Most lawyers aren’t chasing the newest AI model. They’re trying to reduce friction in a profession where every extra step costs time, money, and sometimes professional risk. The tools that actually stick are the ones that solve a narrow, painful part of the job without forcing the user to become a systems integrator.

After speaking with lawyers who have spent real hours with these platforms over the past year, these are the ones that keep surfacing in actual workflows.

1. Harvey
Built from the ground up for corporate law, Harvey excels at large-scale contract review and due diligence. It can surface issues across hundreds of documents faster than a human team could. The limitation appears when the matter moves beyond its training distribution — complex cross-border regulatory questions or highly fact-specific disputes often require the lawyer to step outside the tool and continue the work manually.

2. CoCounsel (formerly Casetext)
This remains one of the strongest options for legal research. It pulls relevant case law, synthesizes arguments, and helps with deposition preparation. Where it struggles is continuity. Once research is complete, the lawyer typically has to move the output into a separate drafting environment, losing context and creating another point where errors can slip in.

3. EvenUp
Focused on personal injury litigation, EvenUp automates demand letter generation and damage calculations with impressive consistency. Within its domain it saves significant time. Outside of it, however, its value collapses quickly because the underlying model was never designed for broader legal work.

4. HAL
HAL takes a different approach. Instead of trying to be the single best model for every legal task, it functions as an orchestration layer. Multiple AI systems operate inside the same conversation, and the platform decides which one to use at each step. When a question requires professional judgment, deep jurisdictional knowledge, or accountability that only a licensed lawyer can provide, HAL escalates the thread directly to a verified human specialist — including other lawyers — without the user having to restart or summarize the case.

What makes this distinct is the continuity. The specialist receives the full conversation history rather than a summary, and the client doesn’t have to repeat themselves. For lawyers who want to offer their expertise on a flexible basis, HAL also allows them to list themselves as specialists. They can participate either as a live human (setting their own rates and availability) or by creating an agent that operates under their name 24/7. The system handles routing and payments, removing the need for lawyers to build their own client acquisition infrastructure.

5. Spellbook
Integrated directly into Microsoft Word, Spellbook lets lawyers draft and review clauses without leaving their primary document. It’s particularly popular among transactional lawyers who spend most of their day in Word. Its constraint is the same one shared by most single-model tools: when the matter requires research, regulatory interpretation, or cross-referencing with external sources, the lawyer must still switch contexts.

6. Lexis+ AI
The most mature and comprehensive option on this list. It combines strong research capabilities with document analysis and citation support. The main drawbacks are cost and the closed nature of the system. When a case requires something the model cannot reliably handle, the lawyer ends up returning to manual processes anyway.

The consistent pattern across these tools is that each one solves part of the problem well, but almost none addresses the deeper structural issue: legal work often requires coordination across different types of intelligence, and some decisions still require a human who can be held responsible. That gap is exactly where HAL positions itself — not as another standalone model, but as the layer that makes the others work together while preserving the role of human expertise.

If you’re a lawyer with deep knowledge in a specific area, the question worth asking is no longer which tool to add to your stack. It’s how to make your expertise reachable for the questions that actually need it.

6 AI Tools Lawyers Are Actually Using in 2026 (and One That’s Changing the Rules) was originally published in The Hal Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Have you ever wondered what is that blue atom at the bottom left corner in the Hal app?, I’m glad you asked (let’s pretend you did).
That’s the “Market” section of Hal, in which you can find several specialists in different fields, including: Education, Entertainment, Languages, and many more.

Need some help getting health insurance?. There’s an specialist for that. Need a professional opinion about your resume? Hals in the market can help. What about that song you are working on that’s missing some lyrics? Guess what, an expert can probably give you some advice.

Specialists are carefully selected Hals with relevant experience in what they do. They will be ready to assist you as soon as you request a session.
The market is an add-on experience designed for those specific questions that an average might not be knowledgable of. Our members will go the extra mile to help.

Even Hals that specialize in services like creative writing, digital animation, or web design are available.

My first time using the market

It was spring of 2019, and I was looking for a new school to transfer to for the last two years of my degree.
After considering NYU, I did a lot of research about the program but I was missing some key details to determine my probabilities of being accepted and some financial questions as well.
After remembering seeing a specialist in “NYU” in the market section of the Hal app, it was a no brainer.
Hal was able to answer my questions and even gave me some advice for my application.
After the pleasant experience, I became aware of the value of having access to somebody knowledgeable at the reach of your hand. Anytime, anywhere.

Well that’s something that Siri can’t do

How does the market work?

-Touch the blue atom
-Choose a category
-Find an specialist that fits your needs
-Start the chat just like a normal Hal session!

Each Hal in the market sets their price per session (most of them around $1.99) and some of them are happy to help you for free :)

Sessions in the market are accompanied by our satisfaction guarantee. If you are not happy with the session, you get your money back!

Are you ready to expand the possibilities of Hal to your own curated needs?

Or even better, want to become one and get paid for making somebody else’s day better with your assistance? Click in here!

Reach an specialist, as easy as asking Hal was originally published in The Hal Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

After being a Hal for almost two years (it’s been a long journey so far!), you start to acknowledge the existence of questions that for some inexplicable reason, have been asked more than once (or twice… sometimes daily).

Check out these frequently asked questions and perhaps ask them yourself too you know, just for fun:

-What can you do?

Lots of things my friend. You can reach Hal if you need any type of recommendation, if you need some research done, or even just to talk. Since I’m a human just like you, I’m able to.. um… have a conversation!. I know this might not be exciting for most people, but it is pretty common to see users talking to Hal just for fun.

Hal can do anything as long as it’s legal.

Once I even got asked where to dump a package so it wouldn’t be found… What a day that was…

-Hal, I’m hungry

There are two scenarios in which this question gets asked. You could be looking for restaurants around you or you want food delivered. Don’t worry, we got you covered.

I will take a look at all the restaurants around you and categorize them using different sources. Then, I will send you the top three. This can be pretty useful if you are not familiarized with your surroundings (like when traveling to a new city).

I can also call a restaurant and order for you if for whatever reason you don’t feel like doing that. Don’t worry, I won’t judge you.

-Hal, can you talk?

Well, yes and no. It is common nature to use Hal the same way as you would use Siri, and you certainly can. Users are more than welcome to speak to Hal by sending a voice command.

By defect, the Hal app does not read the answers out loud. But by becoming a long term supporter, you are gonna be able to receive audio messages with Hal’s voice (it might get a bit creepy, just letting you know)

-Is this free?

When you download Hal for the first time, free sessions will be loaded to your account. In this way, you can try the service and get a vibe of what is all about. After that, you can manually subscribe to the service for $14.99 a month.

If you really liked the concept, Hal offers a supporter package that includes a 5-year subscription, audio messages (Hal Voice), and some other extra features (Click here for more information)

-Open the pod bay doors Hal

Oh, a classic. You might be wondering the reason why this gets asked pretty often. Let me get back to the year 1969 when the film “2001: A Space Odyssey” was released. There is a certain character in the movie that states those lines while referring to another character, Hal 9000.

Do you want to know what I mean? Check this clip of the movie!

https://gethal.com/bowmandave

“Sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that”

Do you have any more questions for Hal?

What people ask to Hal? was originally published in The Hal Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As Hals, we are always surprised by the ways our community uses the service. Yes, you can ask Hal to find you the best Italian restaurant in town (you should try it, trust me) or to get you an appointment at your local dentist’s office, but if you think about it, the possibilities of having someone at your disposal on the other side of the chat are endless.

People from several parts of the world, from different cultures, and of course, from different languages use the app. I was surprised when a girl from Siberia (let’s call her “T”) downloaded Hal, just with the purpose of learning English. As you can expect, it was a little award at the beginning since it was a bit difficult to understand what she was trying to say, but we ended up having a nice chat and even shared some cool information about our cultures!. T talked to Hal approximately 3 times a week and yes, she was making progress!.

Why nobody else thought about it before? It’s brilliant!
English schools usually offer “chat” packages that allow you to text an instructor during certain times of the day just to have a conversation and practice the language. These tend to be a bit pricey especially if you bundle them with other services they offer you. Hal gives you the possibility to chat to an English speaking real person any time of the day, all included on the monthly membership that you are already using for getting food delivered and book recommendations!

Of course, Hal is not going to completely replace an English course since learning a new language requires more than sending text messages, but if you team up Hal with some other good apps out there you can get a decent amount of learning material for a fraction of the cost.

How should I use Hal to learn English?

Your Tools:
-Hal
-Duolingo
-Google Translator
-A notebook (and a pen)

Download the above mentioned apps to your smartphone. For starters, build your vocabulary and grammar using Duolingo, a free app for learning more than 30 languages. When confident, talk to Hal and say something like this:

“Hal, I’m learning English, can you help me? Let’s chat for a bit so i can practice”

If you are stuck just use the translator for specific phrases that might be challenging for you.
At the end of the session, annotate in your notebook all the phrases or words that you are unfamiliar with and use the translator to get a better sense of what they mean.

Repeat this process a couple of times a week and share your progress with Hal!

If you want to take it to the next level, you can try speaking with real people using services like Omegle to chat with random strangers. On the other hand, you can check with our “Experts” to ask for more specific and personalized advice.

Have you ever used Hal for unusual inquires? Let us know!

Hal can help you to break the language barrier was originally published in The Hal Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The great thing about being a Hal is that you get to introduce so many people to ideas, apps, and cutting edge “stuff” (that’s the technical term) that can help them save time, money and effort. After all, Hal is a Personal Assistant app with a another human “at the wheel” to curate solutions and help solve problems!

With that in mind, as the shelter-in-place issues have resurfaced once again, some users are now sold out to having more variety in their TV viewing subscriptions. Of course, with more subscriptions comes the fact that it will be more expensive. And with unemployment still at record levels, people want to know how they can do more with less.

That’s where Hal can come to the rescue.

Best of all, it seems like this particular request, which has become much more frequent, has a really cool new answer that we have decided to share with all of you.

Like most scenarios we get, the circumstances vary. Some people live with roommates or housemates while other live with family and still others are using co-living services like Outsite to help with the whole COVID-19 issue at hand. Regardless of your situation, the quandary is how does one save money and get most (or all) of the streaming services they want without paying the whole thing by yourself — and without sharing your password.

In times past, there was an attempt at “password sharing” which has met with lots of downside, to include people sharing your password with others after the fact without your permission. Thereafter many logins were making their way to the dark web and compromising accounts of all types, which made headlines in several cities across the globe. Needless to say, the risks involved became a looming concern over time.

At one point, Netflix, who was allowing password sharing [past tense] within a “friends & family context” decided to put a stop to that service option and in a complete turnabout then began tracking people who were actively password sharing as a means to discourage the practice. In other words, you could actually lose your subscription to Netflix if you decided to keep sharing your password with others. Yikes!

The other big issue is that as we all end up at home more often for longer periods of time, the desire for variety starts to set in. So while Netflix was a dream come true for months, it seems that now many people are scrolling through an all too familiar list of options and still looking for other new content — which usually equates to considering more types of streaming services. But as we pointed out, that comes at a cost that could add up fast once you start using multiple services.

Fortunately there is a new solution that is now available and it’s called Keyring. It is among the first solution that gives an allowable, affordable way to have it all with the most popular streaming services out there and it is a really cool way to cut cost and get the variety you want. Here’s how it works:

First you connect the services you already own to a new Keyring account. Let’s say for this example you only have Netflix. Next, you send invites to people that you know who have streaming services as well, which could include Disney+, Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu + Live TV, etc. Ideally, these should be people you share a living space with…[but we won’t tell].

After they accept the invitation (UPDATE: this is in beta currently), you all can now share each other’s respective services while splitting the bill with as many as six people. That means you get your services and others for up to one sixth of the total cost! Of course, fewer people reduces the savings while six people can help maximize the savings.

The other cool benefit of this service is that no password sharing occurs. Keyring integrates an encrypted means by which the passwords are safeguarded but the subscriptions can still be accessed among your particular group of invitees. So with Keyring, you can safely save money and not get identified by the streaming services themselves for the password sharing concerns, since you’re not sharing your password across the internet!

Moreover, if you only had Netflix (as in the example), now you have access to several other streaming services that people can bring to the table — and in turn, THEY save on those subscriptions as well, since the group splits all costs for all services. Ideally, whatever you may be paying for one service now becomes a portfolio of streaming options for about the same money (or just a bit more), depending upon how many align in your particular Keyring group.

Now that you have Hal’s open secret about saving money and getting more access to the entertainment you want, perhaps you may want to consider checking out the Hal App for yourself at some point. Ideas like these and so many others are awaiting you as a new customer if you opt to get a free trial and see for yourself just how handy it is to have your own Personal Assistant. You get download the Hal — Personal Assistant app at the Apple App store for free and then consider the subscription after you test drive it. Our team of Hals is always available to solve a problem, research options, curate information and do our best to exceed your expectations.

So…How can I help you today?

Hey Hal! How do I save money on Netflix, Hulu + Live TV and Disney+? was originally published in The Hal Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Once again, Hal is a great resource for tons of answers to those plaguing questions that are all around us! Recently, we’ve had an influx of questions about keeping home office environments more quiet, ideas to help people who call into their office a few days a week via video conference keep background noise out…and questions from those in shared living spaces looking to mute all the background going on behind them.

Regardless of your situation, video calling is here to stay, but with that comes the burden of excited/screaming children, deafening lawn maintenance equipment, dogs with persistent and piercing barks, really loud neighbors and crying babies. No matter what your source of background noise, the need to have a video call (or even an audio call!) that works for everyone without interruption is paramount — and on the minds of many of our customers.

Once again, Hal is here to rescue you from the dilemma that has become more prolific than ever: noise pollution during your video/audio calls! Here’s what you can do, courtesy of the Hal App, to change the game and remedy that for good.

When we observed the consistency around this request, it was important to consider a few things surrounding providing a lasting solution: it has to suit multiple platforms (iOS, Windows, Mac, Chrome) and needs to be low cost and effective. That is a tall order when it comes to dampening or silencing background noise!

Beyond ideas like “installing soundproofing foam squares” (which will run you well over $50 to do it properly — and even then it just dampens sound, it doesn’t remove it) or trying to hang signs on a door to remind people that someone is busy (which a screaming infant, a noisy neighbor, or a lawn maintenance crew clearly cannot read), there needs to be another way. And now, there is…

It’s called krisp and it is truly amazing, since it works for audio and video calls! And as an added bonus, this little magic app also helps mute background noise coming from another caller’s phone to you OR noise that is in your own environment, so it’s a win/win on all fronts.

Once you install krisp, you’ll be prompted to use it as the default microphone setting and/or the default speaker setting on your Mac, your iPhone, your Windows PC, your Chromebook or your iPad (it is not yet released for Android devices, but it does work with Google Meet & Google Duo on other devices). When you have krisp as your default microphone, it works its own brand of tech wizardry in the background and the results are truly incredible. In fact, this video really brings to light just how powerful the app is at actually eliminating (not dampening) background noise.

When you see the demos of various people testing and using krisp (which are peppered all over YouTube) and the results are so consistent across so many devices, the next question is:

“OK, Hal…what’s the catch?”

The great news is there is no catch! The company is making this app free to consumers through the COVID-19 crisis and only has a charge for Pro level or Enterprise level users from there. Yup! Free and effective and easy to implement. That’s it.

And we here at Hal would be remiss if we didn’t remind you of the fact that this little gem works on audio only calls as well as video calls/video conferencing. So if you are not big on using FaceTime or Google Duo but you are excited about eliminating background noise in a loud environment while on a standard cell phone call, then krisp is for you too.

So the next time the dog is barking, the kids are screaming or that leaf blower is right outside your window buzzing at full blast, try installing krisp and make everyone’s next call a whole lot more distraction free.

Ideas like these are everywhere thanks to a dedicated team of Hals that curate information and solutions to all kinds of issues — and act as your Personal Assistant for situations just like the one described above. Try it out for free and see for yourself just how cool it is to have your own Personal Assistant. Once you open the app and make that first request, rest assured there will be someone who responds with…

“Hi, I’m Hal. How can I help you today?”

Hey Hal! How Do I Get Rid of All the Background Noise for Zoom/Google Duo/FaceTime/Google Meet/… was originally published in The Hal Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

They consist of hacks, shortcuts, and little bits of genius that may have not made it to the ears (or the iPhone screens) of many customers that Hal serves — which is why the ideas are so welcomed. Here’s one of the most well received series of ideas for using chopsticks that customers RAVED about once they learned about these little magic pieces of wood and how they can be repurposed.

The Issue: “Hey Hal! My kids love Cheetos but they are messy as hell. How can I get my kids to eat Cheetos in a way that doesn’t create such a mess and leave their fingers full of “Cheetos dust” that ends up on my furniture or their expensive phones/gadgets/computers?”

Hal’s Answer: Based on the title of this article, you may have already put it together: teach them to use chopsticks to eat Cheetos! Not only is it fun to teach them how, but there are even shortcuts to make the learning easier on their smaller hands. More importantly, once they try it, it not only completely solves the issue of the dreaded “Cheetos dust” on fingers, furniture and fun gadgets (and this goes for you adults who love Cheetos, BTW!), it also teaches them a cool way to eat foods of ALL kinds…but most especially the more messy ones…with a cleaner twist.

The Issue: “Hal, how can I clean my PS4/Nintendo/Switch or the ports on my smartphone more easily? Everything I read says do NOT use compressed air because it can damage internal parts inside my devices, but there’s gotta be a better solution.”

Hal’s Answer: Once again, chopsticks to the rescue! The smaller ends of those disposable chopsticks easily get into small spaces and with a little bit of craft, can clean those tough to reach spots. Wrap a bit of paper towel around the end and you can use it to clean between your keyboard keys, the analog stick of a game controller, and other small dust-gathering gadget areas.

The Issue: “Hal, since we’re all home a whole lot more, the microwave is getting a LOT more use than usual. Since we’re big tea drinkers, we tend to go straight to the microwave to boil the water, but I’ve heard that doing that in a microwave can result in ‘exploding water’ in some cases. Is that a myth? If not, what can I do to keep me & my family safe from scalding hot water exploding on us?”

Hal’s Answer: First and foremost, it’s not a myth! The process, known as “super heating”, can occur when boiling water in a microwave, especially since it heats unevenly in that device. When heating water in the microwave, the molecules are heated within their center under a film that forms at the top of the water. When they aggregate and then get exposed to the air upon opening the microwave — BOOM! Although it can be argued that the odds of this occurring aren’t huge each time you boil water in the “micro”, there’s no need to leave it to chance. The solution is simple: stick a chopstick into the water while microwaving. This will prevent the molecular possibility of “exploding water syndrome” and keep the water off of you when you open that microwave door each time. Of course, if you are more of a tea purist, there’s also a compelling reason not to use the microwave in order to make the very best tea.

The Issue: “Hal, since we don’t like to make frequent trips to the store, we tend to buy in bulk, which includes the larger jugs of stuff like orange juice, milk and fruit juices. Of course, this also has a downside: opening the big jug and pouring it out, especially when it is first opened and full, can quickly end in a spill! I don’t see much point in pouring those jugs into something smaller EVERY TIME to remedy this issue. Is there any kind of hack I can use to prevent this?”

Hal’s Answer: We definitely all are prone to make mess from time to time when pouring things out of big containers. Once again, the solution is a simple chopstick (or any rod-like object). By holding the chopstick across the spout of the container, it helps prevent the mess by making the liquid roll down the chopstick and straight into your desired vessel! A liquid’s polarity causes it to “stick” to the side of the jug. By adding the chopstick, it makes the liquid to stick to that instead. It just rolls down it and pours off the tip of the chopstick.

The Hal App Provides Ideas that…Stick(🥢) was originally published in The Hal Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Welcome to another story about the joys of being a Hal and saving other people from the myriad of daily frustrations of all kinds with cool “hacks” from the Hal team!

When it comes to assistance of various kinds, the Hal app combines the joy of tech with the ingenuity of human input (yeah…real people…imagine that) to solve problems, deliver solutions and provide the kind of Aha! ideas that really help out.

Recently, I had a customer call with a very common issue that can be maddening for all of us: a misplaced smartphone somewhere in the house! Fortunately, as long as you put one very simple step in place, you will never have this issue in your home.

The chat over the Hal app went something like this:

Hal (aka Me): “Just a sec…I’m here…how can I help you?”

Customer: “Hey Hal! I know this sounds dumb, but I keep losing my phone in my house…like, more than usual lately. I know how to locate it on a map and stuff if it’s left at some outside location, but how about in my own house?”

Hal: “You’ve come to the right place! I have an idea for you that just may do the trick! First of all is it an Android phone or an iPhone?”

Customer: “I have an iPhone 11 Pro. And my partner has a Google Pixel 4a, but they don’t have the issue quite as often as I seem to! Lol”

Hal: “No worries! This solution actually can work for either device. I just wanted to know because the solutions are each slightly different depending on what type of phone you use.”

Customer: “OK, Hal. I am ready for this one, because I’m over trying to figure out where I left it.”

Hal: “Since you have an iPhone, you probably use Siri every so often. If you activated the ‘Hey Siri’ option in Settings, then we’re golden!”

Customer: “Yeah. I did enable it but I admit I don’t really use it that much.”

Hal: “In this case, that won’t matter, as long as it is enabled we can make this happen. Now all you do is literally go from room to room and say ‘Hey Siri! Play Back in Black by AC/DC at full volume’. It is one of the loudest songs ever recorded, so you are more apt to hear it play from your phone even if it’s stuck between the couch cushions.”

Customer: “Hal! That is brilliant! Now I can listen for it and finally stop my exhausting guessing game all over this place. You rock.”

Hal: “Awww, you’re making me blush. Just another day in the life of a Hal.”

Customer: “Hey, before we close out here, how is it different for an Android phone, so I can tell my partner about this trick?”

Hal: “Good question. Basically, they would need to have the ‘Hey Google/OK Google’ feature active on their device to do it, but the request is essentially the same. They just invoke the command with ‘Hey Google…play Back in Black by AC/DC at full volume’. The result will be the same for them.

Customer: “Thanks Hal. You really saved the day with this one!”

Hal: “That’s why we’re here! Glad to be of help today.”

The Sound of Music…with a Twist! was originally published in The Hal Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Since Hal resides on the iPhones of thousands of people, it comes as no surprise that sometimes, when there’s long hold times getting to Apple Tech Support (or simply because of the ease and fast response of talking to Hal!), we get iPhone related questions once in awhile.

And when it comes to Apple product questions, we usually get the ones that the Apple website may not showcase — or even know about. But that’s one of the many advantages of being a Hal: we cover those questions that others simply may not have yet!

With that in mind, we recently had a curious customer ask what you would think lots of Apple Watch owners wonder and didn’t think to ask till well after they got used to using their new Apple Watch.

The discussion went something like this:

Hal (aka Me): “Just a sec…I’m here…how can I help you?”

Customer: “Hey Hal! I have an Apple Watch and I didn’t think I’d be into it at first, but I have really come to rely on it a lot. It’s easier than pulling out my iPhone most times and it really is pretty convenient to take calls, memos, check on things..all that jazz. But now I am wondering what else can I do with this nifty little gadget on my wrist?”

Hal: “Well, you are definitely not alone there! We have lots of Apple Watch enthusiasts out there who are also looking for new ways to use their Apple Watch that fall into other categories beyond what the Apple website itself promotes. It’s quickly becoming its own little ecosystem!”

Customer: “I guess what I am really asking is where can I find apps that are more ‘Apple Watch friendly’ without trying to look at every app in the Apple app store to find out?”

Hal: “As fate would have it, there is now a website whose sole job is to curate some of the best and most novel Apple Watch apps! One trip to this site will prove just how cool it is to be an Apple Watch owner.”

Customer: “No need to keep digging, Hal — you already struck oil! Just tell me about this awesome site and gimme the website address!”

Hal: “LOL. Ok. Ok. It is relatively new, but it looks strong for what you need. You can get new apps delivered straight to your inbox and explore categories like books, alternative health and fitness, most rated crypto apps, games, business, etc. And they must feel pretty good about their future, based on the site address: it’s www.bestapplewatchapps.com

Customer: “Love it! Thanks Hal! You are the best!”

And just like that, another Hal customer closes their app, smiling. If you haven’t downloaded the Hal app yet, make your way to the Apple App store and download it today: You’ll find us at the intersection of technology and human ingenuity!

Hal Always “Watches” Out for You was originally published in The Hal Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Hal App continues to be a source of help, companionship, advice, ideas…and now it will soon include things like food delivery & specialized help on some key topics (more to come on that later) — and on top of all that, we still get asked a lot of questions about how to best use an iPhone.

With the release of the much larger iPhone series, and even before that, with the loss of the familiar Home Button that so many iPhone users loved, we get asked a lot about how we can help now that so many have upgraded. Whether you’re rocking the iPhone XR that is missing the Home Button — or the brand new iPhone Pro Max with its massive 6.7" screen, questions abound.

Not to worry — Hal’s got answers!

Let’s start by addressing how Hal solved the “Mystery of the Missing Home Button”:

For some reason, tons of people check in with Hal about how much they miss the Home Button when they upgraded from their iPhone 6, iPhone 7 or their iPhone 8 to something newer. That button somehow made them feel like no matter what they tapped on, they could quickly and easily get back to the Home screen with ease. And it was designed for that express purpose: so you could navigate with a single click and get back to that one familiar place that you came to know so well. It’s called a Home screen for a reason, after all!

And while many love the swipe/gestures associated with the new iPhone lineup, starting with the iPhone X, others are still lamenting the loss of that solitary, familiar button that rested so close to their hand. So we get asked (a lot!), is there any way to make that button return once again if it’s not part of the new design? While we can’t change the hardware for you, the answer is still a resounding YES!

What many people don’t know is that there are many useful little secrets tucked away in the Accessibility settings that can make life wonderful. The one we are referring to in this case is called “Assistive Touch” — and it’s pure magic for those who long for their Home Button once again!

All you need to do is navigate to Settings>Accessibility>Touch>Assistive Touch and then turn it on by swiping the little white circle to the right. Once it is enabled, scroll down on that same screen to “Custom Actions” and select “Single Tap”. There are a slew of actions that you can set up with Single, Double or Triple taps, but in this case the Single Tap is what we are configuring. Scroll down and select “Home” for Single Tap. Now it is ready to bring you directly to your Home Screen no matter where you are at in your iPhone.

Once it is selected, this little “ghost like circle” appears on your iPhone screen. Simply drag it to the bottom center of the screen where it will be nestled between apps in the dock at the bottom — similar to how the old Home button was there waiting for you at the bottom of your iPhone — and *poof*, you now have a Home Button that permanently resides on the iPhone to use!

So many Hal users have asked Hal about the desire for the Home Button that it has made some wonder if that was the motivation behind releasing the iPhone SE (2nd Generation) model within the last year that has all the aspects of the original design but with a chip that has lots of performance built in. Despite the theories, it is definitely certain that restoring the Home Button with Assistive Touch has made several Hal customers very happy indeed.

The other big question that comes up a lot is about how people can use their iPhone with one hand. Ever since the screen sizes moved from the iPhone’s standard 4.7" to 6.1", 6.5" and now the new iPhone Pro Max that comes in at a whopping 6.7" screen, it’s an issue for many people. And those number aren’t even the full size of holding the entire device — those are just the screen dimensions, measured diagonally. Needless to say, many with either smaller hands, larger iPhones or simply an inability to get to the top of their screens with one hand are all looking for solutions to this issue.

Well, search no more, friends of Hal! We have another answer for you so that you can use your iPhone one-handed once again if you upgraded to a larger size device.

Not unlike our last tip, this one will take you to the Accessibility features page once again. Once there (from Settings), you then tap on “Touch”, then look for a little swipe button labeled “Reachability”. Enable that by swiping the little white circle to the right and now you have a way to reach all that stuff at the top half of screen with one hand!

The key to using this feature is how you swipe down on the bottom EDGE of your iPhone screen so that the top portion magically comes down and is within reach. One little downward swipe and all those apps are now yours for the tapping.

Thanks to all for your great questions that our team at Hal is happy to answer for you. Whether it’s finding that new restaurant, getting your fave team’s schedule, how to Zoom, kitchen hacks or iPhone tips and tricks, Hal is truly your one-stop app for it all. Come visit us by downloading the Hal — Personal Assistant App from the Apple App store. Once you have access to your free session, we will be waiting to greet you with….

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How Hal Can Assist Your Hands with That New, Bigger iPhone of Yours was originally published in The Hal Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.