Category Archives: Mac App Store

fixed : get a transcription of a YouTube video

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I have been watching a YouTube video that was so interesting that I would like to have the text transcribed for reviewing later on.

Is there a FREE and easy way to get a text transcript of a YouTube video ?


Answer :
Yes, there is.
It all depends on the quality of the transcription that you want ot get which type of transcription will suit you best. Previously, the three (‘other’) options listed at the bottom of this post were some of the best around, but things are developing fast in the world of AI, and there now is one FREE option that will probably suit everyone that has an M1 / M2 / M3 / M4 Mac :

Whisper AI – Speech to Text
– get it in the Mac AppStore (make sure you get the app that is by Rocket Techology Inc.) :
https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/whisper-ai-speech-to-text/id6738070552?l=en-GB&mt=12
– type : macOS native app for video/audio transcription ( for self-recorded, live or downloaded video )
– output : options to export to .txt, .docx or .html file
– accuracy : the ‘tiny’ Whisper-model that is preloaded is quite fast and rather accurate (and for more accuracy and or speaker recognition you can download more advanced Whisper-models using the ‘Manage Models’ option)
– privacy : high, as it runs entirely offline ( according to the developer )
– speed : made for Apple Silicon Macs, so extremely fast on M1/M2/M3/M4-Macs


Here are three other options :

Tactiq.io
– use it online at : https://tactiq.io
– type : online video/audio transcription ( for Youtube video ) – the FREE plan can now only be used through the Tactiq Chrome browser extension ( so no longer an option for Safari… )
– output : an auto-generated ( not very accurate ) subtitling .srt document converted into a plain text document
– privacy : low, as it runs online
– speed : extremely fast, but the output is just the subtitles-file converted into plain text ( so including all the time stamps – if you want to get rid of those, you can do that in ChatGPT or something )

Transcribe.mov
– use it online at : https://www.transcribe.mov
– type : online video/audio transcription ( for YouTube video )
– output : a rather accurate plain text document
– privacy : low, as it runs online
– speed : slightly faster that playing the original video : takes 7 minutes to transcribe 15 minutes of video

Aiko
– get it in the Mac AppStore : https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aiko/id1672085276&ved=2ahUKEwikv-LT85uLAxUpSf4FHZEZEisQFnoECAwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1s9T7EI1AzX63HnIjAhNuZ
– type : macOS native app for video/audio transcription ( for self-recorded, live or downloaded video )
– output : a rather accurate plain text document
– privacy : high, as it runs entirely offline ( according to the developer )
– speed : made for Apple Silicon Macs, so extremely fast on M1/M2/M3/M4-Macs : takes just 1 to 5 minutes to transcribe 15 minutes of video – but very slow on Intel-Macs : takes about 5 hours ( ! ) to transcribe 15 minutes of video ( because Intel-Macs don’t have the neural engine )

So it all depends on your needs what the best solution is… so take your pick !

enjoy 😉

fixed : can I send iPhone text messages to Android users from my Mac ?

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Question :
If I want to send text messages to my friends that have Android phones, I can do that from my iPhone using Whatsapp.app or iMessage/Messages.app, but when I’m working on my Mac, it would be far more convenient to do send and receive messages on my Mac.

Is there a way to use Whatsapp and/or iMessage/Messages on my Mac as if I was using my iPhone ?

Answer :
Yes, There is.

Whatsapp to Android from Mac
To send and receive Whatsapp messages, from both Apple and Android users, on your Mac, you only need to install Whatsapp for Mac.
You can get Whatsapp for Mac from the Whatsapp website or from the Mac AppStore.
( the Appstore version is slightly different, but the big plus is that it is automatically updated )
After installing you just need to link it to you iPhone using the iPhone’s Whatsapp.app

Note : even though the iOS version of Whatsapp is listed as Phone/Tablet on the Whatsapp website, it will NOT run on iPad !!! ( as all current iPads run iPadOS, not iOS – an iPadOS version has been in the works for years, but it had still not been released to the general public )

Messages ( iMessage including SMS ) to Android from Mac
To send and receive iMessages on your Mac, you can just use the pre-installed Messages.app from macOS. But if you use it the standard way, you can only send iMessages to Apple users with it… if you want to include sending SMS text messages with it, so you can also send and receive text messages from Android users, you need to switch on some extras :
– open your iPhone
– open Settings.app
– on the page taht opens, scroll down to ‘Apps’ and open it
– on the new page that opens, in the search field, typ ‘Mes…’ and Messages will appear
– click on Messages to open it
– on the next page, scroll down to ‘Text Message Forwarding’ and open it
– on the next page that opens, select you other Apple devices ( switch them ON / green )
– then exit
– now, on your Mac, you will be able to use the SMS functionality in the Messages.app

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : use old iPad as an extra screen for your Mac (or PC)

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Question :

Since we are working from home a lot (and the children are home schooling), and we have several old iPads and iPhones lying around gathering dust, we were wondering if it would be possible to use them as second screens on our Macs and Windows PCs to make our work and homework easier by being able to do this (and more) :

  • manage our music playlist (iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify) on our old iPad/iPhone whilst running  MS Office on our Mac/PC without switching apps
  • use our old iPad/iPhone’s touchscreen to put a signature under a PDF-document whilst typing it on our Mac/PC
  • use our old iPad/iPhone as a drawing tablet for our Mac/PC
  • videochat or view an online presentation onour Mac/PC whilst making notes on our old iPad/iPhone using a full-size keyboard (and easily swapping the two around when needed)

We noticed Apple has introduced this great feature called Sidecar that enables you to use your iPad (or iPhone) as a second screen for your Mac. But when I looked at the Sidecar requirements on the Apple website, I found that our older iPads/iPhones aren’t supported.

Is there any way to use Sidecar (or something similar) on our old iPads/iPhones ?

 

Answer :

Yes, even though you cannot use Sidecar on any unsupported iPad, iPhone or Mac, there is an alternative that works just as great for any old iPad (or iPhone) and is not limited to a Mac, but does support Windows PCs also… and best of all : it’s FREE.

This is ideal for working from home and home schooling since you can do all this (and more) :

  • manage your music playlist (iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify) on your iPad whilst running  MS Office on your Mac/PC without switching apps
  • use your iPad/iPhone’s touchscreen to put a signature under a PDF-document whilst typing it on your Mac/PC
  • use your iPad/iPhone as a drawing tablet for your Mac/PC
  • videochat or view an online presentation on my Mac/PC whilst making notes on my iPad/iPhone using a full-size keyboard (and easily swapping the two around when needed)

This FREE alternative for Apple Sidecar is Splashtop Wired XDisplay. It enables you to use any iPad/iPhone running iOS 7 or newer as a second or third (touch)screen for any Mac running OSX 10.9 Mavericks (or PC running Windows 7) or newer.

This means that all these iPhone / iPad / Mac models are supported :

  • iPhone 4 or newer
  • iPad 2 or newer
  • any iPad mini
  • any iPad Air
  • any iPad Pro
  • any aluminum iMac (iMac “Mid 2007” or newer)
  • any iMac Pro
  • Mac mini “Early 2009” or newer
  • Mac Pro “Early 2008” or newer
  • white MacBook “Early 2009” or newer
  • any aluminum MacBook
  • MacBook Air “Late 2008” or newer (2nd gen MacBook Air or newer)
  • MacBook Pro “Mid 2007” or newer

To install, do this :

  • install the Splashtop Wired XDisplay app on you Mac/PC
    • you can download Splashtop Wired XDisplay for Mac or Windows here
  • install iTunes on your PC if you have done so yet
    • you can download iTunes for Windows here
    • on a Mac you don’t need additional software for your iPad/iPhone to be recognized
  • install Splashtop Wired XDisplay on your iPad/iPhone
    • you can download Splashtop Wired XDisplay for iPhone here
    • you can download Splashtop Wired XDisplay for iPad here
  • then, plug your iPad/iPhone’s USB-cable into your Mac/PC
  • then run the Splashtop Wired XDisplay app on your Mac/PC
  • then run the Splashtop Wired XDisplay app on your iPad/iPhone
  • then goto the Settings on your Mac/PC, find the Screen Settings and arrange your screens the way you like
    • you can choose “Mirror Screen” to see exactly the same on your MAc/PC and your iPad/iPhone
    • you can choose “Extend Screen” to arrange the iPad/iPhone as an add-on for your desktop
    • if you already have a second screen attached to your Mac/PC, you can use your iPad/iPhone as an additional third screen also

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : cannot print PDF form from macOS Preview.app

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Question :

I have received an eMail from a vendor that includes a dispatchnote PDF that I need to print.

The PDF opens fine in Preview.app, but when I try to print it, everything seems to work fine, only the print doesn’t come out of the printer…

I can’t find the problem : the PDF appears in the printer’s Job List, the status bar fills up completely, the printer makes some noise to indicate that it is receiving data, the print job is deleted from the Job List, and nothing comes out of the printer… there are no error messages, no indication what so ever that something went wrong… the pint just won’t come out of the printer…

I checked to see if there is something special about the PDF-file that might be causing this, but I can’t find anything special about it… the PDF is not locked or anything…

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

Even though it is not clear where this problem comes from, the solution is simple : use Adobe Reader (a.k.a. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC) or Adobe Acrobat Pro if you have it.

To do so, do this :

  • go to https://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/otherversions/
  • at Step 1, 2 and 3 set the right OS, language and version, then click the Download Now button to download Adobe Reader
  • when the download is done, install Adobe Reader on your Mac
  • then, open Adobe Reader
  • and open the hard-to-print PDF from Adobe Reader
  • as soon as it starts appearing on-screen, you can press [CMD] + [P] to get to the printing screen
  • from there, just try to print again…
    • note that this is not your regular macOS printing screen, so you might want to check if all settings are to your liking before you give the actual print-commando (you might have to set things like double sided printing again)

The fact that the file is not printing from Preview.app, but it is from Adobe Reader, might indicate that the PDF was created by Adobe Acrobat Pro on Windows and that there is a problem in the version of Acrobar Reader that was used that causes this problem to arise…

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : gmatevents prevented updates from being installed

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Question :

I have auto-updating turned on in macOS 10.14 Mojave, but today I got an error message that “gmatevents” prevented updates from being installed”.

What is wrong and how do I fix it ?

 

Answer :

Gmatevents is an application that runs in the back of macOS when you install iTrash Ghost Mode. To get rid off it, do this :

  • go to Apple-menu (the Apple-icon top-left in the Finder)
  • open System Preferences from the pull-down menu
  • in the window that opens, click on Users & Groups
  • in the window that opens, click on the account of the person who is the Current User (on the left)
  • then click on the “Login Items” tab
  • in the list that opens, you will see “iTrashGhost”
  • select “iTrashGhost” then click the -(minus) button below the list
  • the “iTrashGhost” will now disappear from the list
  • exit System Preferences
  • you should no longer get the error message now

that’s it… enjoy 😉