fixed : Stocard stops… what’s the best alternative ?

Posted on 29-01-2025 by MacManus.nl

Question :
I have been using the great Stocard app for years now. It keeps all my loyalty and membership cards that Apple Wallet can’t handle nice and easily organized on my iPhone. But even though Klarna promised not to change the app when it took over Stocard a few years ago… they’ve changed their mind : they will stop the Stocard.app and are pushing me into moving everything into the Klarna.app – which is something I don’t want because that’s all about purchasing and payment…
They keep bugging me with the “Stocard is moving to the Klarna app” warning…

It there any good ( and FREE ) alternative for the Stocard.app ?

Answer :
Yes, there is.
The SuperCards.app is very similar to the Stocard.app, and it even has an ‘import/transfer cards from other app’ option that is mainly targeted towards former Stocard users.

You can download the SuperCards.app from the Appstore here. And it will also install the SuperCards.app for your AppleWatch (if you have one).

Just make sure you set up the Supercards.app before you delete the Stocard.app – just follow the instructions and you’re good to go.

enjoy !

UPDATE :
Since the original post, various readers have mentioned that there are more FREE alternatives for the Stocard.app available on the AppStore. As we have not been able to test them, please find the names below and check the previews and the reviews on the AppStore to see if these are more interesting alternatives for you than SuperCards.app.
In no particular order these FREE apps are :
Mobile-Pocket loyalty card wallet – by BlueSource
PasNL – by DBF
Fidme loyalty cards, coupons & receipts – by Fidme
Folio digital wallet – by Folio Technologies
VirtualCards loyalty wallet – by Virtual Cards
Knip klantenkaart app – by Maikel Zweipfenning
Clique rewards app – by Ram Dheeraj Srigiri / TheClique.eu

As mentioned : we do not know anything about these apps, their privacy policy or their ease of use ! Try them only if you want to take the risk yourself.

fixed : my GoCube is out of sync with the pictures in the app

Posted on 05-01-2025 by MacManus.nl

Question :
I have a GoCube digital Rubik’s cube and it works great !
I hadn’t used it for a long time, so I even had to reinstall the GoCube.app. All seemed okay at first, but when I saw the (picture of) the cube in the GoCube.app one layer was in a different position in the picture than in the actual cube. Restating the app didn’t solve the problem. Niether did disconnecting the cube from bluetooth and reconnecting. I can’t beleive my GoCube is broken… this must be a software problem…

Is there any way tho get the GoCube.app and the physical GoCube cube back in sync ?

Answer :
Yes, there is !
To get your GoCube.app back in sync with your physical GoCube cube, do this :

make sure your GoCube cube is charged (it doesn’t need to be ‘solved’)
keep your GoCube cube next to your iPhone
open the GoCube.app on the iPhone
in the window that opens, below the “LOGIN WITHOUT A CUBE” stripe, there should be another stripe with “GoCube” (or the name you gave to your GoCube cube) in it
–> if if the stripe with “GoCube” in it doesn’t appear, move the physical cube closer to your iPhone and check if Bluetooth is switched ON on your iPhone
then, tap on the “GoCube” stripe
now, on your iPhone “Connecting” will appear, then the actual cube will light up and on your iPhone you will see your personal Account with the “Quick Timer”, “Solver”, “Stats” and “Cubing” buttons beneath it
then, click ont he Avatar&List-button (top-left)
when the pulldown menu appears, make sure thet “3D Tracking (IMU)” is switched ON (blue slider to the right)
then, just below “3D Tracking (IMU)”, click on “Load Cube State”
if your physical GoCube cube is in ‘solved’ state, you can now try clicking the “Load Solved Cube” button and your problem might be solved
if that doesn’t work, or if your physical GoCube cube is not in ‘solved’ state, you need to recreate the color patern of all the sides of the physical cube on the image of the cube inside the GoCube.app
you can do this step-by-step :
make sure the same middle tile color is facing you in both the physical cube and the image
then make sure that the top and the right middle color are in sync
then click on a color in the curve of coloured dots and then click on all tiles on the front face of the in-app image that have that color on your physical GoCube
repeat this for all colours, until the pattern of colors in the in-app image is an exact copy of the pattern on your physical GoCube
to color tiles on a different face of the in-app image, you need to click on the triangular arrow at the right of the GoCube image : it will rotate after each click, in a loop of Front face (white centre), Right face (blue centre), Back face (yellow centre), Left face (green centre), Top face (orange centre), Bottom face (red centre)
when you have made an identical copy of the physical GoCube’s color pattern in-app, click the blue “Load Colored Cube” and you your problem should be solved : your cube and your app should now be recalibrated and in-sync with eachother
if you happen to still run into the out-of-sync problem, just repeat the above and try again

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : Mac’s internal storage nearly full due to iOS Files

Posted on 21-12-2024 by MacManus.nl

Question :
My Mac is slow, and I can’t install updates anymore… I found out, by looking in Settings > General > Storage, that I only have about 5 GB of free space… and after the waiting for the internal storage volume bar to color up and indicate which types of files take up most space, I found out (by clicking on it) that the Applications have two sections : not only Applications (which are the installed macOS Applications I presume), but also something called “iOS Files” which take up about 45 GB…

What are those iOS Files ? and can I delete them to free up memory space ?

Answer :
Yes, it can be a good idea to free up some free space on the internal memory of your Mac by deleting those iOS Files. They are in fact backups of your iPhone(s), which you don’t need on your Mac if your iPhone is being backed up to iCloud.
Basically there are 2 ways of deleting these iOS Files from your Mac, one is deleting them without connecting your iPhone to your Mac, the other is a way that requires your to connect your iPhone. But if you have so little free space left (only a few GBs) you will need to combine the two to solve your problem :

first, make sure your iPhone is being backed up to iCloud, so open your iPhone
then, open the Settings.app
in the Settings window that opens, click on your Account ( your Own Name )
in the Account window that opens, click on iCloud
in the iCloud window, go to the “Saved to iCloud” chapter and click on “See All”
in the Saved to iCloud window, make sure taht everything that you want to include in your backups turned ON
then, go back into the iCloud window, go to the “iCloud Backup” chapter and click on it
in the iCloud Backup window that opens, make sure that “Back Up This iPhone” is switched ON
then, click “Back Up Now”
when the backup is finished, go to your Mac
on your Mac, open the Finder.app
when the Finder window is open, press the [CMD]+{SHIFT]+[G] key combo on your keyboard
in the search window that opens, in the search field, typ the following :
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
then press Enter
in the Finder window that opens you will see a folder named Backup
drag&drop that Backup folder onto your Trash
then, empty the Trash
when warned that some files can’t be deleted, just continue
when the emptying has finished, open the Trash and drag the Backup folder back into the location that it used to be in ( which is in the MobileSync folder inside the Application Support folder )
now your Mac should have a lot more memory space freed up, but you’re not finished yet
now, connect your iPhone to your Mac using a USB or USB-C cable
on your Mac allow “trust this computer’, and unlock your iPhone by using your unlock passcode or face-recognition
NOTE : if you get a warning that a software update is needed for your Mac to recognise your iPhone, install that update first
now, your iPhone will appear in the sidebar of the Finder
when your iPhone shows up, click on it
in the iPhone’s settings window that opens, click on the General tab
then, in the General tab, in the Backups chapter, choose “Backup your most important data on your iPhone to iCloud”
then, go on to the Options chapter, make sure that only “Manually manage music, movies and TV shows” is checked and click the Apply button
then, exit the iPhone in the Finder and unplug the iPhone’s cable from your Mac
now, open the Finder.app again and press the [CMD]+{SHIFT]+[G]
in the search filed that opens, again, typ the following :
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
and press Enter
now, in the window that opens, click on the Backup folder
when the Backup folder opens, drag&drop all it’s contents ( usually only one folder with an unpronounceable name ) to the Trash
then empty the Trash
and close the Finder.app
That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : Synology and WD MyCloud NAS connection problems on my TP-Link Deco network

Posted on 13-12-2024 by MacManus.nl

Question :
I have a local WiFi and Ethernet/UTP network that has a TP-Link Deco X60 acting as the DCHP router. In that network I have a Synology DS 218 NAS and a WD MyCloud Home. All this used to work great, but even though I can see both both the Synology and the MyCloud under the Network chapter in the Finder of macOS, both have severe connection problems. Sometimes it is possibel to get connection for a few minutes, but most of the time both the synology and the MyCloud are unreachable. Even using the SynologyAssistant.app the Synology NAS can’t be found. On the other hand, the lights on the Synology and the MyCloud are burning, the Ethernet/UTP-cables are plugged in correctly…
On the other hand, my Apple AirPort Time Capsule is connectable without problems.

What can I do to make my NAS available in my network ?

Answer :
Eventhough there can hardware problems that cause this, it is usually a software problem.
Since you have a TP-Link Deco router, it is possibly a bug introduced in a new version of the firmware. Do this to fix it :

make sure all your network devices that you want to cable connect are connected to your network with a Ethernet/UTP cable
first, go to your main TP-Link Deco router
disconnect the power from the main Deco router
then make sure that the Ethernet/UTP cable from port 2 is directly plugged into your internet modem, and the Ethernet/UTP cable from port 1 is connected to the Ethernet/UTP-switch that all other Ethernet-devices are connected to
then plug the power cable back into your main Deco router and wait until it’s light turns green
then, on your Mac, open a new Finder window and click on “Network” in the menu list on the left
then, in the window that opens, click on your Synology NAS’ name, and you’ll see “connecting…” that will turn into “connected as:…” and you will see the folders that are on your NAS
this means that your Synology NAS is now available in your network
to check this, open the Synology Assistant app and click “Search”
when your NAS appears in the list, select it and click “Connect”
then the web-based interface opens in your browser login using the you NAS account name and password
when the web interface shows the vritual desktop – your done 😉
to check your WD MyCloud, open the finder once again and click “Network” once again
now, click on “MyCloud” and wait for macOS to connect
the Finder will then show all files that are on the WD MyCloud
That’s it !

enjoy 😉

tip : view today and tomorrow (2 days) at the same time in your iPhone calendar

Posted on 12-12-2024 by MacManus.nl

Since the introduction of iOS 18, there is a new button in your iPhone calendar :
you can now get a better overview of your week while in your day-view !

To get 2 days (e.g. today and tomorrow) on your screen side-by-side, do this :

open your Calendar on your iPhone
when the YEAR calendar view, click on the ‘Today’ button (bottom left)
when the MONTH calendar view opens, click on the ‘Today’ button (bottom left) – again
when in the DAY calendar view, click on the odd-shaped button in the top-bar (on the left of the Search / Looking Glass button)
in the pull-down list that appears, select “Multi Day”
click outside the pull-down list to close it
now, you can see 2 days (e.g. today and tomorrow) next to each other and you can scroll through your week using the weekday bar at the top

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : Synology NAS no longer accessible because Secure SignIn app was offloaded from iPhone

Posted on 12-12-2024 by MacManus.nl

Question :
I want to access my Synology DS218 NAS because I got an eMail from Synology that there is a new system update available, but when trying to login I need the Synology Secure SignIn app on my iPhone. But I haven’t used the app for a while, and now it turns out it has been offloaded by iOS. I’ve re-installed the app, but now my entire account has been erased and syncronisation with my NAS is no longer possible.
I tried to setup my account in the Secure SignIn again, but when trying to do so, I get caught in a loop… I need an access to the app to login to the NAS’ virtual desktop interface… and I need access to my NAS’ virtual desktop interface to setup an account in the Secure SignIn app…

What can I do ?

Answer :
Even though you are caught in a loop, there is a way to get out of this… but it involves a rather rigorous reset… to do so, do this :

make sure you have the Synology Secure SignIn app on your iPhone (you can download it from the AppleStore – there are versions for iOS/iPhone and iPadOS/iPad)
make sure you have SynologyAssistiant.app on your Mac (you can download it from the Synology Download Center – search based on the model of your NAS)
find the tiny button marked RESET (on the back of your NAS)
use a paperclip, ballpoint-tip or something alike to press & hold the RESET button for 4 seconds, until you hear a beep
immediately release the button when you hear the beep
you have now reset the network settings of your NAS, removed the 2-factor authentication and reset the password to blank (but all data on your NAS will remain intact)
now plug the UTP/Ethernet-cable from your NAS straight into your Mac
temporarily switch off WiFi on your Mac (and disconnect all other network & internet connections)
then, open the SynologyAssistant.app on your Mac
when the screen opens, click on “Search”
when your NAS appears in the list of found devices, click on “Connect”
now your webbrowser (Safari) opens
on the first screen, when your account name is asked, type : admin
then click the blue NEXT button
on the second screen, leave the password field blank and click the blue NEXT button
when prompted to enable 2-factor authentication, click “No, thanks”
when prompted to set up adaptive MFA, click “I don’t want to secure my account”
when the recommendation and question if you are sure to proceed appear, klick the blue OK button
now the Reset Password page opens, set the account name you want to use (if you want, you can use your previous account name)
now, if you click at the upper new password field, you will probably be recommended to use a Safari Strong Password, if so, click OK (if no password is suggested, set a long password manually)
make sure you write down this password offline (or somewhere very secure)
then, make sure the chosen password is the same in both fields and clcik OK
when you get the “Success! Your password has been changed.” message, click the “Sign In Now” button
then, you will need to log-in again on your NAS, this time with your new password
if you get a message saying “password invalid” you can ignore it and try again (usually the second time it will just work anyway)
when the webinterface opens, click on your account info (blue person icon) top right
from the pulldown menu, choose “Personal”
when the “Personal” settings window opens, click on the “Security” tab
in the “Security” tab window that opens, select “2-Factor Authentication” and click the blue Apply button
in the pop-up window that opens, choose “Verification code (OTP)”
then put your Synology NAS (a.k.a. “DSM”) account password in the next pop-up window and click the blue OK-button
the next pop-up window advises to download the Secure SignIn app, but since you’ve already done so, just click the blue Next-button
in the next pop-up window you will see a QR-code
now, open the Secure SignIn app on your iPhone and click the OTP-button (bottom-right)
when the OTP-window opens on your iPhone, click the + button top right
then your camera will open within the Secure SignIn app
now, using your iPhone, scan the QR-code that is displayed on your Mac
then, a 6-digit code will be generated on your iPhone
key in that 6-digit code into the “Verification Code (OTP)” field on your Mac and click the blue Next-button
in the “Backup email settings” window that opens (on your Mac) check that your account eMail address is also listed as your Backup eMail address, and verify your eMail address if you haven’t done that already
if “Send verification email” is greyed out and “Verified” is indicated next to it in green, you can click the blue Next-button
in the next window, click the blue Next-button
now, your NAS has been successfully re-linked with the app, so you can close the “Personal” window by clicking the X button (top right inside the window)
when done, in the online virtual desktop (which is still open on your Mac), click the Control Panel icon
in the “Control Panel” window that opens, click “Regional Options” (in the “System” chapter)
in the next window, make sure the “Time” tab is selected (usually the “Time” tab will be already displayed automatically)
then make sure that “Synchronize with NTP Server” is selected in the “Time Setting” chapter
at “Server address:” select “time.google.com” and click the ‘Update Now’-button
even if it says “Status: Checking…” or “cannot connect” you can now click the blue ‘Apply’-button
Note : keep in mind that the codes generated by the Secure SignIn app are time-sensitive, so it is essential that the time set in your NAS is correct and keeps getting updated
you can now close the NAS’ vritual desktop in your browser
now, reconnect the UTP/Ethernet cables from your NAS and your Mac in the way they used to be before your problems occurred (so both your Mac and your NAS will have internet connection)
then, on your Mac, reopen the SynologyAssistant.app
maybe you need to click the ‘Search’-button, but ususally your NAS will already be listed
select your NAS from the list and click the ‘Connect’-button
now, your NAS’ login page will open in your browser
on the first page key in your Synology NAS account name
on the second page, key in your password and put a checkmark at “do not ask again on this device”
on the thrird page, key in the 6-digit OTP code that is shown in the Secure SignIn app on your iPhone
now your NAS’ virtual desktop will open in your browser
there, click on the Control Panel icon
open “Regional Options” again
in the “Time” tab, check that the current time is displayed, that the ’Time Setting’ is on ’Syncronize with NTP Server’ and that ‘Status:’ is at “Normal” (in green)
if not, adjust these settings and click ‘Update Now’
else, close the NAS’ virtual desktop
That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : transcribe WhatsApp voice messages

Posted on 10-12-2024 by MacManus.nl

Question :
I have some friends and acquaintances that prefer to not send me text messages in WhatsApp, but they nearly always send me voice messages… I get frustrated by them, because I can’t speed-read-scan those for the clue, I can’t easily find the info back later on and I can’t listen to them if I don’t have my headphones nearby…

Is there an easy way to have them transcribed ?

Answer:
Yes there is, and it is built-in into WhatsApp since november 2024… however, WhatsApp is not releasing it worldwide everywhere all at once… so, it may be available for you already, but you might also need to wait for it a little longer…

To switch on the Transcribe-function in WhatsApp do this :

make sure your iPhone is running iOS 16 or newer ( since the fall of 2024 we’re on iOS18 )
Note : in iOS 16 only English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Chinese, and Arabic are supported ; in iOS 17 Danish, Finish, Hebrew, Malay, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish and Thai were added.
make sure that Siri is turned on
to turn on Siri, do these :
– goto Settings.app > Siri > Talk to Siri > make sure that “Press Side Button for Siri” is turned ON
– goto Settings.app > Siri > Messaging with Siri > READ MESSAGES > Add Language… > make sure that the languages that you frequently use to communicate are activated
– goto Seetings.app > Siri > [scroll down] > Apps > WhatsApp > make sure that all options are switched ON
then, open WhatsApp.app on your iPhone
open the main ‘Chats’ screen ( that’s were your most recent chat conversations are listed )
- click on Settings ( bottom-right ; with the sprocket/gear-icon )
- in the ‘Settings’ screen that opens, scroll slightly down and click on ‘Chats’
- in the ‘Chats’ page that opens, you’ll see an option named ‘Voice Message Transcripts’
  Note : this option will only be visible if WhatsApp has released it for your you, so if you don’t see it (yet), comback to this page later to chack wether it’s available for you…
- switch ON ‘Voice Message Transcripts’ to activate it, and choose your Transcript Language
  
  Then, to create transcripts of voice messages, do this :
- open WhatsApp.app on your iPhone
- open the ‘Chats’ screen ( that’s were your most recent chat conversations are listed )
- click on the chat that you’ve received the voice message in ( so, locate the voice message )
- click & hold on the voice message
- click ‘Transcribe’ when it appears
- click the smal triangular arrow (the downward pointing angle) to expand the transcription
- now, the transcription will be shown…
  Note : it might take some time before the transcription will appear
- That’s it !
  enjoy 😉
  
  Note : if you get an error saying ‘Transcript unavailable’, this may be because of one of the following :
  – you have set te wrong transcript language
- the voice message language isn’t supported (yet)
- you have set the wrong transcript language
- the audio quality it too poor to be transcribed ( e.g. due to background noise )

MacManus.nl

helping hundreds of happy Applers each day

Category Archives: iOS & iPadOS (iPhone iPad etc.)

fixed : Stocard stops… what’s the best alternative ?

fixed : my GoCube is out of sync with the pictures in the app

fixed : Mac’s internal storage nearly full due to iOS Files

fixed : Synology and WD MyCloud NAS connection problems on my TP-Link Deco network

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: