPods Pro, but they feature wingtips to keep them in the right place in your ear.
Speaking of the Apple Watch, I’m surprised I haven’t seen something like this before. TwelveSouth introduced the ActionBand, a flexible terry cotton band that holds an Apple Watch and hugs your wrist while absorbing sweat as you work out.
Dan Moren of Six Colors raises some questions about the new feature in iOS 15.1 of storing your vaccine card in Apple’s Wallet app. I’ve been using an app called LA Wallet to show my vaccine status for a while now, but I like the idea of using Apple’s Wallet app. (If you launch the LA Wallet app and you are wearing a mask, you cannot authenticate using Face ID so you have to enter a special pin that is unique to that app, which is an obstacle, albeit a minor one.) I haven’t yet had a chance to use the vaccine card in the Wallet yet, but I hope to do so soon.
And finally, Brett Burney and I discussed this briefly on last week’s episode of the In the News podcast, but one of the useful features of iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 is that you can now share your iPhone or iPad screen with someone else during a FaceTime call, or you can have the other person share their screen with you. This video from Apple shows you how easy it is to use this feature. This would be a great way to provide tech support to a friend or family member. You can show them on your own screen how to do something, or you can talk them through what they need to tap on their screen. It’s a great feature.
Apple’s newest model of the Apple Watch, the Apple Watch Series 7, went on sale on October 8, 2021. Initial supplies were limited, but I finally received mine a few days ago, and over the next few weeks it will become easier to find the version of the Series 7 that is right for you. The model that I purchased is the larger size (45mm) with a Silver Stainless Steel Case. (All of the stainless steel models come with cellular.) I selected a Solo Loop band — a band that I really like, and it is also one of the least expensive bands sold by Apple — and my total price was $749. (I’m trading in a Series 5 stainless steel Apple Watch, which can result in a refund of up to $145.)
Here are my thoughts on this new model, which I’m sharing from the perspective of someone who is upgrading from an older Apple Watch model. If you think that it might be time for you to upgrade your Apple Watch, I hope that this review helps you to decide if the Series 7 is right for you. (And if you have never before owned an Apple Watch, it is one of my favorite Apple devices, so you are in for a treat if you buy an Apple Watch Series 7.)
Larger screen
The marquee feature of the Series 7 is the larger screen. And I’m here to tell you that it is a nice improvement.
On paper, the larger screen seems like it might not be very noticeable. The 45mm case of the Apple Watch Series 7 is only one millimeter larger than the Series 4, 5, 6, and SE. If I’m just looking at the body of the watch and not the screen, I really cannot notice the difference between 44mm and 45mm — which is a good thing because I wouldn’t be happy if this new watch seemed too bulky. And while the black bezel around the screen is also thinner, it wasn’t all that big to begin with after the bezel reduction introduced in the Series 4. Nevertheless, those two seemingly small changes give the Series 7 almost 20% more usable screen space than the Apple Watch Series 4 through 6, and almost 50% more screen space than the original Apple Watch through the Series 3.
In practice, the screen increase is noticeable and welcome. When you are doing something on the watch that takes advantage of the larger screen, everything is bigger and bolder, making it much easier to read the screen. Imagine having your eyes checked by an ophthalmologist and being asked to read line 5. If you are close enough, you can read P E C F D. But if you are then asked to stay in the same spot and read line 4, that’s a cinch because the font size of those letters is a little bit bigger: L P E D. That’s what it is like reading the larger text on the larger screen of the Series 7. Sure, you could also read the words on the prior screen, but it is easier to read the words on this screen.
What if you think the text is too big on this larger screen? On the watch, you can go to Settings -> Display & Brightness -> Text Size to make the text size a little smaller so that it is similar to what you saw on prior models of the Apple Watch. Apps that support the Dynamic Type feature will adjust the text size, and you will be able to see even more on the screen without needing to scroll.
Another advantage of the larger screen is that buttons in many apps are larger and thus easier to tap. The Enter Passcode screen provides a good example. I remember that when I first made the switch from one of the earlier Apple Watch models to the Series 4, it became much easier to tap those buttons because the screen size had increased. The size increase is less dramatic with the Series 7, but I always notice it, and I really like it.
Here is the Enter Passcode screen on a first-generation Apple Watch, a Series 5, and a Series 7:
Here’s a closer view of the buttons on the Series 5 next to the Series 7:
As you can see, the buttons are only slightly larger. But when you go to tap those buttons, the extra room is very nice. The larger passcode screen is something that I appreciate because I use it at least once every day, and typically multiple times a day because I often change my watch band when I come from work.
Another advantage of the big screen is that, in many apps, you can simply see more. The maps app is a good example of this. The Series 7 shows more than the Series 4/5/6/SE, and it shows considerably more than prior models of the Apple Watch:
There are a few Apple Watch faces that are specifically designed to take advantage of the larger screen. My favorite is the Modular Duo. The digits showing the time at the top right are noticeably larger than the similar-sized digits on other watch faces, so it is easier to see the time on this watch face than almost any other one. A small complication fits at the top left. And there is space for two large complications on the main part of the screen — something that was never before possible on an Apple Watch.
I’ve been using the calendar complication in the top large area and the Dark Sky weather complication in the bottom large area, and it is nice to see all of that information at a glance.
With the larger screen, Apple is also providing a new way to enter text into an Apple Watch: a swipe keyboard. Like the similar keyboard on the iPhone, you can put your finger on the first letter of a word, swipe to the second, third, fourth, etc. letters in the word, and then finally lift your finger from the screen when you reach the last letter. The watch does a very good job of understanding what word you intended, even with a relatively fat finger on such a small keyboard.
I’ve tried the new keyboard a few times, and it works. It seems to be less accurate than me speaking and letting Siri translate my speech to text, but if you are in an environment where you cannot talk but you can tap a screen, this keyboard is a nice way to type a few words, or perhaps a sentence or two. I don’t think that I will use the new keyboard very often, but it is nice to have the option for whenever I want it.
The larger screen is certainly not a necessity, but it sure is nice. It makes using the watch a much more pleasant and enjoyable experience. If you are upgrading from an older Apple Watch model, the larger screen will be the most obvious new feature.
Speed
The Apple Watch Series 6 is 20% faster than the Apple Watch Series 5. The Series 7 inherits that speed increase. Thus, if you are like me and you are upgrading from a Series 5 model to a Series 7, you will get a 20% faster Apple Watch. And yes, a 20% speed increase is very noticeable.
Apple also increased the speed considerably when the Apple Watch Series 4 came out—the first Apple Watch to feature a 64-bit processor, which was twice as fast as the Series 3. Thus, if you are upgrading from a Series 3 (or older) to the Series 7, the speed increase that you will experience will be phenomenal.
Although I enjoyed using the early Apple Watch models, they were sluggish, and you couldn’t help but notice it. The Series 4 and Series 5 were the first Apple Watch models that seemed to be fast enough to do what they were supposed to be doing. With the 20% speed increase that you get with the Series 7 (and Series 6), the watch now goes beyond “fast enough” and into the “fast” category. This makes a difference because a faster Apple Watch is a more responsive Apple Watch. I may not need the screen to refresh that much faster when I switch apps or switch screens within an app, but it sure is nice to have the watch keep up with me.
Although the larger screen is the most obvious difference from my prior Apple Watch, the speed increase is my second favorite feature. The Series 7 is the top-of-the-line Apple Watch right now, and with this speed increase, you really feel like you are using the best Apple Watch.
Faster charging
When it is time to recharge your Apple Watch, the Series 7 lets you do so faster than ever before. This is actually the second year in a row that Apple has done something to make the Apple Watch charge more quickly. Last year, the Series 6 added the ability to charge 20% faster than the Series 5 using the same USB cable that the Apple Watch has been using since the first generation. This year, with the Series 7, you can use the same USB charger if you want to do so, but you get another speed boost by using the included USB-C cable along with a USB-C power adapter. The USB-C power adapter is not included with the watch, and this page on the Apple website tells you what type of adapters you can use. (That page also says that fast charging is not available in Argentina, India, or Vietnam, although I have no idea why.)
If you are upgrading from a Series 5 or earlier, you should see an impressive increase in charging speed. I ran some tests where I charged my Series 5 with the regular USB cord at the same time that I charged by Series 7 with a USB-C cord connected to an Apple 29W adapter that I already had from one of my other Apple devices (perhaps my iPad Pro). From 0% to about 80%, my Series 5 added about 5% of charge every five minutes, but the Series 7 added about 12% of charge every five minutes. After it hit 80%, the Series 7 continued to charge, but at a somewhat slower rate (more like 5% to 7% every five minutes), which I know is something that Apple does by design to protect the watch.
Apple says that if you use the USB-C cord with the Series 7, you can go from 0% to 80% in about 45 minutes, and that is consistent with my tests. But I find it even more impressive that you can get a substantial charge if you have less than 45 minutes. For example, in only 15 minutes, I could increase the charge of my Apple Watch by 35%, which is much better than the 15% increase on my Series 5 in the same amount of time.
Depending upon how you use your Apple Watch, faster charging may not matter much. For example, if you charge your Apple Watch overnight, it doesn’t much matter if it takes one hour or two hours while you are sleeping. And a new Apple Watch will typically have enough power to last all day, after which you can again charge it overnight.
But there are circumstances in which you will want to charge during the day, and in these circumstances, the faster charging helps a lot. First, some folks like to wear an Apple Watch while they sleep. This allows for sleep tracking, makes it easy to check the time if you wake up during the night, and lets you use your Apple Watch as a silent alarm to tap you on your wrist when it is time to wake up (instead of a loud alarm that can wake up someone else in the same room). The disadvantage of wearing an Apple Watch at night is that your watch is not at 100% when you start your day. Faster charging makes it easier to find one or two times during the day to charge your watch, such as while you are getting ready in the morning.
Second, there are some uses of an Apple Watch that drain the power more quickly. If you are using cellular, working out for a long period of time, and/or using the screen more than normal, you may need to recharge before the day ends. On the rare occasions when you have one of those days, it is nice to add a little more charge during the day and do so as quickly as possible.
Third, although a brand new Apple Watch does a great job of lasting all day, after a year or two, the battery doesn’t last as long as it does when new. The same is true with the iPhone and other devices with a rechargeable battery. This was one of the reasons that I decided to upgrade from a Series 5; after two years of heavy, daily use, I was getting to 10% or less of battery life near the end of many days when I wanted to keep going a little longer. If this Series 7 watch starts to do the same thing in a few years, it will be nice to be able to recharge it quickly.
Although I’m very impressed by the fast charging of the Series 7, you don’t have to use it all of the time. If you already have one or more older Apple Watch USB chargers because you are upgrading to a Series 7 from an older model, you can still use those chargers. You won’t get fast charging, but you will still charge.
Sensors
Ever since the first Apple Watch debuted in 2015, it has had a sensor to monitor your heart rate. The Series 4, introduced in 2018, added the ability to check your heart activity by running a simple ECG test (sometimes called an EKG). The Series 6, introduced in 2020, added a blood oxygen sensor. Apple is careful to point out that the Apple Watch is not a medical device — a term that requires jumping through many regulatory hoops — but these heart and respiratory sensors can give you a sense of your health. I like that if the Apple Watch notices something that doesn’t seem right, it will give you an alert. There are numerous examples of folks going to see a doctor because of an Apple Watch alert and learning that they have a serious medical issue that needs to be addressed.
Another sensor in the Apple Watch provides fall detection — first added in the Apple Watch Series 4. Fall detection was improved in the recently-released watchOS 8 to do a better job of detecting falls during workouts, including when riding a bicycle.
The Series 7 does not add any new sensors, but it includes all of these sensors that have been added in the past, so you may get one or more new sensors, depending upon the model from which you are upgrading. For me, the blood oxygen sensor is new, and since that sensor can play a role in detecting COVID-19, I’m glad to have it, even though I’m not sure if I’ll ever need it.
A brighter dim
The Apple Watch Series 5 introduced a feature that I’ve really appreciated: even when you are not using the watch, the screen remains on, albeit in a dimmed state. That way, you can glance at your watch without moving your wrist to see key information on the screen such as the time. The Apple Watch Series 6 improved this feature by making the watch up to 2.5x brighter when it is outdoors in that dimmed state.
The Apple Watch Series 7 works the same as the Series 6 when you are outdoors. Indoors, and especially if the lights are low, the Series 7 is a little brighter than the Series 6 when it is in that dimmed state. Apple says that the Series 7 can be up to 70% brighter in this state.
In my tests, I see a difference, but it is not a major difference. Nevertheless, any increase in brightness results in some degree of increased legibility, so I’m glad that Apple is making these changes.
Cellular Service
Ever since the Series 3, you have been able to purchase an Apple Watch with cellular service. That way, even if you are away from your iPhone, you can still send and receive text messages, emails, phone calls, etc., and apps can get data from the Internet. The stainless steel model doesn’t come in a GPS-only model, so my Apple Watch has cellular whether I wanted it or not. To use the cellular features, you need to pay your carrier, just like you would for a phone. I use AT&T, which charges $15.50/month for an Apple Watch. (AT&T says that the cost is $10/month, and that is true, but the surcharges and fees associated with the line increase the total cost to $15.50.)
Do I get $15.50 of value every month from cellular? That’s debatable, but on balance, I still like it. It is pretty rare for my iPhone and Apple Watch to not be a part of the same WiFi network, and they are often even closer and within Bluetooth range. But it does happen sometimes. Sometimes I will walk or jog outside and I don’t want to take my iPhone with me. Sometimes, while on vacation at the beach, I would leave my iPhone in my room so that there was no risk of it being stolen off of a chair when I was in the pool with my kids. And rarely, I’ll rush out of my office during the day — such as to grab lunch — without remembering to pick up my iPhone. There is some security in knowing that I can still send and receive messages, calls, emails, etc. in these situations. And it is nice that I can stream music or a podcast from my Apple Watch to my AirPods without using the iPhone at all.
I’m glad that cellular remains an option on the Apple Watch. If you haven’t used it before, it is worth thinking about getting a cellular model, even though it is not essential.
Durability, Colors, Materials, and Prices
The Apple Watch Series 7 is more durable than prior models for all of the reasons that I discussed in this post. I don’t have anything new to add on that topic, so check out what I wrote previously for all of the details.
Similarly, check out that post to see pictures and descriptions of the different colors, materials, and prices. I’ve been using the stainless steel model since the very first Apple Watch. I like the way that the shiny exterior looks on my wrist, it pairs well with almost every watch band, and the screen is even more durable because it has a sapphire front crystal instead of glass. But if that doesn’t appeal to you, you can get the aluminum version to save some money and get a lighter watch. (The 45mm size is 38.8 grams in aluminum and 51.5 grams in stainless steel.) Apple also sells a premium titanium model, which also uses a sapphire front crystal (and weighs 45.1 grams).
I noted in that post that Apple is still selling the Series 3 and you should not buy it. I continue to believe that. As I also noted in that post, Apple is also still selling the Apple Watch SE, and it is worth considering for some users. For example, my wife and I recently gave my son his first Apple Watch for his 16th birthday, and even though I was willing to get a Series 7 if he really wanted it, he was very happy with the SE and I think that it was the right model for him. The SE is $130 cheaper, he decided that he wasn’t interested in an always-on display, the sensors other than the heart rate sensor (which the SE does have) didn’t interest him, and he didn’t think that the speed and brightness differences would matter much for him. And with the cheaper model, I’m less worried about him breaking it. Having said that, while the SE seems perfect for a teenager, I think that the substantial advantages offered by the Series 7 are worth the extra $130 if you have that in your budget.
Conclusion
If you think that it might be time to upgrade your Apple Watch, the Series 7 is fantastic. If, like me, you are upgrading from a Series 5, it is faster, brighter, easier to see, and adds an extra sensor. If you are upgrading from an even older model, then you will experience even more improvements. And all of the improvements add up to a watch that is a delight to use.
Thank you to Mobile Helix, the maker of the LINK app, for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month. LINK from Mobile Helix is a secure system that allows attorneys to use the LINK app, available on the App Store, on either an iPad or iPhone to access email, document management systems, intranet portals, and more. At your firm, you run LINK server software deployed on-premises behind your firm’s firewall. I’ve had a chance to see how LINK works, and it is quite impressive.
Before showing you how LINK works, I want to begin by mentioning something that is new. SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) is important to online security because it lets you access multiple web applications using a single set of login credentials — often referred to as Single Sign-On (SSO). In the past year, the use of SAML SSO has increased, especially in larger firms. Mobile Helix has just released LINK support for SAML SSO including Okta, Azure AAD, and ADFS. LINK also supports the authenticator apps. SSO support is included with the LINK system at no additional cost. This is a significant new feature, and even if you don’t fully understand it, the folks at your law firm who focus on technology and security certainly understand this significance of this feature.
So what can you do with LINK? The main screen of the LINK app has tiles that correspond to the different resources that can be accessed from within the app. This is something that you configure for your particular law firm. First, there is a section devoted to Documents — your document management system. In many of the screenshots in this post, the DMS being used is iManage, but other DMS systems are supported, such as NetDocuments and OpenText eDOCS.
The next section of the home screen provides access to email. For example, you may have a tile on the home screen that can be tapped to view your Outlook email:
The third part of the home screen provides access to Intranet resources, which can be used for access to time and billing systems, expense systems, firm-specific knowledge management intranets, or any other firm software that has a browser interface.
Attorneys using LINK will commonly want to access documents from a DMS. Here is an example of looking at a list of documents in the iManage document worklist from within the LINK app:
The LINK app works well in a split-screen mode so that you can see a list of documents on one side of the screen while you view a specific document on another part of the screen. You can split the screen 50-50 or use a slider to make one part bigger or smaller.
When working with a PDF document, an attorney can annotate from within the LINK app itself.
When working with a Microsoft Office document, an attorney can view the document within LINK. LINK even has a built-in document comparison system so you can create a redline of different versions of a document. You can also use the Microsoft Office app (sold separately) to edit the document.
You can also take a file that is on your iPad or iPhone and import it into LINK to add it to your firm’s document management system.
The above screenshots show LINK being used on an iPad, but it also works on the iPhone. Here are some examples of what that looks like:
The LINK app has been available since 2014, and the app has seen numerous updates since its original release. The LINK app is currently in use at law firms as small as 30 attorneys and as large as the Top 20 of the AmLaw 100. The pricing is per user, per year, and a free trial is available so that you can easily see how the LINK app works in your own law firm environment. The iPhone and iPad apps are available now, an Android client is in beta, and Mobile Helix also has plans to develop clients for the Mac, Windows, and Chromebook.
Thank you to Mobile Helix for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month and for developing powerful software that lawyers can use to protect confidential information on their mobile devices.
The end of the year is just around the corner for most of us, but for Apple’s fiscal calendar, it is already in the rear-view mirror. Apple recently finished its 2021 fiscal fourth quarter, which ran from June 27, 2021, to September 25, 2021. A few days ago, Apple released the results for its 2021 fiscal fourth quarter and held a call with analysts to discuss the results. Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter is typically a transitional quarter; it is the first fiscal quarter — the one that we are in now — that is traditionally Apple’s big revenue quarter because of holiday sales. But with COVID, labor shortages, material shortages, and more, very little is predictable right now. For example, while Apple announced record fourth quarter revenue of $83.4 billion, up 29 percent year over year, Apple was still a little short of what some analysts predicted. But as always, I’m not all that interested in the financial details; what interests me is that this is one of four times a year when Apple answers questions from a bunch of analysts, so I’m always curious to see what Apple has to say about the iPhone and iPad and related technologies. If you want to get all of the nitty-gritty details, you can listen to the audio from the announcement conference call on the Apple website, or you can read a transcript of the call prepared by Jason Snell of Six Colors. Apple’s official press release is here. Here are the items that stood out to me.
iPhone
iPhone revenue for the quarter was $38.87 billion, which is an impressive 47% higher than it was a year ago.
When discussing initiatives to protect the environment, Cook noted that the antenna on iPhone 13 is made of recycled plastic water bottles, and this is the first time that anyone in the industry has done that.
iPhone customer satisfaction is reported to be 98%.
There are more iPhones in active use right now than ever before in history.
Cook said that iPhone and iPad supply could not keep up with demand in 2021 Q4 for two reasons. First, there have been chip shortages affecting the entire industry. Second, there have been COVID-related manufacturing disruptions in Southeast Asia.
To give you some context for the increase in iPhone revenue this past quarter, here is a chart showing the year-over-year percentage change since fiscal 2013 Q1, which is when Apple started reporting this type of revenue in this form. As you can see in this chart, Apple has had impressive iPhone revenue growth throughout 2021. You have to go back to 2014-2015 to see revenue jumps like this, and of course, the iPhone is much bigger now than it was then.
iPad
iPad revenue was $8.252 million in 2021 Q4, which was up 21% from 2020 Q4.
Cook said: “Customers are loving the ninth generation iPad, which features a beautifully sharp display and twice the storage of the previous generation, as well as the new iPad mini with its ultra portable design and impressive speed and performance.”
Here is a chart to show the year-over-year percentage change in iPad revenue since fiscal 2013 Q1, which is when Apple started reporting this type of revenue in this form. As you can see, this is the sixth quarter in a row in which Apple’s iPad revenue has been higher than the same fiscal quarter in the prior year.
Other
This was Apple’s best-ever fiscal fourth quarter in the wearables, home, and accessories category of products with $8.785 in revenue, up 12% from this time last year.
Cook noted that Apple TV+ won 11 Emmys this year, including the award for outstanding comedy series for Ted Lasso.
There is now an Apple Store in the Bronx, which means Apple is now in all five boroughs of New York City.
Episode 25 of the In the News podcast is now available. We start by discussing how Apple (with iOS 15.1) and Facebook are taking the first steps towards a future in which we share a virtual presence with folks in other locations. Next, we wish the iPod a happy 20th anniversary, and then discuss the new AirPods (third generation). We also discuss iPad multitasking and the new Apple Watch Series 7.
In our In the Know segment, Brett discusses the Memoji feature on the iPhone and iPad. I share a tip for the Notes app: when you are sharing a note with someone else, you can view activity (who made changes, when they did so, and what they changed) by swiping left-to-right across a note. It’s sort of like the track changes redline edit feature in Microsoft Word.
Around the year 2000, I started using my first MP3 player — a popular Diamond Rio device that Apple was providing for free when you purchased an iBook laptop computer. I think it was the Rio 600. It could only hold about 10 songs, so I’d have to listen to the same songs every time I used it, or I had to take the time to update the songs on the Rio by connecting it to my computer before starting a workout or other activity I wanted to do while listening to music. Twenty years ago (specifically, October 23, 2001), Apple introduced the original iPod. Because I used the Rio and other music devices going back to the Walkman in the 1980s, I instantly understood the allure of a device that could hold 1,000 songs — 1,000 songs! — but still fit in a pocket. As Dan Moren wrote in Macworld a few days ago, the iPod changed everything for Apple. That first model caught everyone’s attention, and the success of subsequent models brought a wave of new customers to Apple and made plenty of money for Apple — a company that was on the brink of bankruptcy just a few years earlier. I owned and loved numerous models of the iPod over the years. And fortunately, none of them looked like this prototype model that Cabel Sasser of Panic shared this week. Of course, the iPod is no longer necessary now that we have the iPhone, but the iPod’s touch interface (the innovative scroll wheel) and small size made it the forefather of the iPhone. You can make a strong argument that without the iPod, Apple would have never invented the iPhone. So happy 20th to the iPod, and thanks for everything that you did. And now, the news of note from the past week:
I’ve written before about the Pegasus software sold by NSO Group to governments, which can be used to hack into smartphones including the iPhone. Ben Hubbard, a New York Times correspondent covering the Middle East, has evidence indicating that Saudi Arabia may have hacked his iPhone four times over the last few years using Pegasus. Unless you are a high-profile target, you are probably safe, and Apple is always working to patch security holes exploited by black hat and white hat hackers to hack into devices. But a risk always remains, and this article is a fascinating read. (I’m using the “gift” feature of the New York Times, so you can use this link to read this article even if you don’t pay for a subscription.)
One new feature in iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 is SharePlay. Lewis Wallace of Cult of Mac explains the new Apple Fitness+ feature that lets you use SharePlay to talk to one or more other people while you do a Fitness+ exercise program together.
Adobe had its Adobe Max conference this week, and during that conference, Adobe announced updates to many of its products. Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac explains some of the new features added to Photoshop and Illustrator for iPad.
Even though the new Apple Watch Series 7 is still in short supply, you can already purchase select models at a discount through Amazon. For example, I see that the stainless steel model that I ordered is $30 cheaper on Amazon, although it doesn’t come with the watch band that I selected. But if you are lucky and the model and band that you want are currently being sold on Amazon, you can save some money.
Currently, when I purchase home automation devices, I virtually always select devices that work with Apple’s HomeKit technology. That makes it easier because I can manage devices from different vendors using the Home app and because different devices that support HomeKit can often work with each other. But at some point in the coming years, a new smart home standard called Matter should become widespread. Apple, Google, and Amazon will all support Matter, so the hope is that this will be the first truly cross-platform home automation standard. I mention all of this today because Jeff Butts of The Mac Observer notes that many different eero devices – including the eero Pro (Wi-Fi 5) that I reviewed last year and the newer eero 6 and eero Pro 6 — will support Matter in the future.
And finally, for the last few years, Apple has commissioned a series of YouTube videos created by Donghoon Jun and James Thornton called Experiments in which these smart guys create fascinating videos using relatively simple materials filmed with an iPhone. It’s a way to show off the incredible videos that an iPhone can capture. The latest installment is Experiments VI: Movie Magic, and it is really cool. In this installment, they recreate special effects that you might see in a movie, and while you might assume that computer graphics were used, these were actually created using practical objects:
Multitasking on the iPad is very useful, but in the past, it has been somewhat confusing. Apple improved this in iPadOS 15 by making two changes. First, at the top of the screen, Apple added a new button with three dots. Tap the three dots to activate multitasking. Second, Apple added the new Shelf to the bottom of the screen, which appears when you launch an app to remind you of other windows associated with that same app. These are both great improvements that make it easier to work with multiple windows and apps on an iPad.
The three dots
Open just about any app on an iPad running iPadOS 15 and you will see three dots at the top. Apple calls the dots the multitasking button.
When you tap the three dots, you will see the different multitasking modes: full screen, Split View, or Slide Over. The mode that the window is currently using is indicated by a gray circle around its corresponding icon.
If you tap the Split View or Slide Over buttons, the active window will move to the side so that you can select another app. If you pressed the Split View button, the app you select will be placed side-by-side with the app that you were previously in. If you pressed the Slide Over button, the app you select will fill the screen, and the app that you were previously using will appear on the right side of the screen on top of the app you selected.
Some apps, such as the Mail app, will show a fourth mode: Center window. That mode places a window in the center of your iPad screen on top of the other window in the app.
You don’t have to use the three dots to do multitasking on the iPad. For example, the iPad continues to support the previous method: open the Dock at the bottom of the screen and then drag an app from the Dock to the side of the app you are currently using for Split View mode, or drag an app from the Dock to the top of the app you are currently using for Slide Over mode. But with the new three dots system, you can put an app in a multitasking mode even if it is not in the Dock.
The Shelf
For a while now, an iPad app could have multiple windows open. For example, you might have one window of Safari open with three tabs, then another window of Safari open with only a single tab. Or you might have different Microsoft Word documents open in different windows. Before iPadOS 15, it could be difficult to know how many windows were open for an app. You might tap the Microsoft Word icon in your Dock thinking that it was going to open a contract that you are drafting only to discover that Microsoft Word instead opened a different document, a brief that you are also drafting.
In iPadOS 15, whenever you open an app that has more than one window open, a Shelf appears at the bottom of the screen with thumbnail images of the different windows associated with that app. One of those windows will be the active window, but if that isn’t the window that you intended to use, you can tap one of the other thumbnail images in the Shelf. And if the thumbnail images are too small for you to tell what each window is, you can just keep tapping on different thumbnail images until you find the one that you want.
Once you start to act on the active window, the Shelf goes away.
If you are working in an app and want to see the Shelf associated with that app again, there are many ways that you can bring back the Shelf. First, you can exit the app (swipe up to go to your Home Screen) and start the app again. Second, you can swipe up from the bottom of the screen — just a little — to bring up the Dock, then tap the icon for the active app and you will see the Shelf again. Third, you can tap the three dots at the top of the screen — not only does that show you the multitasking modes at the top of the screen, but it also shows you the Shelf at the bottom of the screen if you are using an app that currently has two or more windows open. Fourth, if you use an Apple external keyboard that has a Globe key on it, you can tap the Globe key and the down arrow key to activate the Shelf. (Keyboards without a Globe key may be able to do this as well. For example, on my older Apple Magic Keyboard, the FN key works like the Globe key.)
When you are already in an app and you use one of these methods to reactivate the Shelf, you will see another option at the end of the Shelf: a blank thumbnail image with a plus sign on it. Tap that one to create an additional window in the app.
Conclusion
Anyone who uses a computer knows that the ability to switch between different windows, either in the same program or in different programs, allows you to be much more productive with the computer. The same is true for the iPad. Switching between different apps, or different windows within the same app, makes it much easier to do much more with an iPad. And thanks to the three dots and the Shelf, iPadOS 15 makes it easier than ever to multitask on an iPad.
Episode 24 of the In the News podcast is now available. Apple announced lots of new products and services this week, so that is where Brett Burney and I begin this episode. We then talk about the Apple Watch Series 7 and the iPhone 13 Pro.
In our In the News segment, Brett and I talk about my post from earlier this week recommending that you put only widgets on your iPad home screen. I share some tips for getting the most out of the Notes widget, and Brett does the same for the Files widget.
On April 22, 2009, Tim Cook (who at the time was Apple’s COO and acting CEO) announced that Apple had sold its 21st million iPhone, was happy with its exclusive relationship with AT&T, and looked forward to the competition from the Palm Pre. Just two days later, I published the first edition of In the News. Fast forward to today, and analyst Horace Dediu concluded that Apple recently sold its 2 billionth iPhone, and this is the 600th edition of In the News. That is a lot of Fridays. Well, TGIF once again, and here is the news of note from the past week:
One of the new announcements made by Apple this week was a new plan for Apple Music. The Apple Music plan options were $9.99/month for an individual, $14.99/month for up to 6 people in a family, or $4.99/month if you are a college student. This week, Apple added a fourth plan: $4.99/month for the Apple Music Voice plan. With this plan, you have to ask Siri to play music — such as individual songs, albums, Apple Music playlists, or new mood and activity playlists (such as “Play the dinner party playlist”) — and you cannot use the traditional Apple Music app to search for songs. You also don’t get Spatial Audio, and because you are not using the Apple Music app, you cannot see lyrics or watch music videos. California attorney David Sparks points out another drawback: Siri often does not understand you when you ask it to play one song and it plays a different one instead. Perhaps this new plan will be attractive to some folks, but I share David’s concerns. On the other hand, I think that the family plan is a tremendous value. Apple Music integrates incredibly well with all of our Apple products, and it is great that I, my wife, and both of my teenagers can play virtually any song that we want, whenever we want, for about the same price that I paid for a single cassette tape when I was a teenager. And I don’t even need to flip the iPhone over to play the second half of that Journey album.
Speaking of David Sparks, he and Stephen Hackett released a great episode of the Mac Power Users podcast with tips on getting work done using an iPad. I learned a lot from that one.
Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories shares some of the small things that you may have missed associated with Apple’s new product announcement from this past Monday.
How do you decide between the AirPods (second generation), the new AirPods (third generation), and the AirPods Pro? Chance Miller of 9to5Mac compares the three products and created an especially useful chart comparing the key features.
Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels (and the Mac Power Users podcast) shows all the details on how the new Apple Music Voice plan compares to the other plans.
Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac notes another new announcement from Apple this week: you can now buy the HomePod mini in the original colors (space gray and white) or three new colors: yellow, orange, and blue. I reviewed the HomePod mini earlier this year, and I’m still a big fan.
Juli Clover of MacStories notes a new Apple product that Apple did not mention at its event this past Monday: a new $19 Polishing Cloth that is safe to use to clean any Apple device. And I see as I type this that it is currently sold out for the next 10-12 weeks, so I hope that you were not counting on getting one from Santa Claus this year.
One feature of the iPhone 13 Pro is 120hz ProMotion. What exactly does that mean? This two-minute YouTube video from “The Slow Mo Guys” uses slow motion to show exactly how it works. Very informative.
Federico Viticci of MacStories writes about an app called Yoink, a clipboard manager on the iPad that and iPhone that manages to run all the time in the background by telling the operating system that it is in picture-in-picture mode. I’m curious if Apple will let the app continue to exploit this loophole.
One of the new watch faces that Apple created to take advantage of the larger face on the Apple Watch Series 7 is called Contour. Parker Ortolani of 9to5Mac shares all the details on how the Contour watch face works.
Mark Sullivan of Fast Company reviews the Apple Watch Series 7 as a smartwatch for runners.
You can usually get 3% cash back when you use an Apple Card to purchase products from Apple. But Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that you can now get 6% cash back.
Clive Thompson writes on Medium about reading War and Peace on an iPhone. The. Whole. Book. It’s a fascinating article written by a great writer, and it addresses far more topics than you might expect.
And finally, if you missed the first two minutes of Apple’s announcements on Monday, then you missed a great video called Start Up: 45 Years of Apple Sounds. I love so much about this video: the homage to creating something in a garage — the place that Apple itself started, the vintage Apple products, and the song that A.G. Cook created. Worth watching:
