The Most Useful Apps Whatever you need, there's an app for that!
by SEAN ANTONE HUNT O
ne of the questions I get asked, especially at the beginning of any new year, is about my iPad and my ultrabook. Invariably, someone will ask me, “do you
actually use that thing” and “how useful is it.” My answer to them is always the same, you have to be careful that any device you buy does not become an overly expensive toy or, even worse, a very expensive paperweight. So how do you make the most out of your iPad or phone? Te answer is simple, find the right application or “App” for the things you usually do and you will find that you use your device more often. But, how do you find that app that you need? Tere are
literally thousands of apps available. Choosing can sometimes be difficult. Below are some of my favorite applications for both the iPad or iOS operating system or other tablets or cell phones running on the Android operating system.
GOOGLE DRIVE . In our office, we are completely paperless. As a result, if I’m going to a motion, a deposition or even to another lawyer’s office and I need to have a file with me, I can do it the old-fashioned way and copy it to a CD or
a flash drive and have it available for my laptop, ultrabook or even a desktop computer available at my destination. But, one of the things that you can do with your iPad is quickly copy the folder from your network to your Google Drive and access your Google drive from your iPad. Tis will allow you to review any and all of your documents in PDF format and Word format natively on your pad. You simply need an Internet connection. Moreover, if your office is like mine and your entire network
is already in the cloud, you can simply access any file any time by simply carrying your tablet with you. Te Google Drive is available for download to your computer as a syncing drive which will open up like any other network folder on your desktop; but it also syncs to the cloud automatically. As a result, you can create and revise your documents seamlessly on your desktop and then access those same documents (at any time) on your tablet later on. Te Google Drive is available for both the iOS system, i.e., iPad and iPhones as well as the Android system, i.e., Kindle Fire, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Dell Venue, etc. Note that the Kindle Fire has its own version of Android and does not yet have an application for the Google Drive. To access the Google Drive on your Kindle Fire you will need to install an application called ES File Explorer and access your files through it. Simply Google accessing the Google Drive on the Kindle Fire and there is a YouTube video showing you how to do this.
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DROPBOX, SKY DRIVE & OTHERS . To be fair, Google Drive has some very good competition. Sky Drive and Dropbox work just as well as the Google drive. Te only difference is the Google Drive comes with the Google search
system for searching your documents online where Dropbox does not. On the lesser-known side is a cloud system known as Box. Box has combined its systems with several other cloud and software as a service companies to give users a little advantage in using their system. For example,
Bill4Time.com and Clio. com have both combined with Box to integrate their services with that cloud based storage system. As a result, in addition to utilizing your iPad and iPhone to access your documents, you can also access billing software and practice management software if utilizing this particular service.
ADOBE ACROBAT READER . Another great app to have on your iPad or other tablet device is the native Acrobat Reader. Tis great little app allows you to grab PDF documents from other applications and open them in the native reader.
Once in the native reader, you can use all of the Adobe Acrobat tools available on the pad including highlighting, commenting and even converting non-PDF documents to PDF. Moreover, you can share these documents via email, upload, etc. directly from your tablet. In order to do this you simply open up the document in its native application and choose from the menu the item “Open In” and choose to open the document in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Ten the document is available to use the Acrobat commenting, marking, and other systems. But as a practical matter, think of this: you can open up a document in Dropbox or Google Drive and then open a separate document in the Acrobat Reader and using a double tap of the home button on the iPad or a similar function on an Android tablet, to switch between the two documents at once. As a result, you can read through two separate documents for either comparison or other uses on the same device. Moreover, the native Acrobat Reader will also open PDF documents that are portfolios or contain multimedia items placed into the original PDF where Google Drive and similar systems will not open them. Tis app is available on both the iOS system and the Android system as well.
DOCUMENTS TO GO. While it is never optimal or even recommended for you to create new Microsoft office documents on your tablet or your smart phone, sometimes it’s necessary to make some minor changes. Let’s say that you
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