A year ago in iOS 14, Apple first provided the ability to add widgets to the iPhone home screen. It’s a nice feature that I use every day, but I am only willing to devote a limited portion of my first iPhone home screen to widgets because I want to also have space for my frequently-used apps. On the other hand, screen real estate is a completely different story on the iPad. Now that iPadOS 15 allows the placement of widgets on the iPad, I find myself using a different approach to widgets: only widgets on the home screen.
There are two reasons that this works so well for me. First, and most obviously, there is a lot more space on the iPad screen. Thus, when you are deciding where to place your widgets, you have a larger canvas to work with.
Second, you can devote more – and perhaps all — of that larger canvas on an iPad to widgets because the Dock on the iPad is considerably longer that the iPhone. The iPhone’s dock only has space for four apps. The iPad dock has space for up to 20 apps — although, depending upon your your setup, you may pick just 17 of those. In the Settings app, you can turn on the option to show up to three suggested and recent apps in the Dock, which leaves you room for 17 apps in the Dock that you select, plus three recent ones. But whether you pick all 20 or just 17 of the 20, the iPad dock unquestionably holds far more apps that the iPhone dock.
There’s actually room for one more thing in the Dock. Another option in the Settings app is to add one more space at the far right end for the App Library, which means 21 different slots in the Dock, if you turn that on.
The upshot of all of this is that I don’t need to place apps on my iPad’s first home screen. The 17 most important apps are in the Dock, the last three apps that I used other than those 17 are also in the Dock, and the App Library at the end of my Dock makes it easy to find other apps. With no need for apps on the first home screen, I get to devote all of that space to widgets.
Having only widgets on a home screen changes the home screen from an app launcher to a mission control, displaying the key information that I need for getting my work done and other valuable information. Indeed, a good widget is so useful at displaying information that you may not need to even launch the app to learn more. And everything is visible with just a quick glance.
Here are the widgets that I currently find the most useful on my iPad.
I’m going to start with my center column because it is probably the most useful. At the top, I have the time displayed — using big, bold numbers that are obvious at a quick glance. The app that I’m using to display the time is Widgetsmith because it allows almost infinite customization. I’m using a medium size widget, and I’ve customized that widget to display only the time, using large white numbers on a blue background that matches the color of the iPad background. Thus, instead of looking like a rectangular widget, it looks like the time is being displayed directly on the iPad’s background.
Just below the time, I have a medium size widget from PDF Expert, the app that I use to work with PDF files, displaying my four most recent files. When I want to launch PDF Expert, there is a good chance that I’m going to want to look at one of those recent files, and by tapping one of those four buttons in the widget I can jump directly to that file. It’s a great shortcut.
At the bottom of the middle column I have the large widget from Things, the app that I use to keep track of my to do list. In the above image, I’ve pixelated the widget to redact confidential information. But on my iPad, it displays the top 12 items that I need to be working on. Thus, without even launching the Things app, I can see the most important items for me to be working on today. When I’m ready to mark an item as completed, I just tap on the widget to launch the Things app. As a result, I don’t even have the Things app on my Dock (unless it shows up as one of the three most recently-used apps) because the widget itself launches the app.
So in short, the middle column shows me what I need to be working on, gives me a link to documents that are often relevant to that work, and reminds me of how much time I have to complete that work because of the clock. It’s a column of productivity.
At the top of my left column I have a medium widget from Fantastical. The left side of the widget tells me the day and date. Yes, that information is also at the very top of my iPad, but it is in a small font size. The Fantastical app makes it much easier to see today’s date at a glance. The right side of the Fantastical widget displays the next two or three items on my calendar, reminding me of upcoming meetings.
The next two medium widgets in my left column are from CARROT Weather. One displays a radar so that I can quickly see rain in the area (a premium feature of the app that I get by paying for a subscription), and the one below it displays the hourly and daily forecast. if CARROT Weather had a single large widget that included all of that information, I would use that instead, but using two medium widgets also works fine and give me the weather that I find most useful.
At the bottom of my left column is the Siri Suggestion widget with eight app suggestions. If I want to launch an app and it isn’t in my Dock, I will often see it there. If not, I can swipe to my second home screen, which displays my top apps that were not placed in my Dock, or I can tap the App Library at the end of my Dock, or I can swipe down on the screen to search for an app. To be honest, though, I’m not sure if I will stick with the Siri Suggestion widget because I only use it occasionally. I previously had the Notes widget in that location, giving me quick access to my three most recent notes, and I may return to that.
The top half of my right column is the large Photos widget displaying For You photographs. This is one of my favorite widgets because it changes frequently throughout the day. I never know what I am going to see there, but it is often a picture that makes me smile. It reminds me of having a traditional framed photograph on my desk, but it is much better because the picture changes all of the time. If I tap the widget, it starts a short movie using the Memories feature in Photos so that I can see that photo and related ones. I have a large number of pictures in the Photos app, and the Memories feature in general, and this widget in particular, do a great job of resurfacing pictures. I love it.
The bottom half of my right column is the large Apple News widget set to Today, which means that it shows me two news headlines. I’m often too busy during the day at work to pay much attention to the news, but any big story of the day is going to be in the Apple News widget. Thus, just by glancing at my home screen, I have some sense of what is going on in the world, and I can tap on the headline if I want to read more. (As an Apple One subscriber, I get access to Apple News+, but even without a News+ subscription you can read much of the top news in the Apple News app.)
iPadOS 15 also supports a new XL size widget, the size of two large widgets. It is impressive that so much information can be displayed in this widget size. So far, I don’t consider any one widget valuable enough to occupy this much space on my first home screen, but I do have some of these on my subsequent home screens. To be honest, though, they are really just there for fun. You have to really love a widget to let it take up that much screen space.
As more apps release better widgets for the iPad, I may replace some of the widgets mentioned above with other widgets that work better for me. But at this point, I see no reason to ever go back to having app icons on my iPads’s first home screen. A screen with all widgets is just so better for me thanks to the additional information it displays. I encourage you to try it yourself so that you can see if you find it to be as much of an improvement as I do.
Yesterday, Apple introduced the new third generation model of the AirPods. Before discussing the new features, let’s take a quick look at how we got here.
A brief history of AirPods
Apple announced the first generation AirPods on September 7, 2016. They hit the market at the end of that year, and although supply of that $159 product was very limited at first, I loved them right away, as did many others. AirPods are one of my all-time favorite Apple products. At the office, I use them all the time for phone calls and video conferences. Out of the office, I use them all the time for music, podcasts, and videos. They weigh virtually nothing, and they work great.
A little more than two years later, Apple introduced the second generation AirPods with faster pairing and improved Siri support. And if you paid an additional $40, you could get a case that charges using wireless Qi charging. It was a nice upgrade, albeit an incremental one.
On October 28, 2019, Apple introduced the AirPods Pro. They added active noise cancellation, flexible silicone tips, and a force sensor button that you squeeze instead of tapping. They also introduced a new case design, making the AirPods Pro easily distinguishable from the second generation AirPods:
The AirPods Pro also supports spatial audio, a really nice technology that simulates surround sound. When music supports it, the sound is much richer. And spatial audio can make videos seem much more immersive. Some videos even support a directional version of spatial audio so that if you turn your head away from the screen, the audio seems to be coming from the screen — a neat effect that tricks you into forgetting that you are listening to audio from your AirPods Pro instead of from speakers that are built-in to the screen.
In late 2020, Apple introduced the AirPods Max, which are over-ear wireless headphones that cost $549. Although they have “AirPods” in the name, this has always seemed like a different product to me. I associate “AirPods” with small earphones, not large over-the-head headphones.
The new AirPods (3rd generation)
That brings us to yesterday. The new third generation AirPods occupy a middle ground between the second generation AirPods and the AirPods Pro.
The new AirPods look similar to the prior model, but the stem is shorter and they add a force sensor button.
The original AirPods design is fantastic, so the newest AirPods should feel quite good in your ears.
The new AirPods come in a case that looks similar to the AirPods Pro case, although it is not quite as wide — 2.14 inches wide versus the 2.39 inches AirPods Pro case.
This new case supports MagSafe wireless charging. Wireless charging is not a new feature — as noted above, it was added in early 2019 with the second generation AirPods and is also supported by the AirPods Pro. But the “MagSafe” part of this is new. What it means is that if you put the case on a MagSafe charger, not only will it charge (which is not new) but it will also attach magnetically to the charger so that you can be positive that there is a good connection and it is less likely to slide off of the charger by accident. This is a nice new feature that makes wireless charging even better. (Apple also updated the case on AirPods Pro yesterday to add support for MagSafe.)
The new AirPods don’t have noise-cancellation; you still need to get the AirPods Pro for that. But they do include many of the other audio improvements of the AirPods Pro including spatial audio. Also, like the AirPods Pro — and unlike the second generation AirPods — the newest AirPods are advertised as sweat and water resistant.
The new AirPods also provide an extra hour of battery life — up to six hours of listening and up to four hours of talking. And if they run low on power, you can charge them for just five minutes to get about an hour of battery life. The battery in the case can charge the AirPods four more times, so you get up to 30 hours of total listening time.
Another new feature that doesn’t even exist on the AirPods Pro is a new skin-detection sensor. Apple says that it does a better job of determining when the AirPods are no longer in your ear (which causes music to pause). Prior AirPods models and the AirPods Pro use an optical sensor, which can get confused and think that they are in your ear when they are instead in a dark pocket.
Pricing
Ever since AirPods were introduced in 2016, the price was $159 (although you could often find them on sale). But Apple also announced yesterday the they are going to continue to sell the second generation AirPods for only $129. That makes me think that those will eventually go on sale for under $100. It is now much cheaper to start using AirPods.
The new third generation AirPods cost $179, so they are $20 more than what AirPods used to cost. However, the case comes with wireless charging, a feature that used to cost extra.
AirPods Pro also remain available for $249, for those who want noise cancellation and/or the flexible tips that come in different sizes. Noise cancellation is a feature that I really like, but it is nice that you can get almost all of the other advantages of AirPods Pro for $80 less. And the new AirPods offer one very nice advantage over AirPods Pro: longer battery life (up to 6 hours instead of up to 4.5 hours).
Conclusion
The new AirPods seem like a great product. The support for spatial audio and the longer battery life make them a very nice improvement over the prior model. And the prior model sticks around at a lower price, making it easier for folks to justify purchasing the entry-level AirPods over other wireless earphones. The new AirPods even include some new features that have not (yet) shown up on the AirPods Pro.
You can pre-order the new AirPods now, and they go on sale next week.
Episode 23 of the In the News podcast is now available. Brett and I begin discussing the initial reviews of the Apple Watch Series 7. We then talk about using the FindMy app to locate an item that has been lost or stolen, discussing the Chicago man who located his stolen car thanks to the AirTag he had placed in it. Then we talk about Apple’s “Unleashed” announcement coming on Monday, using the Live Text feature in Photos, and using live video in a Keynote presentation.
Finally, in our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for putting a call in hold on the iPhone, and I share a tip for changing the text size in a specific app.
Today is the day that the new Apple Watch Series 7 goes on sale. And this week, the first set of reviews were released by folks who got early access to Apple’s newest product. If you are interested in learning more about the newest watch, the reviews that I found most interesting are listed below. Another news item from this past week is that Apple said that it will have a product announcement on Monday, October 18, 2021. My guess is that Apple will announce new Macs on Monday, and if I’m correct, then Apple won’t be announcing the type of product that I discuss on iPhone J.D. But who knows, maybe Apple will also announce new AirPods or some other product that works with an iPhone or iPad. We’ll see. And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:
The fantastic Keynote app for the iPad recently added the ability to include live video in a Keynote presentation. Brett Burney, my co-host on the In the News podcast, created a great video for his Apps in Law website that shows exactly how this feature works (including how easy it is to use) and explains when you might want to take advantage of this feature.
Mobile attorney Carter Hale wrote a really good article in the Fall 2021 issue of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association Journal with tips for using technology in the courtroom. Click here to download a PDF version of the magazine, and the article starts on page 10.
Speaking of David Sparks, he recently released a DEVONthink Field Guide and I’ve heard great things about it. I don’t use DEVONthink myself, but if you do, you should check it out. And even if you don’t, David has lots of other useful field guides that can help with topics such as going paperless, using Shortcuts, Keyboard Maestro, the Photos app, Fantastical, and more.
Dieter Bohn of The Verge consistently does a great job with his product reviews, especially the videos that are at the top of many of his review, and that remains true for his review of the Apple Watch Series 7.
The iPhone’s new Live Text feature makes it easy to take a picture of words and turn it into text. Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac shares a video showing that students can use Live Text to “steal” notes from other students in a classroom. The video does a good job of demonstrating how Live Text can capture text that is around you in everyday life.
Hardy also reviews the Kingston DataTraveler Max, a flash drive that stores up to 1 TB of data and uses USB-C with USB 3.2 Gen 2 to transfer data at up to 1,000MBps. You can use it with anything that has USB-C, like an iPad or a computer. It’s currently sold out on Amazon and many other stores, but this looks like an incredibly useful device if you need to move around a lot of data.
And finally, here is a useful video from Apple with 10 helpful Apple Watch tips. There were some in here that were new to me and/or that I had forgotten about.
I’m thrilled to welcome back LIT SOFTWARE as a sponsor of iPhone J.D. this month. LIT SUITE includes all of the apps that LIT SOFTWARE has been selling since 2010: TrialPad, TranscriptPad, DocReviewPad, and the newest app, ExhibitsPad. I have reviewed those apps numerous times over the years, most recently this past February when the apps received big updates when the LIT SUITE was announced. My guess is that you already know something about these apps, such as the fact that TrialPad makes it easy to present evidence to a judge, jury, arbitrator, or other audience, and that TranscriptPad is the best way to read and annotate deposition transcripts.
A quick note on that impeachment slide feature: I made great use of it a few months ago in a Zoom mediation. We were in the presentations portion of the beginning of the mediation when another attorney said something that I knew was inconsistent with a deposition transcript. I quickly found the impeachment testimony in the transcript in TranscriptPad, created an impeachment slide, and then exported it to my PowerPoint. When it was my time to speak and share my PowerPoint slides about 15 minutes later, there was a new, professional-looking slide in my deck that showed everyone that the representation that had just been just made about the witness testimony was incorrect. Without this feature, it would have been difficult or impossible to create any slide, let alone a slide that looked that good so quickly, especially while I continued to pay attention to the ongoing mediation proceedings. And the end result was that I had more credibility when I made my pitch about what the evidence in the case would really show and what the case was really worth, which helped to lead to a favorable settlement.
When you purchase a subscription to LIT SUITE, you get every update that LIT SOFTWARE releases. And just this year, there have already been a bunch of those updates. For example:
A brand new app was introduced: ExhibitsPad.
You can now share individual transcripts with another TranscriptPad user for collaboration or second pass review.
TrialPad and DocReviewPad now support Adobe PDF bookmarks when importing Adobe PDF files.
You can now save bookmarks in documents, and those bookmarks are shared from one app to another.
A new Speak Transcript feature reads your transcript to you.
You can now add bookmarks to a transcript in TranscriptPad.
The user interface was improved this year to make it even easier to view documents. Not only does everything look better, but you can do more. For example, the apps now have a document and folder count under the Document List to easily see how many folders or documents there are in a case, or in a section of a case.
The apps now wrap text to a second line for documents with long names or descriptions.
The apps have new keyboard shortcuts for power users who use their iPad with an external keyboard.
If you own an older, stand-alone version of one of more of the LIT SOFTWARE apps, those apps continue to work, but they don’t include any of these new features that were added this year. So that alone is a reason to upgrade to the subscription.
But that’s just the beginning. As I noted above, for over a decade, LIT SOFTWARE has continued to update its apps, and that track record shows you how committed the company is to frequent updates. So you know that more features are coming in the future, and the subscription is the way to get them all. Many features that are in development are still secret, but LIT SOFTWARE told me about a few things that are planned for the future and gave me permission to share them with you. Here are some things that they are working on right now:
The easiest and best video deposition editing available (currently in testing).
Multitasking support, which will allow you to run a LIT SUITE app side-by-side with Word or another app.
The new ability to drag and drop files as a way to import file. (LIT SOFTWARE tells me that there have been a huge number of requests for that one.)
LIT SOFTWARE apps on the Mac. These will be coming out as a public beta, exclusively for LIT SUITE users, this calendar quarter.
Finally, one of the things that I like about LIT SOFTWARE is that the folks behind it are incredibly responsive. When a customer sends an email, it isn’t answered by some bot or an inexperienced customer service representative. The folks at LIT SOFTWARE answer the emails, and they do a great job of pointing you in the right direction. They love what they do, and they love helping you do more with their apps.
Whether you are a longtime user of the prior, stand-alone versions of their apps or you are a new customer, I encourage you to give the LIT SUITE subscription a try. When you download any of the LIT SUITE apps, you get a 7-day free trial so that you can see what you think. LIT SUITE is an essential part of my law practice, and once you try it, you will see why.
Every Friday, Brett Burney and I record a new episode of the In the News podcast. Although most of the show is devoted to discussing the top iPhone and iPad news of the week, we always end the podcast with an “In the Know” segment, in which we share a tip of the week: a useful feature of the iPhone or iPad, a cool feature in a specific app, an app that you might not know about yet, a useful service, etc. Our In the Know segment started with our second episode, so now that we have recorded twenty-two episodes, we’ve shared 42 tips. And as any fan of the writings of Douglas Adams knows, 42 is a pretty important number.
If you have missed one or more podcast episodes, then you may have missed out on a tip that you would find quite useful. But fear not because today’s post will make it easy catch up. This post contains every one of our In the Know tips so far. I have these broken down by episode, and I have provided the precise timestamp in the YouTube version of the episode so you can jump directly to the point where Brett or I explain the tip.
What if you want to jump straight to the tips in the audio podcast? That is even easier. Use the Chapters feature of your podcast app (such as Apple’s Podcasts app, Overcast, or Pocket Casts) and you can jump directly to each of the two In the Know segments of each podcast.
If you like the idea of learning tips for getting more out of an iPhone or iPad, then I encourage you to use your podcast player of choice to subscribe to our podcast and to subscribe in YouTube. That way, you will get all of our tips where they are still fresh.
Episode 2
Brett: Use The Microsoft Office app on your iPhone to convert a PDF file to a Word document, so that you can edit the document in Word. 23:26
Jeff: Use the Metapho app on your iPad to change the location, date, or time associated with the photo. Many months after I shared this tip, Apple added a similar function to the Photos app in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, but it isn’t quite as powerful as Metapho. 25:00
Episode 3
Brett: Using an iPhone 12 or newer device, you can use the Measure app to measure the size of a physical objection or the height of a person. 31:34
Jeff: SongPop Party, a fun game to play with your family or friends if you have an Apple Arcade subscription. After first discussing this game with Brett, I then wrote about it on iPhone J.D. 34:20
Episode 4
Brett: Using the Walkie Talkie app on an Apple Watch. 26:47
Brett: Two tips this week. First, in the built-in Notes app, instead of a blank canvas you can use a grid background, a lined background, etc. Second, in the Messages app, you can forward a specific text message to another person. 28:53
Jeff: Use the Deliveries app (my 2017 review) to track pages being sent to you (or that you have sent to others). 30:50
Episode 6
Brett: All of the cool features of the AirPods Pro (which I reviewed in early 2020). 22:10
Jeff: I explained how you can use the HyperDrive 6-in-1 USB-C Hub (my 2019 review) with the 2021 version of the iPad Pro, which is a little thicker than the prior models. And if you have an iPad with Lightning instead of USB-C, I explained that you can use Apple Lightning-to-USB3 adapter to do some of the same things. 26:04
Episode 7
Brett: Use an Apple Watch to locate your iPhone by making your iPhone play a ping sound. 20:20
Jeff: Use the Camera Remote app on your Apple Watch to remotely control the camera shutter on your iPhone. Prop up your iPhone on a surface, and then you can be in a picture with your friends of family. 22:30
Episode 8
Brett: When you are on a road trip, use the iExit app to find out about the restaurants, gas stations, and other places at the upcoming exits on the Interstate. I wrote a review of an earlier version of this app in 2014. 32:17
Jeff: Use the Google Voice app to create a free phone number that you can give out to businesses or other third parties when you don’t want them to have your real number. And then you can adjust whether or not you are interrupted by notifications when people text or call that Google Voice number. 34:42
Episode 9
Jeff: If you are creating a PowerPoint presentation that will contain graphics in it, start by creating the presentation in the Keynote app on an iPad where it is far easier to work with graphics. Then you can export to PowerPoint and finish up the slides using the PowerPoint software on a PC or Mac. 28:40
Brett: Use the iPhone as a remote when you are giving a presentation using Keynote on a Mac. 33:00
Episode 10
Brett: Use the Calculator app on an Apple Watch to calculate the tip at a restaurant. 35:40
Brett: In the Messages app, you can hide alerts from a specific group of text messages, also called a “conversation” in the Message app. 27:48
Jeff: In the Messages app, if you are going to meet someone, here is a quick way to let them know how far away you are or let them track you until you get to them. 30:11
Episode 12
Brett: Use the Thwip app on an Apple Watch to create funny sounds effects such as air horn, rim shot, sad trombone, crickets, and many more. 32:22
Jeff: Use the Swipe Scoreboard app on an Apple Watch to track the score of a game that you attending, such as your child’s soccer game. 35:43
Episode 13
Brett: When you have the Live Photos feature turned on, you can add photo effects: loop, bounce, and long exposure — an effect that is particularly interesting when you take a picture of a waterfall. 27:45
Jeff: I provided about a dozen examples of things that you might want to keep track of using the built-in Notes app. 31:56
Episode 14
Brett: Use two fingers to drag across a list of emails (or other items) to more quickly select and act upon multiple items. 31:08
Jeff: Tips for taking a picture as quickly as possible with a locked iPhone. 33:15
Episode 15
Brett: Share albums in your Photos app with other people. 27:00
Jeff: Using the Studio Neat Glif and Hand Grip (my review) to more easily take long videos with your iPhone. 32:36
Episode 16
Brett: Using the Shazam feature on the iPhone to identify a song. 33:04
Jeff: How to secure your Wi-Fi router using Apple’s HomeKit. 37:29
Episode 17
Brett: Using the iCloud.com website to access notes in the Notes app — an especially useful tip for accessing your Notes on a PC. 34:47
Jeff: The Midland ER310 weather radio, a great device to have in your possession if you encounter a natural disaster. 39:34
Episode 18
Brett: How to reply to a specific text among many text messages in the Messages app. 27:20
Jeff: Tips for using the Reader View mode on Safari on an iPhone. 30:26
Episode 19
Brett: A quick way to determine which model of an Apple device you are using. 48:30
Jeff: The advantages of using the Apple Store app on your iPhone to purchase new products from Apple. 52:44
Episode 20
Brett: Using the Safari Tab Bar in iOS 15. 33:46
Jeff: Using widgets on the iPad in iPadOS 15. 40:20
Episode 21
Brett: Adjusting the Workout view on the Apple Watch. 33:02
Jeff: Using drag-and-drop on an iPhone using iOS 15. 36:50
Episode 22
Brett: Using the Group feature in the Files app on the iPad. 29:44
Jeff: Using the Medical ID feature on the iPhone. 33:03
Now you know 42 tips. There are more to come, every week!
Episode 22 of the In the News podcast is now available. Brett and I begin by talking about two things that happened 10 years ago, one happy and one sad: Siri began, and Steve Jobs passed away. Then we talk about the iPhone mini and the new, enhanced Find My support for AirPods Pro and AirPods Pro Max. I then share my experiences pre-ordering a new Apple Watch Series 7, and we discuss a new iPad hub.
Finally, in our In the Know segment, Brett shares a great tip for using the Files app on the iPad. I explain why this is a great time to start using the Medical ID feature on the iPhone — or update it if you did it long ago.
There was a bittersweet anniversary this week: it has now been ten years since Steve Jobs died. Jony Ive, a very close friend of Jobs who was the head of design at Apple for many years, wrote a touching tribute in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week. Tim Cook reminded Apple employees and everyone else that Jobs reminded us that “people with passion can change the world for the better.” Jobs founded Apple in the 1970s, brought the world the Apple II and the Mac in the 1980s, saved Apple from the brink of bankruptcy when he returned in the 1990s and brought a new focus and a new operating system to the company, made Apple successful with the iPod in the early 2000s, introduced the iPhone in 2007, which turned Apple into the largest and most successful company in the world, and introduced the iPad in 2010, a product that Apple started working on even before the iPhone. Nobody was better at introducing new products; his enthusiasm was truly contagious. He was known for some bad traits as well, including an occasional lack of patience and sometimes poor interpersonal skills, especially early on. But he was brilliant, and his passion changed the world for the better, many times. Even though Apple has done quite well during the past decade, one cannot help but wonder how the world would be different if he were still around. And now, one more thing … the news of note from the past week:
I enjoyed listening to the latest episode of the Law Firm Autopilot podcast in which New Orleans attorney Ernie Svenson interviews California attorney Denise Howell. Ernie and Denise were some of the very first lawyers to ever publish blogs (Denise invented the word “blawg”), Denise created the first law-related podcast, and they have both been on the forefront of legal technology for decades. Along the way, they have helped countless other attorneys take advantage of technology. Indeed, Ernie’s encouragement and advice to me was a big reason that I started iPhone J.D. back in 2008. If you have any interest in the history of legal technology and what might be coming in the future, that episode is worth your time.
If you use either AirPods Pro or AirPods Max, Apple gave them a new feature this week: the ability to use Find My to locate them. Before this week — and still with AirPods — Apple can tell you the last place that they were used with your iPhone. But now, your iPhone can help you to find the current location of AirPods Pro and AirPods Max by letting you know when you are walking closer and when you are walking farther away. It isn’t as precise as the similar feature with AirTags (for example, there is no arrow pointing you in the right direction) but it is still a big help if you cannot remember where you left your AirPods Pro. Illinois attorney John Voorhees has more details in this post for MacStories.
Voorhees also recommends extensions for Safari that you might consider using on your iPad.
How much more powerful is the new A15 chip in the iPhone 13? Andrei Frumusanu of AnandTech ran some sophisticated tests. In short, the new chip is faster, especially when using the GPU for graphics, but the biggest improvement is in efficiency. Thus, the big news this year is not that there is a huge speed increase — although there is a nice speed increase — but instead is that the A15 chip is more efficient, which means that it uses less power. This is one of the big reasons that battery life is so much better with the new iPhone 13 models. Bravo to Apple for this improvement. More speed is always nice, but most iPhone users will prefer a significant battery life improvement over a significant speed improvement considering that the iPhone 12 was already really fast.
One of the disappointments of iOS 15 is that the Shortcuts app is full of bugs. Federico Viticci of MacStories tweeted this week: “Honestly – and it pains me to say this – if you depend on Shortcuts and reliable automations for your work, my advice is to not upgrade to iOS 15 for now. Stay on 14 until Apple figures this out. Hopefully, quickly.” Some of my Shortcuts are still working, but others are not. Ugh.
Apple introduced Siri shortly before Steve Jobs died. That means that Siri turned 10 this week. As reported by José Adorno of 9to5Mac, you can ask Siri about her birthday.
What would Ted Lasso look like as a horror film? Perhaps something like this.
And finally, here is a moving short video released by Apple this week to honor Steve Jobs. The audio is clips of Steve Jobs speaking and the pictures span his long career at Apple. Very much worth watching.
On Friday, October 8, 2021, the new Apple Watch goes on sale for pre-orders. I mention this today because you might want to set an alarm. Many folks are saying that supplies are very limited this year. And that rumor is certainly consistent with the fact that Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 7 back on September 14, but at the time Apple said nothing about when it would be available to purchase.
What this means is that if you want to be among the first to have an Apple Watch Series 7 on your wrist, your best bet will be to order one right at 5am Pacific / 8am Eastern when they go on sale. I recommend using the Apple Store app on your iPhone, but you can also order using the Apple website. If you are among the first to place a pre-order, then you should be able to have one shipped to you a week later, on Friday, October 15. But if your pre-order is not placed within the first few minutes and I am correct about the limited supply, then it won’t take long for ship dates to slip to two weeks or more.
What if you want a new Apple Watch Series 7 but you are not able to pre-order tomorrow? If you live in a town that has an Apple Store, your best bet is to order one early on Friday, October 15, and select in-store pickup for the same day. Typically, Apple sets aside a certain number of new products for pre-order sales, but also sets aside a certain number of new products so that they are in each Apple Store on the day of launch. By selecting in-store pickup, you can take advantage of the in-store supply without the risk of showing up at a store only to discover that there are none left to purchase. You cannot always count on this approach, so your best bet is still to pre-order tomorrow, but this is a good Plan B. Another advantage to waiting a week is that you can read some of the early reviews; Apple typically gives a few reporters early access to new Apple products so that they can post a review during the week that the new product goes on sale. Look out for those reviews next Tuesday or Wednesday.
Until those reviews are out, why might you want an Apple Watch Series 7? I went through all of the reasons in this post. If you have never used an Apple Watch before, this is a great time to jump aboard. This year’s Apple Watch has a new design with a larger screen and tons of great features. At the same time that Apple is selling the new Apple Watch Series 7 (starting at $399), Apple is continuing to sell the Apple Watch SE (starting at $279) and the Apple Watch Series 3 (starting at $199). I strongly encourage you to get the Series 7, not those other models. An Apple Watch can last many years, so it makes sense to get a better model so that it continues to be a good device even when new models come out in future years. The Apple Watch SE is currently a decent Apple Watch, but it is starting to show its age because it was never a high-end product. And as for the Apple Watch Series 3, it is now four years old and there have been so many improvements to the Apple Watch since then that I find it embarrassing for Apple that it is still selling the device. Perhaps Apple thinks that it sounds good to say that the entry-level Apple Watch starts at under $200, but you are going to just frustrate yourself if you purchase a Series 3 today.
If you are upgrading from an older Apple Watch model, Apple will usually pay for your current Apple Watch if it is not too old, which can help to defray the cost of a new model. Just today, I received an email from Apple telling me that they had received the iPhone 12 Pro that I traded in when I received my new iPhone 13 Pro, and Apple told me that they are paying me $640 for my prior iPhone. That helps to substantially reduce the net cost of my iPhone 13 Pro. I don’t yet know how much Apple will pay for an old Apple Watch as a trade-in, but if you don’t have another use for your older Apple Watch such as giving it to a family member, it may make sense for you to take advantage of this Apple program.
I spent some time this year researching home security camera options for my home. I wanted something wireless so that I could select the best spot for a camera without concern about getting a power cord to that location. I wanted something with HomeKit support so that I could use it with my iPhone’s Home app and take advantage of Apple’s updates to that technology. And my preference was to have a camera that did not upload video to a server controlled by the camera’s manufacturer; I have some concerns about the security of online videos from my own house, and that feature isn’t necessary for me because I knew that I would have access to Apple’s online HomeKit Secure Video feature, which I suspect is more secure than anything offered by a third party. With these preferences in mind, it quickly became clear that one of the models of the eufyCam was the best choice for me. And as you will learn in this review, I’m extremely happy with my purchase.
Many security cameras are sold by companies that you have never heard of, so it is nice that eufy is owned by Anker. I’ve been using Anker products for years, including their cords, batteries, and the very useful PowerPort. Anker launched the eufy brand in 2016 to create home automation products. Having said that, a company with the reputation of Anker should have done a better job with the eufy website. For example, the eufy website says that “HomeKit Secure Video will be available via an update later this year” but that feature actually came out in 2020.
Different eufyCam models
There are currently four eufyCam models that work with HomeKit: the eufyCam 2 ($247.99), eufyCam 2 Pro ($349.99), eufyCam 2C ($239.99), and eufyCam 2C Pro ($319.99). Those prices include two cameras and the required hub.
The 2C and 2C Pro models are less expensive, smaller, have half the battery life, do not contain anti-theft detection in case someone tries to remove the camera (discussed below), but do contain a spotlight so that you can see in color at night. The difference between those two “2C” models is that the 2C Pro has double the resolution (2K instead of 1080p).
The eufyCam 2 and 2 Pro camera are longer than the 2C models, which provides space for larger batteries resulting in double the battery life. Unlike the 2C models, the 2 and 2 Pro lack a spotlight, but I saw mixed reviews about the quality of the spotlight, and the infrared night vision camera works well. The difference between the 2 and the 2 Pro is that the 2 Pro has a 2K camera instead of a 1080p camera. I purchased the eufyCam 2 Pro, which I see is currently selling for $349.99 on Amazon, but it was $329.99 when I purchased it a few months ago.
If you plan on using HomeKit Secure Video, which I discuss below, you currently cannot take advantage of the 2K camera. HomeKit Secure Video currently only supports 1080p, so once you enable that support, the Pro cameras will limit you to a 1080p mode. Thus, if you plan to use HomeKit Secure Video, think about whether you want to save some money by getting the non-Pro version. I decided to spend the extra money on the eufyCam 2 Pro because I think/hope that Apple might add 2K support to HomeKit Secure Video in the future (although it did not do so when HomeKit was updated in iOS 15). Time will tell whether I didn’t need to spend that extra money.
In the rest of this review, when I say “eufyCam” I am referring to the eufyCam 2 Pro that I purchased, although much of what I say below should apply to all four models.
Setting up the hardware
The way to start with eufyCam is to purchase a kit, which comes with three main items: two cameras and the Security HomeBase 2, which is the hub that is required for the cameras to work. Each HomeBase works with up to 16 cameras, so you can purchase and add extra cameras to the system if you want. For example, you can purchase an additional eufyCam 2 Pro camera for $139.99 on Amazon.
The eufyCam is white on the side and black on the front. If you prefer an all-black look for your camera, you can purchase a black silicone casing ($15.99 for a 2-pack) to cover all parts of the camera except for the front. I think that the white looks good so I didn’t purchase or try out the casings.
Installing the cameras is so simple that a child could do it. Or at least, a 15-year-old can do it, because my son wanted to install our cameras, and he did a great job. The box includes a sticker to place on a wall to show you exactly where to drill two holes, then you place anchors in the holes and use screws to attach a mount. The eufyCam then connects to the mount by twisting a ring. Loosen it to make the camera point in the desired direction, and then tighten it with your fingers to keep it in that position.
The eufyCam has a red status light that comes on when it detects motion. If you don’t want the status light to go on, you can disable that feature.
Before you install a camera, however, you need to do to things. First, you need to connect the HomeBase to your network using an Ethernet cable. Place each eufyCam close to that HomeBase to pair them. Every step of this is clearly explained in the free eufy Security app that you download to your iPhone from the App Store.
After that initial pairing, eufy recommends that you keep the HomeBase connected to your network via an Ethernet cable, but you don’t need to do so. You can instead plug the HomeBase into any outlet inside of your home and let the HomeBase use Wi-Fi to communicate with your network. Eufy says that using Wi-Fi instead of Ethernet may add some delay to live streaming. I’ve been using mine in this configuration and it only takes about two seconds for the live stream to start. It would be nicer to reduce this delay, but I don’t have an Ethernet connection in the room in my house where it makes the most sense for me to place the HomeBase.
The second step, after your devices are paired and charged, is to find the best place to mount the cameras and to place your HomeBase. Placement is an issue because your HomeBase needs to be somewhere in your house where it can communicate with each eufyCam. The trick is to find a single location for the HomeBase in your house that is close enough to both of your cameras that you get a good wireless connection with the cameras. Distance is a factor, but so is the number of walls between the HomeBase and the camera. I tried a few locations in my house until I found the one that works best. I get a strong signal to both cameras in this location, but it did take some trial and error to find that location. Again, the app helps you with this process, telling you how strong the signal is between the camera and the HomeBase so that you can select the optimal location for everything.
Eufy says that a HomeBase can cover a house of about 3,000 square feet, although this varies depending upon factors like the thickness and number of walls between a camera and the HomeBase. If for some reason it is impossible for you to find a single place for the HomeBase that works with both of your cameras, you could purchase an additional HomeBase so that two or more cameras communicate with different HomeBase hubs. Having said that, I don’t currently see a single HomeBase for sale on Amazon and it is currently listed as sold out on the eufy website, although I suppose you can purchase another HomeBase as a part of a kit if you want additional cameras.
Note also that the HomeBase 2 works with a number of products besides eufyCam security cameras. For example, it also works with a smart doorbell sold by eufy, which I purchased and I’ll be reviewing in the future.
I’ve devoted a lot of words to how to configure this system because this is something that I was concerned about before I purchased my system. Fortunately, it was smooth sailing for me.
Battery life
The eufy website says that a eufyCam 2 Pro can last a full year before needing to be recharged. Every review that I’ve read says that actual battery life is much less than that, and I agree. After using my two cameras for almost two months, my front camera is at 35% and my back camera is at 42%. Now admittedly, I used these cameras a ton in the first few weeks to play around with features, so I certainly drained more power than normal use. But I suspect that I’ll want to recharge them about once a quarter or so.
Fortunately, that is easy to do. You simply twist a part (no tools required) to remove a eufyCam from the mount attached to the side of your house. Then, you use the provided cord (or any micro-USB-to-USB cord) to recharge it. The HomeBase itself has a USB port in the back that can be used for charging.
Eufy also sells a solar panel that you can use to provide a constant charge to a eufyCam, but I haven’t tested that.
Using the eufyCam in the eufy Security app
When you open the eufy Security app, you see an image from each of your cameras. Often, it is not a live image, but instead, an image from the last time that video was recorded or you initiated a live stream of your cameras.
If you tap in the middle of the image, you can watch a live stream of video from that camera, including both audio and video.
There are lots of options from this mode. For example, you can tap a button to start recording video or another button to snap a picture. Turn your phone to landscape mode to see the video in full-screen mode. (And of course, if you use the app on an iPad, you get a larger image.)
The image quality is excellent, and the wide-angle lens allows you to see a large area at once.
There is also a large microphone button at the bottom of the screen. Hold down that button and you can say something and then release the button. In about a second, that audio will be sent to the camera and played on the camera’s speaker. In other words, you can use this feature to have a two-way conversation with someone who is in the view of the camera, albeit with some slight delays between when each side speaks.
The app also has a button that you can tap to see your recordings, listed by date.
Unlike other security cameras that only upload the video to a website run by the manufacturer of the camera — with a monthly access fee — all of the video recorded by a eufyCam is saved to a 16GB microSD card that is built-in to the HomeBase. Thus, by default, the video is stored at your house, not on a eufy server, and there is no monthly charge.
Eufy estimates that 16GB is enough to store video for one month with two cameras, assuming 30 motion detentions per day and 60 seconds of recording each time. (The instructions indicate that you can replace this 16GB card if you want more storage space, but I haven’t tried this myself.) My HomeBase has only used 4GB (for both of my cameras) in the past two months, and I still have over 10GB of usable storage space remaining. I’m storing 1080p videos, not 2K, so they are taking up less space, but even so, 16GB seems very generous.
If you want eufy to upload your video so that the most recent 30 days of recording are stored on the cloud for a monthly fee, the eufy website does offer this as an option. (The fee is $29.99/year for a single camera or $99.99/year for up to 10 cameras.) But you don’t need to do this to access your videos when you are away from home. The app on your iPhone or iPad can communicate with the HomeBase at your home and stream your videos to you. And by not uploading to eufy’s server, you are protected if something goes wrong with that server.
Although you can typically access your videos directly from your HomeBase, that does assume that you have power and internet at your house. My house lost power during Hurricane Ida on Sunday, August 29, 2021. We evacuated to Alabama, and while there — like everyone else from the New Orleans area — we kept wondering when the power would come back on. On Friday, September 3, 2021, I got a notification of motion detected in my backyard in New Orleans (which was probably just the system coming back online, not actual motion), and I was thrilled to learn that my home had power.
Unfortunately, the power in my neighborhood went right back off a few minutes later, but that was still a very welcome sign of progress. A few days later I received another notification from my eufyCam, and this time the power stayed on. I certainly did not buy a eufyCam as a way to learn whether or not I had electricity at my house, but it came in useful for this purpose. (Because each eufyCam has an internal battery, technically those cameras stayed on the entire time. But since the HomeBase lacked power, there was no way to record video and stream it to the app.) It was nice to be able to check out the front and back of my house even when I was in a different state.
A eufyCam does not record video 24/7. As a practical matter, it cannot do that because that would drain the battery incredibly quickly. (If you want 24/7 recording, you need to buy a different type of camera from eufy or another manufacturer that is directly connected to power.) Instead, it only records video when it detects motion.
There are lots of different ways to configure when it detects motion and records video. One useful option is to designate a portion of the screen as an activity zone such that motion outside of that zone is not detected. For example, for the camera on my front porch, my activity zone excludes the street and sidewalk in front of my house because I don’t need a recording every time a car passes or a person simply walks on the sidewalk in front of my house, but it includes all areas closer to my house.
You can also decide whether you want to record video for all motion or only for detecting a human. You can also select the motion detection sensitivity by selecting a number from 1 to 7. When I had the motion sensitivity set to 7, the eufyCam in my backyard would often start recording even if a bird quickly flew by. That ended once I changed the setting to a 4.
The app also lets you turn on an optional Anti-Theft Detection mode. When this mode is on, if someone tries to remove the camera, that motion will trigger both the camera itself and the HomeBase to play an alarm.
I’ve talked about how detecting motion can trigger a recording. But it can also trigger a notification to you, even if you are not at home. You can decide whether the app should notify you immediately, wait a little bit longer to also send you a thumbnail image of what the camera saw, or do both.
You can create a schedule for when you receive notifications based on the time and day. You can create one setting for when you are home and one setting for when you are away and then tap a button manually to change between those notification modes. You can use a geofencing feature so that notifications only occur when your iPhone is not at your home. And for each of these modes, you can select to (1) record video, (2) provide you with a push notification, (3) play an alarm on the eufyCam’s speaker, and/or (4) play an alarm on the HomeBase inside of your home.
HomeKit support
Although the eufy Security app is useful, you don’t have to use it at all, thanks to Apple. Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video system provides an alternative system for using eufyCam and the HomeBase.
Using the Home app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you can view and control the cameras, recording, and notification much like you can using the eufy Security app.
If you pay for an iCloud+ subscription — something that I had already been doing, previously to get extra iCloud space for sharing my photo library, and now because it is part of an AppleOne subscription — Apple stores online, in a secure and encrypted way, your last 10 days of video recordings. Unlike the eufy Security app in which you go to a separate screen to see a list of recordings, with HomeKit Secure Video there is a timeline below the camera view and you scroll back and forth to see the parts of the timelines on which there was a recording. You can jump to specific days using the calendar at the top.
There are some things that I prefer about HomeKit Secure Video over the eufy app. You have some additional options, such as the ability to be more precise in creating activity zones — multiple lines of a polygon instead of a single rectangle.
The Home app supports picture-in-picture. Thus, if you want to keep an eye on your front porch as you wait for someone to arrive or wait for a package to be delivered, you create a small, live video window that sits in one corner of your iPad or iPhone screen while you do other things on the device.
The Home app supports recording when a person, animal, vehicle, or package is detected. Package detection is new in iOS 15, but I haven’t had a package placed on my front porch since iOS 15 was released so I haven’t yet tested the feature.
HomeKit Secure Video also supports automation. For example, I’ve created an automation for my backyard so that if motion is detected between at night, some lights in my backyard come on for a few minutes, and then go off. My thinking is that if I have an intruder, the light may scare the bad guy away. Or, if I go to a window or look on my iPhone to investigate, the light will make it easier to see what is going on. Plus, the light improves the quality of the video recording that occurs when there is motion. So far, I’m happy to report that there haven’t been any human intruders in my backyard, but one night, a bird landed on my eufyCam. This triggered the motion detector, which turned on the lights, which caused my feathered friend to immediately flee, as you can see in this four-second video:
The automation that I’m using is very simple, but you can have a whole series of actions occur when motion is detected, if that is what you want.
If you own an Apple TV, using HomeKit Secure Video means that you can see your camera feeds on your TV, with either one camera filling the screen or multiple cameras in different parts of the screen. There is no eufy app for the Apple TV, so if you want to view camera feeds on an Apple TV without sharing the screen of the eufy Security app on an iPhone or iPad, then you need to use HomeKit Secure Video.
There is also a difference in when the eufy system and HomeKit record videos. There have been occasions when the eufy system detects motion and records video to the HomeBase but Apple HomeKit did not record a video. There have been fewer occasions when HomeKit recorded a video but not the eufy HomeBase. Even when both systems record a video, the video length can vary between the two systems.
Unfortunately, HomeKit Secure Video does not currently support two-way audio. If I want to use a eufyCam to talk to someone on my front porch, I need to use the eufy Security app. And as noted above, HomeKit Secure Video is currently limited to 1080p. Thus, if you enable HomeKit Secure Video, you cannot see 2K video either in the Home app or in the eufy app. So far, 1080p video has been perfect for my needs, and I haven’t yet had a situation in which I feel that it would have made a difference to see something in a higher resolution. If motion is detected on my back porch, 1080p is more than clear enough for me to see that it is my kids. I’ll try 2K if Apple adds support to it in HomeKit, but I may decide that the additional file sizes are not worth it.
As you can probably tell by now, what I like most about HomeKit Secure Video is that I can use it and the eufy Security app at the same time. On the rare occasions when one system doesn’t detect motion and record video, the other one often will. And when I’m looking at a video recording, each system tends to start and stop the video at a different time, so it is nice to have options.
Overall impressions
My main complaint about the eufyCam is that there have been a few times when I know that motion has occurred but it was not detected, and thus not recorded. Those instances have been rare, but there have been a few. There is also a short delay between when motion is detected and when it is recorded, so I often lose the first second or two of activity. But overall, the system works very well. I love that both my wife and I can use an iPhone, an iPad, a Mac, or an Apple TV to see what is going on in the front or back of my house, regardless of whether anyone is home. My wife and I are already talking about getting one or two more cameras to see some additional areas.
It is reassuring that HomeKit Secure Video means that I can upload video, and thus have two different ways to access video (stream directly from the HomeBase or watch use the Home app). At the same time, I don’t need to worry about video being uploaded to a server run by a company that I don’t know and trust.
The picture quality is excellent, and as noted above, I say that even though I’m only using 1080p mode. I’ve never had trouble seeing what is going on in a live stream or when viewing a recorded video. I also like that when video is recorded by either the eufy App or the Home app, I can view the video and, if I want, export it to save it forever.
The automation feature of HomeKit Secure Video is really nice. Whenever I walk in my backyard at night to go to my garage, an automation script causes an outside light to go on for a few minutes, illuminating my backyard for me. Of course, you can also purchase a stand-alone light with a motion detector to attach to your house, but HomeKit works with my existing lights.
After testing both notification systems, I find that I am happier with the ones provided by the Home app, so I’ve turned off eufy Security notifications. And I have mine configured so that the notifications only “play a sound” — which actually means have my Apple Watch tap my wrist because I have sound turned off — at night. I didn’t find that I was gaining anything by learning about motion being detected during the day. But if someone is on my front porch or my backyard at night, I want to know about it. On the other hand, my wife prefers to get notifications 24/7, and she has been happy using the eufy Security app for notifications so she hasn’t felt the need to explore using the Home app instead.
Conclusion
I’ve been very happy with the eufyCam system. The cameras were simple to install, and they provide a great view of what is going on around my house. I’m happy to have them from a security standpoint, although hopefully I’ll never have an actual burglar to “test” the system for me. But the cameras also provide a lot of peace of mind, and they make it easy to see what is going on outside of my house, whether or not I’m home. If you own an iPhone and are interested in security cameras, I highly recommend the eufyCam system.
