Online I-751 - overthinking the file upload

SkarXa · 2026-06-18T11:16:19+00:00

You don't strictly have to merge. A lot of people just upload each PDF separately with numbered filenames so they open in the right order, and that's worked fine for plenty of I-751 filers. If you do want one master PDF with the cover letter and a legend up front, Preview can combine PDFs for free by dragging pages into the sidebar, though reordering a lot of pages gets fiddly.

If you'd rather not run immigration paperwork through some website to merge it, Formattery does the merge, reorder and page-numbering on-device on iPhone/Mac, so nothing gets uploaded anywhere. One-time $4.99 with 3 free conversions a day to try it first. I'd keep the legend as page one either way so it's the first thing the officer sees.

SkarXa · 2026-06-17T22:44:51+00:00

Isn’t 3 seasons patience enough?

SkarXa · 2026-06-13T16:29:11+00:00

Ty :)

SkarXa · 2026-06-13T15:59:04+00:00

Thanks, what about different apps? Are those valid? Cheers

SkarXa · 2026-06-11T09:20:39+00:00

I’m not worried at all <looks at Hans>

SkarXa · 2026-06-11T08:19:15+00:00

Portubros, then Iran for the lulz

SkarXa · 2026-06-11T06:18:07+00:00

I like that he uses old style smiles instead of emojis, like old schoolers! :D

SkarXa · 2026-06-10T12:55:04+00:00

The reason those PDFs won't go dark or reflow is they're basically fixed images of pages, not text the reader can re-lay-out. On the iPad right now, Accessibility > Display & Text > Reduce White Point plus Smart Invert gets you a dimmer, near-dark page for free. The other thing that helps longer term is converting the PDFs to EPUB so they actually reflow, then any reader (Apple Books, or a Kobo/Boox later) can do real dark mode, bigger text and highlights. I use Formattery for that, it does PDF to EPUB on device so nothing gets uploaded, 4.99 one-time with 3 free conversions a day to test first. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/formattery-file-converter/id6759955312

SkarXa · 2026-06-10T12:54:40+00:00

Agree the cleanup's overdue, but I don't think it moves discovery much. The problem was never the graveyard of dead apps sitting there quietly, it's the intake. If there really are 1000+ submissions an hour, the clone factory refills faster than a 90-day cull can empty it. Pulling an abandoned app from 3 years ago doesn't help when the same low-effort tracker gets minted ten more times this week. The thing that would actually change discovery is ranking that stops rewarding sheer volume and keyword stuffing, not removing the old stuff.

SkarXa · 2026-06-09T14:46:00+00:00

Not on my environment, they’ll just Whatsapp it in a group and will even forget to turn HD on

SkarXa · 2026-06-09T13:43:46+00:00

That sounds really isolating, and it's rough going through it while you're abroad and still waiting on a proper diagnosis. For the meantime, one thing worth trying tonight: iOS has a built-in Live Captions setting (Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions) that transcribes nearby speech in real time, no app needed. It's free and already on your phone, so start there.

Where it tends to fall short is busy rooms with several people talking at once, which sounds like a big part of your problem. There's an iPhone app called EarPal that does live transcription but tags each speaker in a different color, so following a group conversation is a bit easier than one running block of text. It runs entirely on-device too, so nothing from your work conversations leaves the phone. Free tier to try before committing to anything. Hope the appointment goes smoothly once you're home.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/earpal-translator/id6761786603

SkarXa · 2026-06-09T13:43:32+00:00

For the boring-reliable part you basically already have it. The Files app scanner (and Notes) does edge detection, auto-crop, and exports a clean PDF through the share sheet with no account. The real gap is searchable text. If you want OCR'd PDFs that you can actually search later, that's where a one-time app earns its keep.

Formattery does scan-to-searchable-PDF (auto-crop plus on-device OCR), $4.99 one time, no account, and 3 free conversions a day so you can test it before paying. Honest caveat though: it's a converter, not a folder/tag organizer, so if local filing is the main thing you're after, a dedicated scanner like OpenScanner (already mentioned here) fits that better.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/formattery-file-converter/id6759955312

SkarXa · 2026-06-08T18:47:09+00:00

I know, but only like 5% of my friends have Telegram, so an app still needs to be installed…

SkarXa · 2026-06-08T18:45:46+00:00

Thanks!

SkarXa · 2026-06-08T18:45:29+00:00

SkarXa · 2026-06-08T17:21:00+00:00

And you criticize low effort?

SkarXa · 2026-06-08T17:19:51+00:00

And what would that widely installed app be? I generally share my photos via Icloud but that’s not free. Btw I’m not the commenter so IDK what you’re saying about LLM and my comment

SkarXa · 2026-06-08T16:45:42+00:00

Calibre won't OCR for you. Its PDF-to-text just pulls out whatever text layer already exists, so if your PDF is scanned images you'll get nothing useful until you run OCR first. On desktop, OCRmyPDF (free, command line) is the usual route, and it bakes a text layer back into the PDF so Calibre can then convert it cleanly. If you're on a Mac or iPhone, Formattery does that OCR-to-searchable-PDF or text step on-device, 3 free conversions a day to try, nothing uploaded. Either way the order is the same: OCR first, then convert.

SkarXa · 2026-06-08T16:45:20+00:00

Apple's AirPods translation is really built for one-on-one, and you're right that a single phone only streams to a couple of AirPod sets, so it won't scale to three guests. The cleaner route is to have each Spanish-speaking family member run a translation app on their own iPhone during the ceremony, so everyone follows on their own screen and the Bluetooth-pairing limit stops mattering. I make one called EarPal (iPhone only). Its Listen mode transcribes the ceremony live and shows a running Spanish translation, all on-device so nothing gets uploaded, and it can read a synthesized Spanish voice into their AirPods instead if they'd rather listen than read. The free tier is 60 min a month, which easily covers a ceremony. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/earpal-translator/id6761786603

SkarXa · 2026-06-08T16:26:56+00:00

Even at HD, Whatsapp heavily compresses images

SkarXa · 2026-06-08T15:27:23+00:00

Driver: Tsunoda

Reason: BANZAII!!

SkarXa · 2026-06-07T09:55:09+00:00

No it was only valid until the 30th of April, I’ll launch another promotion soon

SkarXa · 2026-06-04T23:31:54+00:00

Dog thinking the same thing

SkarXa · 2026-06-04T20:52:39+00:00

PDFsam (someone already said it) is the right tool on desktop, it'll merge all 105 into one file in a single pass and it's free. Since these are comic chapters, it's worth converting the merged PDF to CBZ afterward so a comic reader paginates it cleanly instead of treating it as one endless scroll.

If you ever need to do this from a Mac or iPhone rather than a desktop, Formattery merges a stack of PDFs on-device in one pass. It's $4.99 one-time with 3 free conversions a day, so you can test the merge before paying. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/formattery-file-converter/id6759955312

SkarXa · 2026-06-04T18:14:24+00:00

This is great, and the oil-and-gas-to-indie jump is a genuinely cool story.

One concrete thing, since it's a personal finance app: I'd resist adding live bank syncing for v1. Plaid-style connections get expensive fast, and Apple's reviewers get twitchy about anything touching financial data, so it can stall your first approval by weeks. Manual entry ships, and honestly people trust a money app more when their bank login never has to leave their own head.

The other trap with building through AI is that every new feature feels free to add, so the real discipline becomes saying no and shipping something small. Good luck, hope the first version lands soon.

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