Tag Archives: iOS

fixed : replacement HUE lamp not working properly in Google Home group

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Question :

I had a Philips HUE lamp that went rogue after 4 years of working without any problems, so I had to replace it with a new one. Installation was easy (as always) : it was immediately recognised by my HUE Bridge and there is no problem when I use it with the HUE.app (I am not using the HUE(Bluetooth).app since I have an HUE Bridge). Even the HUE Remote that controls to the group of lights that the old HUE lamp is in, immediately integrated the replacement HUE lamp.

But when I want to control my HUE lights from my Google Home devices and apps, all lights are still controlled properly, but not the newly replaced HUE lamp… I can’t control it from Google Home… What is wrong ?

Answer :

After connecting the new Philips HUE lamp to the HUE Bridge and the HUE.app, you need to also reconnect it to Google Home manually… Philips HUE doesn’t automatically update in Google Home (or the other way around)… To get things working in Google Home, do this :

  • make sure that the new HUE lamp is working properly with the HUE.app and all HUE Remotes as intended
  • then, make sure the group of lights that the new/repaced HUE lamp is in is turned on (so all lights of the group should be burning)
  • now, open the GoogleHome.app on your iPhone (or iPad)
  • when the “Home” page opens, click on the “Settings” button (the one with the sprocket/gear-icon)
  • in the “Home settings” page that opens, scroll down to the bottom and click on “Works with Google”
  • in the “Add Devices” page that opens, you will see a “Linked” chapter and a “Add new” chapter below ; since you already have your HUE lights set up in Google Home previously, you can click on “Philips HUE” in the “Linked” chapter
  • in the small popup menu that opens, click on “Check for new devices”
  • when the auth.meethue.com online login page opens, login to your Philips HUE account using your eMail address and your password
  • in the “Grant permission” webpage that opens, scroll down to the bottom and click on the blue “Grant permission” button
  • now the “Add Devices” page in the Googlehome.app opens, and at the bottom a message saying “Philips HUE is linked” will show
  • then, the “Choose device” page will automatically open where you see all your HUE lights and devices that are currently not connected to Google Home, so select the HUE lamp’s icon tile that you have replaced and click “Next”
  • in the “Connect Home” page that opens, drag&drop the HUE lamp’s icon tile onto the correct HOME icon tile (usually the HOME location that you have setup in Google Home) [ note that you can only connect the lamp to one home ] then click “Next”
  • in the “Connect Groups” page that opens, drag&drop the HUE lamp’s icon tile onto each and every GROUP icon tile (of lights and devices) you want the HUE lamp to be in, one after the other
  • when done, click “Next” and the GoogleHome.app will update
  • when done, back in the “Home” page, scroll down to the proper group and test what happens when you turn the group of lights off and back on
  • if everything works properly, you’re done
  • if you run into a problem (now or maybe later on), try this :
  • turn on all HUE lights
  • turn off all running GoogleHome.apps on all devices you have and unplug all Google Home speakers, Google Home displays and Nest Hubs
  • after at least 30 seconds, plug all Google Home speakers/displays and Nest Hubs back in and wait for them to restart
  • now, test if the group of HUE lights that includes the replaced HUE lamp works as intended when using one of the restarted Google Home speakers/displays or Nest Hubs (if it works on one Google Home device, it will work on all the one that have been restarted)
  • also test if the group of HUE lights that includes the replaced HUE lamp works as intended when using the GoogleHome.app on your iPhone (or iPad)
  • now, everything should work as intended (in the very unlikely event that it does not, redo all of the above)

that’s it !

enjoy 😉

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tip : use 3-finger swipe on your iPhone speed things up

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Question :

A friend told me I could speed up my interaction with my iPhone by doing things like swiping with multiple fingers at the same time…

How do I do that ?

Answer :

The 2-finger gestures that you can use on your iPhone :

  • the basics : put 2 fingers on the screen next to each other, then spread them (‘pinch’ gesture) to zoom in on a picture or map
  • the basics : put 2 fingers on the screen apart of each other, then bring them together (‘reverse pinch’ gesture) to zoom out on a picture or map
  • the extras : when the onscreen keyboard is shown, long-press the spacebar (with one finger) to get a cursor that you can move though the text (‘trackpad-mode’), then add a second finger and with 2 fingers you can now select parts of the text
  • the extras : when in a list (like in Mail.app or Notes.app) use 2 fingers to tap one item, then drag down (or up) to select multiple items together – if needed you can still deselect individual items using only one finger

The 3-finger gestures that you can use on your iPhone :

  • the basics : put 3 fingers on the screen and swipe to the left to undo any action you just did
  • the basics : put 3 fingers on the screen and swipe to the right to redo anything (especially if you just did an undo action)
  • the extras : after having selected a text, put 3 fingers on the screen and spread them (‘reverse pinch’ gesture) to copy the selected text
  • the extras : after having copied some text (when it’s in the invisible clipboard), put 3 spread-out fingers on the screen and move them together (‘pinch’ gesture) to paste the text into your document
  • the extras : when in any text app, tap 3 fingers on the screen to bring up a menu that enables you to copy & paste

that’s just a few of the very handy gestures that you can use… enjoy 😉

solved : where does FindMy.app alert “Replace the battery on left soon” come from ?

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Question :

Today, on my iPhone I got a message from FindMy.app in my closed screen Notifications, and it is rather cryptic : “Replace the battery on left soon” and soon after I read it, it seems to have changed to “Replace the battery on right soon”… I have no idea what this is about (maybe because the message is not in proper English and makes not sense in that respect either)…

When I clicked on this alert message, the FindMy.app opened showing one of my AIrTags. But since my AirTags are only a few months old, I can’t imagine their batteries are already running low…

What is going on ?

Answer :

What if I tell you that the new AirPods Pro 2 (so the 2022 version) have AirTag-technology and software to make them easier to find ?

Do you also have the new AirPods Pro 2 maybe ?

The current version of the AirPods Pro 2 software has a bug in it that causes erratic alert messages in FindMy.app. You might encounter any of these alerts :

  • Replace the battery on right soon.
  • Replace the battery on left soon.
  • Replace the battery on Case soon.

So, you can deny these alerts. All you can do is hope that Apple fixes this in a software update asap.

enjoy !

fixed : how to get PS Express edited images from iPad to Mac ?

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Question :

I had to do a small retouch on an JPEG-image that is on my Mac, but my AdobeCS-licence is out-fo-date (and I don’t want to renew it until I need to do more tan one hour of work with it) so I can’t use Photoshop CS as I would usually do.

Then I remembered that I have the FREE Adobe PS Express-app installed on my iPad that should be able to do the trick. I figured out a way to get the JPEG-image to open using iCloud, but when I try to save the end result, the image is not saved in iCloud…

How do I get the edited JPEG back onto my Mac ?

Answer :

To open the JPEG-image that is on your Mac in PS Express-app on your iPad, do this :

  • first, on your Mac, make sure that the image is saved on your Desktop (or another easily accessible folder that is being synced across your devices using your iCloud-account)
  • then, on your iPad, open the Files-app and got iCloud Drive > Desktop (or the folder where the JPEG-image is in)
  • now click on the JPEG-image and it will open in a preview window
  • there, click on the Export-button top-right [the square with the upward pointing arrow]
  • in the pulldown-menu you will not see what you are looking for straight away, so scroll down and click on “PS Express”
  • now the JPEG-image will open in the PS Express-app and you can edit it

After editing, export the image back onto your Mac doing this :

  • make sure you have the finished the image open in PS Express-app on your iPAd
  • now, click on the Export-button top-right [the square with the upward pointing arrow]
  • in the window that opens, you will not see what you are looking for straight away, so scroll all the way down and click on More [the three dot icon]
  • now, in the popup menu that opens, scroll down and click on “Save to Files”
  • in the new pop-up that opens, typ the name you want to give the JPEG-image over the random name that was automatically generated (to by-pass potential naming conflicts, give it a slightly different name than the original image)
  • then, in the list of iCloud Drive folders, select Desktop (or the specific folder that you want to save the finished image to)
  • then check that it says “Item will be saved to “Desktop” on iCloud Drive.” and click Save [top-right]
  • then go back to your Mac, and you will see the edited JPEG-image there

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : Medisana Oximeter sync hangs at 8%

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Question : I have a Medisana PM100BT Oximeter which works great, but since a week or so it hangs during sync ; the sync reaches 8% then nothing happens, the VitaDock+.app hangs and the sync fails.

I’ve looked on the Medisana-website, in their manuals, tried to contact them and searched the internet myself, but I can’t find the solution anywhere… how can I fix this ?

Answer :

The solution is simple if you know the cause : for some reason your Oximeter was switched into “real-time” mode, but it needs to be in “spot-check” mode for the VitaDock+.app syncing to work.

Here’s how to do this :

  • make sure your finger is out of the oximeter
  • now, long-press the green ON/OFF-button
  • when the MODE-screen appears, short-press the green ON/OFF-button to switch to another mode
  • make sure the triangular arrow is at “Spot-check” before proceeding
  • when “Spot-check” is set, long-press the ON/OFF-button to go back to the main screen
  • now, open the VitaDock+.app on your iPhone
  • then, put your finger in the oximeter and press the ON/OFF-button to start the measurement
  • if you have previously set up the oximeter in the VitaDock+.app, the oximeter will now sync
  • if no syncing happens in the VitaDock+.app, click on the Devices-button top-right, scroll down to HEALTH | PULSEOXIMETER, click on it and follow the on-screen directions for setting up the Bluetooth connection.

That’s it !
enjoy 😉

fixed : switch Hue light bulb to different Room in GoogleHome.app

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Question :

I have installed a new Philips Hue light bulb and for some reason it ended up in the wrong Room in the GoogleHome.app

How can I move it to the right Room ?

Answer :

To move a Hue light bulb (of any other light bulb or connected device) to another Room in the GoogleHome.app, do this :

  • open the GoogleHome.app on your iPhone
  • click on Settings (the circular button with a sprocket/gear on it)
  • now the “Home Settings” page opens, click on “Rooms and groups”
  • now the “Rooms and groups” page opens, find the group that the light bulb that you want to move is still in and click on it
  • in the “Room settings” page that opens, click on the name of the light bulb you want to move
  • in the page that opens (called by the name of the specific light bulb), click on “Room”
  • in the “Choose room” page that opens, click on the name of the room you want the light bulb to move to, so it will be highlighted with a the checkmark and a blue color
  • then click “SAVE” (top right)
  • now the light bulb will have moved from the old room to the new Room
    • if it wasn’t moved, repeat the above

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

Note : if you have trouble updating the new settings from the GoogleHome.app to your Google Nest Hub (or any other Google Home controlling device), try this.

fixed : get rid of Virus Infection warnings in Calendar.app

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Question :
For some reason, my Calendar.app is flooding with red warning messages like “Your iPhone is infected”, “Virus detected”, “Critical Warning”, “Your iPhone is in danger” etc.

Is this true ?
Where did this come from ?
How can I get rid of these ?

Answer :

It is not a virus infection. These are not real iOS Error Messages. These are Calendar Events. You have recently clicked on some unreliable internet link that has subscribed you to an external event calendar…

To get rid of these, do this :

  • on your iPhone, open the Calendar.app
  • in the window that opens you will see your current appointments, and in the bottom-bar three buttons : “Today”, “Calendars” and “Inbox”
  • click on the “Calendars” button (bottom center)
  • in the pull-up screen that appears, you will see all Calendar-feeds that you have active
  • scroll down to the “Subscribed” chapter
  • if you have just one entry there, click on the coloured circle in front of it to remove the white checkmark
  • if you have more than one entry in the “Subscribed” chapter, click on the coloured circle in front of the top/first one to remove the white checkmark
  • then, click “Done” (top-right) to see if the error messages are gone
  • if they are, proceed – if not, redo the above step until the error messages have gone from your calendar
  • when you see that the error messages have disappeared from the regular Calendar view, click on the “Calendars” button (bottom center) again
  • then, in the pull-up screen that appears, scroll down to the “Subscribed” chapter again and click on the Info-button (encircled i-letter) that is at the right side of the name of the Calendar that you have previously unchecked (to make the error messages disappear)
  • in the “Edit Calendar” page that opens, scroll down completely and click on “Delete Calendar” (in red – completely at the bottom)
  • now, the pesky calendar subscription will be gone

That’s it !

enjoy 😉