Category Archives: tips & tricks

fixed : iPhone app is suddenly in language I don’t understand

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Question :
I can use my iPhone as I always used to, but yesterday I found that I cannot use one of the app I need to use on a daily basis any longer because all language displayed by that app is now in Japanese or Chinese or some similar language that I don’t understand as I only use Roman script myself… Oddly, this is the only app that has this problem, all my other apps are still in English…

How can I swithc back to English in that particular app ?


Answer :
In iOS 18 (and maybe in iOS 17 or even in iOS 16) each app has the option to use either your preferred iOS language or any other language that the developer wishes to include in the app. Some developers use this option, others don’t. So some apps have the option to switch the app-language and others don’t.

To switch the language of any app, do this :
– open the Settings.app on your iPhone
– on the Settings page that opens, scroll down to the bottom and click on “Apps”
– on the Apps page that opens, find the app that you have language problems in (they’re listed in alphabetical order) and click on the app’s name
– in the App-specific page that opens, click on “Language”
– note : if you do not see the “Language” option, there is only one language available for this app (probably English or you preferred local language)
– in the Language page that opens, click on the language of your preference
– make sure there now is a check mark at the right of your preferred language
– then close the Settings.app
– now, open the app that you were having problems with and see that is is now working as expected

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : simple way to play audio backwards

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Question :
Is there a simple way to play an audio clip backwards, so reverse the direction of the audio, on macOS ?

Answer :
Reversing the play-direction in QuickTime is very simple on macOS :
– open the audio clip in QuickTime
– slide the indicator to the end of the clip (in the time slider above the Play button) – or just play the audio clip forward once
– when the indicator is entirely at the right end of the slider, press the [CMD] + [LEFT] key combo on your keyboard
– now the sound will be played in reverse

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for your printer, scanner (or any application)

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Question :
I tried your solution to create an alias on my Desktop (or in the Dock) for my printer and my scanner using customised aliases, and it works great… however, it does no longer work since I now have 2 Macs using the same iCloud account… the iCloud Syncing messes up the aliases ; the linking does not work properly any longer, and the custom icons are being replaced by the official Image Capture icon and the official Print Center icon…

Isn’t there any way to fix this ?

Answer :
Yes, there is !
If you want to recreate the old, but beloved Desktop Printer and Desktop Scanner in current-day macOS, do this :

NOTE : this works for any application that you want ot use with a custom icon without runnig the risk of iCloud Syncing messing up the custom icon

– open a new Finder window
– open the Applications folder
– typ ‘automator’ in the search field (top right)
– open the Automator app
– when asked ‘Choose a type for your document:’, choose an ‘Application’
– then click the blue ‘Choose’ button
– in the window that opens, typ ‘open’ in the search field
– from the shortened list, choose ‘Lauch Application’ and drag&drop it onto the gray area on the right (where it says “Drag actions or files here to build your workflow.”)
– now the ‘Launch Application’ action will appear and ‘Contacts’ will be listed as the default app to be opened
– click on ‘Contacts’ and choose ‘Image Capture’ (if you want to create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for a scanner) or choose ‘Other…’ and in the window that opens the Applications folder, first find the Utilities folder and inside the Utilities folder choose ‘Print Centre’ (if you want to create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for a printer)
– then, in the top menu bar click on ‘File’
– and in the pulldown menu that opens, choose ‘Save’
– in the window that opens, at ‘Save As:’ typ the name of your scanner (or printer), leave ‘File Format:’ at Application and change ‘Where:’ to Desktop
– then click the blue ‘Save’ button
– then on your Desktop, right-click on the robot icon that has your scanner (or printer) name beneath it
– from the pulldown menu that appears, choose ‘Get Info’
– then, drag&drop your custom scanner icon (or printer icon) onto the tiny icon in the left top cornet of the Get Info window
– then click the red button (top left) to close the Get Info window
– you will now see your Desktop Scanner Shortcut (or Desktop Printer Shortcut) on your Desktop
– click on it to see if it works correctly
– if you want, you can drag&drop the Desktop Scanner/Printer Shortcuts to the (left/main) applications side of the Dock and once the icons appear in the Dock, you can move the originals to your Applications folder
– or… if you want to save some extra space in the Dock, you can create a new folder, name it ‘Print & Scan’ (or something alike), drag&drop the Desktop Scanner/Printer Shortcuts into it, drag&drop the folder in the (right) documents/folders side of the Dock, right-click on the folder in the Dock and in the popup menu set ‘View content as’ to ‘Fan’ and then move the ‘Print & Scan’ folder to your Documents folder

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : use Window Tiling to quickly arrange windows on-screen

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Question :
Is there a way to quickly arrange the active windows of various apps on my macOS screen ?


Answer :
Yes, since macOS 15 Sequoia you can do this with the Window tiling option.

The main ways to use Window Tiling are :
1. using the on-screen buttons
2. using keyboard shortcuts

-1-
Window Tiling buttons
The Window Tiling buttons appear in a popup-screen when you hover the cursor over the GREEN button that’s top-left in every window, be it a Finder-window, an App-window, a Settings-window or any other on-screen window.

NOTE : there’s an extra option (almost hidden) here : the “Move to iPad”-button that enables you to move the active window to your iPad if it’s in the direct vicinity of your Mac (and connect to the same iCloud account)


-2-
Keyboard shortcuts
By pressing various key-combos on your keyboard you can also move the active window(s) – the primary 1, 2 or even 3 windows – to the desired half or quarter of the screen …and still leave the top menu bar and The Dock visible.
These are the main keyboard shortcuts for Windows Tiling :

[fn]+[CTRL]+[F] = FILL the entire screen with the active window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[C] = CENTER the active window in the middle of the screen
[fn]+[CTRL]+[R] = RESTORE to the previous window location(s)

These are the keyboard shortcuts for filling only one half of the screen :

[fn]+[CTLR]+[RIGHT] = fill the RIGHT half of the screen with the active window
[fn]+[CTLR]+[LEFT] = fill the LEFT half of the screen with the active window
[fn]+[CTLR]+[UP] = fill the UPPER half of the screen with the active window
[fn]+[CTLR]+[DOWN] = fill the LOWER half of the screen with the active window

These are the keyboard shortcuts for filling both halves of the screen :

[fn]+[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[RIGHT] = fill the RIGHT half of the screen with the active window AND the left half with the secondary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[LEFT] = fill the LEFT half of the screen with the active window AND the right half with the secondary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[UP] = fill the UPPER half of the screen with the active window AND the lower half with the secondary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[DOWN] = fill the LOWER half of the screen with the active window AND the upper half with the secondary window

And these are the keyboard shortcuts for filling one half and two quarters of the screen :

[fn]+[CTRL]+[ALT]+[SHIFT] +[RIGHT] = fill the RIGHT half of the screen with the active window, the left top quarter with the secondary window AND the left bottom quarter with the tertiary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[ALT]+[SHIFT] +[LEFT] = fill the LEFT half of the screen with the active window, the right top quarter with the secondary window AND the right bottom quarter with the tertiary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[ALT]+[SHIFT] +[UP] = fill the UPPER half of the screen with the active window, the left bottom quarter with the secondary window AND the right bottom quarter with the tertiary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[ALT]+[SHIFT] +[DOWN] = fill the LOWER half of the screen with the active window, the left top quarter with the secondary window AND the right top quarter with the tertiary window

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : have direct access buttons to printers and scanner in macOS 15 Sequoia

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|Question :
I have always had so-called ‘Desktop Printer‘ and ‘Desktop Scanner‘ buttons on my Mac, so I could access both my printer(s) and scanner(s) with just one click straight from the Desktop.

How do I do that in macOS 15 Sequoia ?

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Updated Answer :
There is a better solution for this problem in this newer post :
fixed : create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for your printer, scanner (or any application)

——————————————————-
Answer :
There are two options to create such ‘Desktop Printer / Scanner’ direct access buttons in macOS 15 Sequoia :

1- create new buttons : this can be done in the same way it could be done in macOS 14 Sonoma, as outlined in these previous posts :
fixed : create a Desktop Printer (one click pinter access) in macOS 14 Sonoma
fixed : create a Desktop Scanner (one click scanner access) in macOS 14 Sonoma

2- copy buttons over from your other Mac : if you already had Desktop Printer Scanner buttons on your previous Mac running at least macOS 14 Sonoma, you can them over in this way :
– have your new and your old Mac running side by side and connected to the same WiFi network
– on your old Mac, create 2 new empty folders on your Desktop
– right-click on the Desktop Printer icon on your Desktop and click on Get Info in the pop-up menu
– in the Get Info window that opens, click on the icon top left and press the [CMD]+[C] to copy the icon
– then, right-click on the first empty folder and click on Get Info in the pop-up menu
– in the Get Info window that opens, click on the icon top left and press the [CMD]+[V] to paste the icon
– then, also in the Get Info window, change the name of the folder to “Desktop Printer icon” (or something alike)
– then, take similar steps for the Desktop Scanner’s icon, and you will have a folder called “Desktop Scanner icon” (or something alike) also
– then, right-click on the “Desktop Printer icon” folder and choose AirDrop from the pop-up menu to AirDrop the folder to your new Mac
– then, repeat this to also AirDrop the “Desktop Scanner icon” folder, the “Desktop Printer” (alias) button and the “Desktop Scanner” (alias) button to your new Mac
– then, on your new Mac, open the Get Info windows of both the “Desktop Printer” and the “Desktop Printer icon” side by side and copy-paste the icon from the “Desktop Printer icon” to the “Desktop Printer” (that has lost it’s custom icon in the transfer to your new Mac)
– repeat this for the Desktop Scanner, by opening the Get Info windows of both the “Desktop scanner” and the Desktop Scanner icon” side by side and copying over the icon
– now, test both the “Desktop Printer” button and the “Desktop Scanner” icon ; the Desktop Printer button should open up the Print Center app and the Desktop Scanner button should open up the Image Capture app

That’s it !

enjoy 😉