How to use Continuity to connect your Apple devices together

As Apple enthusiasts know, you can use your Apple devices to do awesome things. And when you use them together, what you can achieve is magnified, leaving you able to do so much more. Many people don’t realise just what is possible when you use the Continuity feature – which is a seamless way to move between your different devices and use them together. You can take calls on your iPhone without even picking it up, by using your Mac. You can also send text messages from your Mac. You can log in to your Mac using your Apple watch, rather than typing a password. You can copy images, text or video from one device to another easily and quickly. It’s possible to start work on a document on one device and then pick up where you left off on another. There are so many possibilities available to you when you use Continuity – but here are a few that we think will be useful.

Handoff

Handoff is where you begin working from one device, and then switch to another device nearby and seamlessly pick up where you left off.

Applications that will work with Handoff include Mail, Maps, Safari, Reminders, Calendar, Contacts, Pages, Numbers, Keynote and some third-party apps. Handoff can be activated on any Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Apple Watch.

To use Handoff, complete these steps for each device:

1. Sign into iCloud with the same Apple ID
2. Turn Bluetooth on
3. Turn Wi-Fi on
4. Turn Handoff on by:
   1. Mac: Go to Apple menu > System Preferences > General > Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices
   2. iPhone, iPad and iPod touch: Go to Settings > General > Handoff, then turn on
5. On one device, open one of the above listed apps
6. When switching to:
   1. Mac: Click on the icon in the Dock
   2. iPhone, iPad or iPod touch: Unlock device; Open the multitasking screen (same method when switching between apps); Tap on the app banner at the bottom

Universal Clipboard

When you have multiple devices, Universal Clipboard is great for copying content such as text, images and videos on one Apple device and then pasting this same content on another Apple device, with unprecedented ease and speed. You can also use this feature to copy entire files from one Mac to another Mac; however just make sure that they both are on macOS High Sierra.

To use Universal Clipboard, complete these steps for each device:

1. Sign into iCloud with the same Apple ID
2. Turn on Bluetooth
3. Turn on Wi-Fi
4. Turn on Handoff
5. On the first device, copy the desired content as you would normally. It will then be automatically added to the clipboard of your next device. It will remain there for a brief period of time or until it is replaced by other copied content.
6. On the second device, paste the content as you normally would.

Instant Hotspot

The next time you want to go online and don’t have Wi-Fi, try Instant Hotspot, where your Mac or other device can remotely activate your iPhone’s personal hotspot when they are near each other, and provide internet access.

On your iPhone or iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular), go to Settings > Personal Hotspot.

To use Instant Hotspot, follow these steps on other devices:

1. Sign into iCloud with the same Apple ID
2. Turn on Bluetooth
3. Turn on Wi-Fi
4. To connect to your Personal Hotspot:
   1. On Mac: Use the Wi-Fi symbol in the top menu bar, and click on the name of the device, providing the Personal Hotspot
   2. On iPad, iPod touch or any other iPhone, go to Settings > Wi-Fi, then choose the name of the device, providing the Personal Hotspot

While all these features outlined above have different requirements and work in different ways, they are quite easy to set up and use once you know how, so give them a try. You’ll appreciate the added functionality your devices can provide.

For system requirements for Continuity go to https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT204689#hotspot.