Tag Archives: Siri

fixed : which Macs, iPads and iPhones can Apple Intelligence run on ?

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Question :
As Apple is starting to roll out it’s own version of AI, entitled Apple Intelligence, the most important question seems to be :

Is my current Mac, iPad or iPhone able to run Apple Intelligence ?


Answer :
Apple has published the specs needed for Apple Intelligence :
– OS specs : iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4 or macOS 15.3 Sequoia or newer
– software specs : Siri needs to be turned ON
– CPU specs : A17 Pro, A18 or M1 or newer

translating the CPU specs into device specs :

iPhone : iPhone 16 / 16 Plus (2024) and newer
iPhone Pro : iPhone 15 Pro / 15 Pro Max (2023) and newer
iPhone SE : iPhone 16e (2025) and newer
iPad : -none- !! not even the iPad 11 (2025) !!
iPad mini : iPad mini 7th gen. (2024) and newer
iPad Air : iPad Air 5th gen. (2022) and newer
iPad Pro : iPad Pro 3rd gen. [11″] & 5th gen. [12.9″] (2021) and newer
MacBook : -none- !! the latest MacBooks from 2017 were Intel-based !!
MacBook Air : MacBook Air M1 (2020) and newer
MacBook Pro : MacBook Pro M1 (Late 2020) and newer
iMac : iMac M1 (2021) and newer
Mac mini : Mac mini M1 (2020) and newer
Mac Studio : Mac Studio M1 (2022) and newer
Mac Pro : Mac Pro M2 (2023) and newer

At the time of writing (March 2025) Apple Intelligence does come with the current OS versions in beta only… the general release date planned for April 2025 seems to be postponed.
If the official general release has only been postponed for certain regions (e.g. the EU) is not clear. According to Apple, the initial release will only include English, Chinese, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese and Korean. Other languages will follow later on, but Dutch will probably not be one of the first to join.



fixed : transcribe WhatsApp voice messages

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Question :
I have some friends and acquaintances that prefer to not send me text messages in WhatsApp, but they nearly always send me voice messages… I get frustrated by them, because I can’t speed-read-scan those for the clue, I can’t easily find the info back later on and I can’t listen to them if I don’t have my headphones nearby…

Is there an easy way to have them transcribed ?

Answer:
Yes there is, and it is built-in into WhatsApp since november 2024… however, WhatsApp is not releasing it worldwide everywhere all at once… so, it may be available for you already, but you might also need to wait for it a little longer…

To switch on the Transcribe-function in WhatsApp do this :

  • make sure your iPhone is running iOS 16 or newer ( since the fall of 2024 we’re on iOS18 )
    Note : in iOS 16 only English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Chinese, and Arabic are supported ; in iOS 17 Danish, Finish, Hebrew, Malay, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish and Thai were added.
  • make sure that Siri is turned on
    to turn on Siri, do these :
    – goto Settings.app > Siri > Talk to Siri > make sure that “Press Side Button for Siri” is turned ON
    – goto Settings.app > Siri > Messaging with Siri > READ MESSAGES > Add Language… > make sure that the languages that you frequently use to communicate are activated
    – goto Seetings.app > Siri > [scroll down] > Apps > WhatsApp > make sure that all options are switched ON
  • then, open WhatsApp.app on your iPhone
  • open the main ‘Chats’ screen ( that’s were your most recent chat conversations are listed )
    • click on Settings ( bottom-right ; with the sprocket/gear-icon )
    • in the ‘Settings’ screen that opens, scroll slightly down and click on ‘Chats’
    • in the ‘Chats’ page that opens, you’ll see an option named ‘Voice Message Transcripts’
      Note : this option will only be visible if WhatsApp has released it for your you, so if you don’t see it (yet), comback to this page later to chack wether it’s available for you…
    • switch ON ‘Voice Message Transcripts’ to activate it, and choose your Transcript Language

      Then, to create transcripts of voice messages, do this :
    • open WhatsApp.app on your iPhone
    • open the ‘Chats’ screen ( that’s were your most recent chat conversations are listed )
    • click on the chat that you’ve received the voice message in ( so, locate the voice message )
    • click & hold on the voice message
    • click ‘Transcribe’ when it appears
    • click the smal triangular arrow (the downward pointing angle) to expand the transcription
    • now, the transcription will be shown…
      Note : it might take some time before the transcription will appear
    • That’s it !
      enjoy 😉

      Note : if you get an error saying ‘Transcript unavailable’, this may be because of one of the following :
      – you have set te wrong transcript language
    • the voice message language isn’t supported (yet)
    • you have set the wrong transcript language
    • the audio quality it too poor to be transcribed ( e.g. due to background noise )

fixed : CarPlay option not available on iPhone

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Question :

My car doesn’t have buit-in navigation, but the onboard system supports Apple CarPlay. I have connected my iPhone to my car both through USB and Bluetooth, but my car only connects to my iPhone for Contacts and telephone… I can’t get access to my iPhone apps like navigation…

I have looked up info on CarPlay online, and it is said everywhere that there should be a CarPlay option in the General.app listed in the same chapter containing AirDrop, AirPlay&Handoff and Picture-in-Picture… immediately below those Picture-in-Picture… but there is none…

My iPhone is just over a year old and I am running the latest version of iOS, so that shouldn’t be a problem, especially since my friend’s iPhone 6S immediately connects to my car’s CarPlay when he plugs in the lightning-to-USB-cable…

What is wrong ?

 

Answer :

If you have Siri turned off, the CarPlay option won’t show.

So, to fix your problem, do this :

  • on your iPhone, goto the Settings.app > Siri & Search (in the same chapter as General, Control Center and Display&Brightness, just below Wallpaper) > switch ON “Allow Siri When Locked” and preferably also “Listen for Hey Siri” and/or “Press Side Button for Siri”
  • then turn Bluetooth OFF and back ON on your iPhone
  • then turn WiFi OFF and back ON on your iPhone
  • then goto the Settings.app > General > CarPlay
  • if CarPlay isn’t listed, just wait a few minutes or restart your iPhone
    • press&hold the ON/OFF-button and the VolumeUP-button simultaneously until the “Slide to power off” slider appears
    • then slide the PowerOFF-slider so the screen goes black
    • then press&hold the ON/OFF-button until the Apple logo appears and your iPhone restarts and says you SIM must be unlocked
    • then touch the screen and typ your screen unlock code (6 digits) in the first (black) screen
    • then typ your SIM unlock code (4 digits) in the second (white) screen
  • then, again, goto the Settings.app > General and check if CarPlay is now listed
    • if CarPlay still isn’t listed, repeat the entire process
  • now reconnect your iPhone to your car using the Lighting-to-USB-cable and your car’s display will now be able to show your iPhone’s apps also
    • if the app you want to use isn’t listed, goto Settings.app > General > CarPlay and make sure that you add all apps that you would like to use
    • if no apps are available on your car’s display, use another Lightning-to-USB-cable

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

 

 

fixed : Dyson Pure Cool warning to replace new filters again ?

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Question :

I have a Dyson Pure Cool 2018 ( TP04 ) fan-less air cooler / purifier, and it works great – I can even  monitor & control it from the DysonLink.app on my iPhone. Now time has come to replace the HEPA and carbon filters, so I got a new set of those. I got the old wones out and put the new ones in, turned the Pure Cool back on, and now it keeps giving a ‘replace immediately’ warning again…

What is wrong ?

 

Answer :

You probably replaced both the carbonfilters and both the HEPA-filters just fine, as that is rather simple. But judging from the error message you are getting, you forgot to reset the software. To do so, do this :

  • unplug the Dyson Pore Cool 2018 ( TP04 ) from power
  • replace both carbonfilters (skip this if you just renewed them)
  • replace both HEPA filters (skip this if you just renewed them)
  • replug the power
  • switch ON (using the power button on the Pure Cool’s body)
  • press the ‘night’-button (bottom right) on the remote control until the countdown starts
  • wait for the countdown to finish
  • press the ‘left/right’-button (bottom left) on the remote control until the countdown starts
  • wait for the countdown to finish
  • you will now see green checkmarks for both filters on the display
  • press the ‘AUTO’-botton (middle right) on the remote control to put the Pure Cool back into automatic mode
  • use the DysonLink.app for further settings (like using Siri or Alexa, Google Home is currently not supported)

that’s it !

enjoy 😉

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fixed : listen to Dutch-language live radio on Google Home or Nest speakers

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Question :

We have just gotten ourselves a Google Nest Hub in our Kitchen and a Google Home Mini in our living room. From the info in GoogleHome.app it seems like Spotify, YouTube Music and Google Play Music are the only options to play music on it…

…are we overlooking something ?

 

Answer :

The info in GoogleHome.app might be quite confusing, but what you’ve found is the list of music services that are supported by Google Assistant (Google’s voice-assistant that is like Apple’s Siri). For now, “Hey Google” can only voice-control Spotify, YouTube Music and Google Play Music…

But… you can use both the Google Nest Hub‘s and the Google Home Mini‘s speaker as a speaker to stream to using the Chromecast protocol from any app that supports it on your iPhone or iPad… (…and on your iPhone/iPad you can use the “Hey Siri” voice-control)

So, if you stream from your iPhone/iPad, you can use any online radio station’s app that supports Chromecast-ing to ‘listen to the radio’ on your Google Nest Hub or Google Home Mini.

If do not want to be limited to one radio station only, your best option probably is the TuneInRadio.app that you can download from the AppStore. Even though you might feel like you get tricked into buying the payed subscription for TuneIn Radio, you can just skip that, as even the FREE version will get what you want (for free !).

Note : the TuneInRadio.app can stream to both Chromecast-compatible and AirPlay-compatible speakers.

Dutch-language Live Radio stations that can be found in TuneInRadio.app are :

  • Radio 538
  • Radio Veronica
  • Q-Music
  • Sky Radio
  • Radio10 Gold
  • 100% NL
  • SLAM!
  • KINK
  • Arrow Classic Rock
  • ClassicNL
  • NPO FunX
  • NPO 2FM Retro
  • NPO 2FM Soul & Jazz
  • NPO 3FM
  • NPO 3FM Alternative
  • NPO Radio 4 Concerten
  • NPO Radio 5
  • VRT Studio Brussel
  • VRT Klara
  • Q-Music België
  • NRJ België
  • …and a lot of other local, national and international music stations

Just start the TuneInRadio.app on your iPhone/iPad, turn on the live radio station you want to listen to, and click on the Chromecast-icon (rectangle with WiFi-sign in the bottom left corner) or AirPlay-icon (rectangle with the triangle in the bottom) to select the Chromecast or AirPlay speaker you want to stream to.

That’s it !

enjoy 😉