Tag Archives: iOS

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 πŸ˜‰

fixed : Nintendo Switch can’t see iPhone’s Personal Hotspot

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Question :

I am on holiday and since there is no WiFi-internet here, I would like to connect my Nintendo Switch to my iPhone’s unlimited internet plan by connecting to it’s WiFi using the Personal Hotspot feature in iOS. But if I have Personal Hotspot turned on, my Switch can’t see it… even if I can connect to the Personal Hotspot from another iPhone.

What is wrong ?

Answer :

There’s an easy fix for this :

  • on you iPhone, goto the Settings.app
  • in the Settings window that opens, click on “Personal Hotspot” (should be just below “Mobile Data” – if it is not, your mobile phone provider has blocked this and you have no way of wirelessly sharing your iPhone’s internet connection)
  • in the Personal Hotspot window that opens, set the “Allow Others to Join” slider to ON
  • you can just use automatically generated WiFi password for your Personal Hotspot, but if you want to set your own password, click on the triangular arrow right next to the password and a new page wil openen where you will be able to set the password of your liking
  • now, the one crucial step : set the “Maximise Compatibility” slider to ON
  • then exit the Settings.app
  • goto your Nintendo Switch and now you will see your iPhone’s personal hotspot listed as an available network

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : create a poll or multiple-choice questionaire in WhatsApp

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Question :

I want to test the waters on some subject in a WhatsApp-group I’m in. Let’s say I want to know how everybody feels about doing something together or not. I’ve seen someone else post a polling questionnaire like that in another WhatsApp-group, and I want to do something similar…

How do I do that ?

Answer :

To create a poll (a questionnaire) in WhatsApp, do this :

  • make sure you have the latest version of WhatsApp installed on your iPhone
  • open WhatsApp and go to the group you want to post the poll in
  • click on the + (the Plus-sign) bottom left (next to the field where you normally type new messages)
  • in the popup list that opens, select “Poll”
  • in the “Create Poll” window that opens, at “Question” type the initial question for your poll/questionnaire
  • then, at “Options”, add the first multiple-choice answer you have in mind
  • then, just below, type the second multiple-choice answer
  • now, upon typing the second multiple-choice answer, you will see that an extra field will appear for an extra answer you have in mind
  • if you want to add a third (or fourth or fifth) multiple-choice answer, type it
  • so, when you have all multiple-choice answers typed, leave the bottom field empty (it will be marked with “Add” in grey)
  • now, if you want people to limit their response to only one answer/option, set the “Limit to only one choice” open (to the right) ; if not, leave it closed (to the left)
  • then click “Send” top right and your poll will be posted in your WhatApp-group
  • as soon als people start filling out your poll/questionaire, their face-icons/avatars will show up next the answer of their choice, so you can monitor the most and least popular answers

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

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 πŸ˜‰

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 πŸ˜‰

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 πŸ˜‰