Category Archives: free & cheap software

fixed : iOS Mail.app “Fetch New Data” settings page completely greyed out

Posted on by
Reply

Question :

I have troubles with my eMail on my iPhone, so I started to look for solutions in the iOS Settings.app ; I don’t know if this is relevant for the solution to my mail-problem, but I found that when I try to adjust the settings for Fetch New Data (in the Settings.app > Mail > Accounts > scroll down to bottom) is turned OFF, and when I click on it the entire Fetch New Data settings page is greyed out, so I can’t switch it back ON and have my mail checked automatically…

What is wrong ? How can I fix this ?

Answer :

Relax, there’s nothing wrong… it’s just strange that iOS isn’t telling you why the entire page is greyed out and how you can fix this…
The thing is : your iPhone is in Low Power Mode (a.k.a. Battery Saving Mode)… (if you look closely, you will see that the battery indicator top right is yellow in stead of white or green)
To fix this, do this :

  • swipe down from the battery indicator top right
  • in the window that opens, scroll down to the white tile with the battery (in yellow) and click on it
  • now the tile wil turn dark and the battery will turn white
  • if there is no battery-tile, then go to Settings.app > Battery and switch the slider at Low Power Mode to ON
  • to check, go to Settings.app > Mail > Accounts > Fetch New Data and you will see that you can now set everything as you like

    That’s it !
    enjoy 😉

fixed : one Red Pin cannot be added to custom My Guides folder in Apple Maps

Posted on by
Reply

Question :

I am working in Apple Maps.app on my Mac and now I have made a lot of Dropped Pins / Red Pins that I have gathered in a custom My Guides folder. I have just created another Red Pin that I also want to add to this custom My Guides folder, but when I do the exact same thing to add it as I did earlier, for some reason that is impossible for this Red Pin since the name of the custom My Guides folder is not appearing… the only option given is “New Guide” for some reason…

What is wrong ? How can I fix this ?


Answer :

This seems to be a bug in Apple Maps.app (especially Maps version 3.0) on macOS… To fix this, do this :

  • close Apple Maps.app on your Mac
  • then, open Maps.app on your iPhone
  • swipe un the pull-up window (with the Search field) so the More Info window fills the screen
  • scroll down to the Red Pin you want to add
  • if you don’t see it right away, you might need to dig a little futher by clicking on one of the “More” buttons (on the right, next to each chapter)
  • when found, click on the Red Pin and it’s info will open in a new window
  • then, click on the ‘three dots’/More-button and choose “Add to Guides” from the pop-up menu
  • now, the complete list of My Guides you have will be visible (even the ones you were not able to select on your Mac)
  • Click on the custom My Guides folder and you will be able to add the Red Pin to that custom My Guides folder

    That’s it !

    enjoy 😉

fixed : Red Pin (in My Places) seems undeleteable in Apple Maps

Posted on by
Reply

Question :

I have an old location that I had once looked up in Apple Maps which was marked with a Red Pin. Now I no longer need it, so I want to delete it. Normally I would do that by clicking on the Red Pin in Apple Maps.app on my Mac, so the More Info window would open with a Delete-button… but for this particular Red Pin there is no Delete button… (even though the Delete button appears if I do this same thing with any other Red Pin…)

It’s even worse… this Red Pin is in a My Places ‘folder’ also, and even though I get the option to delete it there, it will automatically reappear in the same My Places ‘folder’ instantly after being deleted…

I’ve searched the internet multiple times, but no-one seems to know how do fix this… a lot of people seem to have run into this or a similar problem, but the solutions given just don’t work for me…

Is there any fix for this ?


Answer :

There is a fix (but no guarantee it will work for all similar problems). Try this :

  • first, close Apple Maps.app on your Mac
  • then, open Apple Maps.app on your iPhone
  • swipe the Search field (or actually the pull-up screen) upward to fill the screen with the More Info window
  • now, find the Red Pin you want to delete : it may be in the Recents chapter, or in the Favourites chapter, or you may have to dig a little bit further to find older Red Pins
  • once found, slide the info line of the Red Pin from right to left ; now a red Delete button will appear from the right ; click it to delete the Red Pin

If you also want to delete the Red Pin from the My Places ‘folder’, try this :

  • in Apple Maps.app on your iPhone, swipe the search field upward to fill the screen with the More Info window
  • scroll down to the My Guides chapter and click on the My Places ‘folder’
  • you will now see the map, with the pull-up screen now named My Places (or any custom name you have once given to the ‘folder’)
  • if you don’t see the Red Pin you want to delete, swipe up the pull-up screen and scroll down until you see the Red Pin you’re looking for
  • then, slide the info line of the Red Pin from right to left ; now the red Delete button will appear from the right ; click it to delete the Red Pin
  • then, click the X-marked button top right to go back to the main view (back to the More Info window)

And if you want to delete the My Places ‘folder’ (or any of the My Guides ‘folders’) entirely, try this :

  • in Apple Maps.app on your iPhone, swipe the search field upward to fill the screen with the More Info window
  • scroll down to the My Guides chapter and find the ‘folder’ you want to delete (e.g. the My Places ‘folder’)
  • then, slide the info line of the folder you want to delete from right to left ; now the red Delete button will appear from the right ; click it to delete the ‘folder’

That’s it !

…to check if this has worked, open Apple Maps.app on your Mac and your ‘undeleteable’ Red Pin will now be gone… (if this solution works in your case too)

enjoy 😉

fixed : insert a picture into a PDF using Preview.app

Posted on by
Reply

I need to fill out a PDF-form and include a picture also. I tried to do this using Preview.app but drag&drop didn’t work and copy&paste didn’t work either…

Is there any way to do this ?

Answer :

Yes, you can add a picture into a PDF using Preview.app. To do so, do this :

  • open the PDF in Preview.app
  • then, open the picture in a separate window in Preview.app
  • then, in the window with the picture, do this :
  • – select all ; by using the [CMD]+[A] key combo
  • – copy ; by using the [CMD]+[C] key combo
  • – paste ; by using the [CMD]+[V] key combo (when still in the window with the picture in it)
  • – resize the picture to about half-size ; by dragging the edges
  • – copy ; by using the [CMD]+[C] key combo
  • then, in the window with the PDF in it, do this :
  • – paste ; by using the [CMD]+[V] key combo
  • – resize the picture to the desired size ; by dragging the edges
  • – move to the desired location on the page ; by dragging the picture
  • then, save the PDF (under a different name if you like)

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : Green Screen button not showing in iMovie 10

Posted on by
Reply

Question :

I have made a video recording of myself in front of a green screen, and now I want to make the green transparent and put a video behind it in iMovie. I have iMovie 10.3.5 and the option for Green Screen should be in there, but when I import the video into iMovie and select it, there should be a Green Screen button at the left of the editing buttons above the clip preview, but the button just isn’t there, it isn’t greyed out or something, it just isn’t showing up… I searched in iMovie menus to find an option to switch the Green Screen button on, but there isn’t any…

What am I doing wrong ?

Answer :

Yes, it would have been better if Apple had included the button permanently in the row of editing buttons above the clip preview, then it could have been greyed out and instructions of what to do could be shown when you would try to click it.

So… yes… there is a modus operandi that isn’t obvious to everyone, but causes the Green Screen / Blue Screen button (the icon depicts ‘two overlaying squares’ and appears on the left of the row of editing buttons above the clip preview) to stay invisible :

the green screen video should always be an additional layer, but not the main layer !

so, do this to fix this problem and get the Green Screen / Blue Screen button to appear :

  • open iMovie
  • create a new Project
  • in the new project’s time line, import the video (or picture) that you want to show in the background first (so make the background video/picture the main clip in the time line)
  • then import the green screen video on top of the main (background) clip (so drag it in the row / layer above the main clip in the time line)
  • then select the green screen video in the time line (a yellow outline will appear around the clip) ; now the Green Screen / Blue Screen button will show up in the row of editing buttons above the clip preview on the upper right section of the screen
  • then click the Green Screen / Blue Screen button ; now the options needed to make the cut-out of the green screen will appear

That’s it !

enjoy 😉