Category Archives: macOS (OS X, MacOS X, MacOS, System)

software running on Apple Macintosh computers with various versions of the Macintosh Operating System :
System 1.0 – 7.5
MacOS 7.6 – 9.2
MacOS X 10.0 – 10.7
OS X 10.8 – 10.11
macOS 10.12 and newer

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

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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

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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 : calculate the number of days between 2 dates

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Question :

I want to integrate a formula in my spreadsheet (in Excel or Numbers) that calculates the number of days between 2 dates that I have in other cells on the spreadsheet.

How do I do that ?

Answer :

there are 2 formulas available to do this, choose the one that works best for you in Excel or Numbers :

formula =DUR2DAYS(enddate–startdate)+1

or

formula =DATEDIF(startdate, enddate, “D”)+1

NOTE : the “+1” in both these formulas is only needed if you want the number of days including both startdate and enddate !

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : convert .webp animation to animated .gif

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Question :

I just received a message with an animated picture in it, that I want to save on my Mac to maybe send it to someone else later on. I thought it would be an animated-GIF file, but it turns out to be a .webp-file when I save it to my Mac.

Is there a way to convert this .webp animation to an animated .gif ?

Answer :

Yes, and it is rather simple, just do this :

  • on your Mac, right-click on the icon of the .webp-file
  • in the popup-list that appears, choose “Get Info”
  • in the “Get Info” window that opens, goto “Name & Extension” and replace the “.webp” extension by “.gif”
  • and to make double-checking easier, uncheck “Hide Extension”
  • then, close the “Get Info” window (by clicking the X-marked red dot top left)
  • now, open the renamed file in Preview.app to check if it has multiple images inside
  • then, open the renamed file in your webbrowser to check if the animation runs smoothly

That’s it !

Note : this works if the original file inside the .webp-animation is an animated GIF, it’s not sure if this will work for any .webp-animation

enjoy 😉

fixed : save Instagram pictures to Photos.app on macOS

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Question :

I came across some group photos on Instagram that I am on but that I did not take and/or post myself. I would really like to save them to my Photos.app but I can’t figure out a way to do that…

How do I do that ?

Answer :

Yes, this is possible, but… DO NOT use any app on your iPhone, iPad or Mac that needs your Instagram login credentials to do that !! as by doing that, you are granting third party access to your Instagram and you are thereby making your Instagram account extreme vulnerable to hacking, fraud and identity swapping !!

Instagram has made it impossible to save pictures from within the Instagram.app (either on iPhone, iPad or Mac) so the only ‘good’ way to do this is via the website. To do so, do this :

  • on your Mac, open the Photos.app
  • then, open Safari and in the top menu bar goto Safari > Settings > Advanced
  • in the “Advanced” window, make sure that there is a checkmark at “Show Develop menu in menu bar”
  • now, close the Settings and goto http://www.instagram.com
  • login using your account name and password
  • scroll through the pictures and select one that you want to download / save to Photos.app
  • now, in the top menu bar goto Develop > Show Page Source
  • the underwater screen will now appear in the bottom half of the browser window
  • inside the underwater screen, in the menu on the left, click on the folder named “Images”
  • now, in the main past of the underwater screen you will see just the pictures of your Instagram page
  • scroll through these pictures and when you find a picture that you want to download drag&drop it to Photos.app’s main screen and it will be imported to your Photos.app (note that you could also drag&drop the image to your Desktop or any folder in the Finder to save the picture to your Mac)
  • repeat this drag&drop action for every picture you want to download
  • when done, close Safari
  • now, goto the Photos.app and in the menu list on the left, click on “Imports”
  • then, on the main part of the Photos window, all recently imported pictures will appear
  • scroll down to the very bottom and you will see the pictures you have imported from Instagram
  • from here on, you can use the downloaded Instagram pictures however you like…

…that’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : LandRover navigation update gone wrong, navigation maps gone

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Question :

I tried upgrading the HERE maps on the navigation system in my LandRover Discovery Sport P300e using a USB-stick as per the directions given by HERE and LandRover, but after 3 attempts that failed for no clear reason, when I retried yet another time, the update crashed while it was about halfway and now… there is no map left in the system to use for the navigation… nothing… the navigation is completely blind…

What can I do to solve this ?

Answer :

There are several reasons why this problem might have occurred. Your LandRover will probably show a warning message advising you to go to a LandRover garage and get this fixed, but you can also give it a try yourself first, just make sure you include all of these additional instructions in your next attempt :

  • start off by using a USB-stick with no previous navigation files on it – if you do not have a brand new USB-stick of 32GB at hand, you can also try using the current one : no need to format it, just open it in the Finder (on macOS), then inside the folder named “HereV1”, select all files (press the CMD-A key combo) drag them to the Bin and empty the Bin
  • goto the landrover.here.com website, login using your account name and pasword, goto “Maps & Services”, click the “Get Latest Update” button of the map you want to install and in the next page that opens, start by downloading and installing the latest version of the MapDownloader-app before you proceed to downloading the desired map itself ; just finish making the USB-installer as usual
  • now, before you enter your P300e hybrid LandRover to start the update, make sure to unplug the electrical charger cable before you start your car (so the engine will stay running during the entire update process that may take up to 30 or even 45 minutes to complete – if your electrical charger would be plugged in, your engine won’t start and your car will definitely go into sleep mode before the navigation update is finished ; if you like you can take a drive during the map update, just remember you are not able to see any maps on your screen during the update – you might be able to use navigation though Apple CarPlay in the mean time – and you have to keep the engine running until the update is complete, so you cannot leave the car until done)
  • when starting the navigation update in your car, wait with plugging in the USB-installer until the car’s system asks you to do so and make sure you use a different USB-port than you did before

…then proceed as per the onscreen instructions and sit back and relax

…if you do so, the update process may appear to be a little slow, but it will succeed in about 30 minutes. (and if it doesn’t just try again – and if it still fails after a few attempts, the problem is not ‘just an upgrade’ so you will still have to contact a LandRover garage to get it fixed)

That’s it !

enjoy 😉