Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Continuity kind of useless?
- Thread starter mavis
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
Yes, I realise that feature can be disabled. Thankfully Apple's developers were smart enough to not force purchasers of its products to disable one convenient feature in order to take advantage of another.
I agree with the OP. Handoff needs a place on the home screen or something. It's cumbersome on the home screen. On OS X, you can use handoff no matter whats already up on your screen at any point. On iOS, your phone has to be be locked to get to it. Kind of silly.
I don't find it silly at all. If you are already on your phone just double tap the power button, if you are pulling it out of your pocket then just don't hold your finger there. Im not sure why op is saying things like have fun staring at your lock screen since you are actually doing something on it no different than on the home screen. When you want to unlock then just keep the finger there. This isn't rocket science.
Last edited:
From iOS:
1. Double-tap the sleep/wake button
2. slide up the hand-off icon
3. Touch the home button or enter passcode
From OS X
1. Click the handoff icon.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what we're pointing out. Sure, it's not that hard, but I agree that it would be nice if there was some other implementation. Maybe something in the multitasking area or notification (or control) center. That would eliminate at least one step.
Last edited:
If anything OS X is actually longer since you have to type in your password as well. Also as far as i can tell the op was complaining that he had to not hold his finger there to stay on the lock screen to slide up.
How would you implement things differently? I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, as you seem to be taking a lot of these posts really personally. I'm just legitimately wondering how you would better implement Handoff given your dislike for how it is currently.
How would you get around the Smart Case / Touch ID problem you're facing?
How would you get around the Smart Case / Touch ID problem you're facing?
So to recap:
1. Sleep/wake
2. Touch and release
3. Rocket science
4. Post above over and over
5. #
Yup, that's about the sum of it. Although no one seems to understand that; instead people keep talking about the lock screen.
it's not *much* more than that. it's accessing things from the lock screen AND the app switcher. but that's pretty much all handoff is.
Not really. You are missing the point entirely if you think Handoff is lockscreen shortcuts.
The main point is the be able to continue working on something from any platform, and to pick up that work in real-time. The lockscreen shortcut is just that--a shortcut. If you took that away, Handoff would still be a highly valuable tool.
You've lost me. Hand-off is literally the shortcut to open up the task on a different device. So yes, hand-off is lock screen / switcher shortcuts. All you've done is explain what happens when you utilize those shortcuts which wasn't really in question. If hand-off does something else please share!
Last edited:
I am writing an email on my laptop, and I have to leave to catch a train. I leave my laptop at home, and when I turn on my phone, I can pick up the email where I left off.
Apple gives you a lcokscreen shortcut to get to the email, which contains the message you were writing where you left off. But even if they did not have the shortcut, it would be a valuable tool in itself to be able to pickup that email from where you left off.
That's handoff. Not the shortcut, the fact that it is synced in real-time across devices.
Why don't you watch the keynote? It demonstrates the technology itself.
No it's not. Your work won't pop-up exactly where you left off, email in place with the cursor where you left it, without using the hand-off shortcut.
The syncing is not handoff. That is syncing. Which we've had with IMAP email, iCloud, Google, Exchange, etc for ages.
I did watch the keynote. It seems like you're not understanding the terminology and think that automatically syncing between the devices is something new.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but you're wrong (and NovemberWhiskey is right). We've had syncing for ages, sure - but we've never been able to instantly pick up exactly where we left off on a different device, until now. That's what Handoff is, according to Apple. Obviously we need a way to access the feature using the GUI (lock screen and multitasking interface icons), but the feature itself is very clearly described by Apple on their site as real-time syncing of apps between iOS and Macs.
Last edited:
What you are describing is exactly what I just described Handoff as being when I said its a shortcut to continue your task on a different device. Which is how I would describe it to someone for the first time.
I agree with the OP to a certain extent. Although not because of the reasons why they've stated, since anyone who is aware of Handoff will know to just press the Home button instead of keeping their finger on it, or will know that it will be available in multitasking. Anyone who uses Handoff, for the most part, will switch to their iPhone/iPad with the intention of using it.
On the other hand, it is such a subtle feature on iOS that it seems like a lot of users would miss discovering it. Just like how it pops up beside the dock in Yosemite where it's easy to spot, there should be a more obvious way to access it on iOS. A shortcut from the home screen as well would be more ideal, since it seems easy for the average-Joe user to not discover the feature altogether.
And they should discover it, because it sounds awesome!
On the other hand, it is such a subtle feature on iOS that it seems like a lot of users would miss discovering it. Just like how it pops up beside the dock in Yosemite where it's easy to spot, there should be a more obvious way to access it on iOS. A shortcut from the home screen as well would be more ideal, since it seems easy for the average-Joe user to not discover the feature altogether.
And they should discover it, because it sounds awesome!
Fixed. You seem to be fixated on the actual shortcut icon or something, when in fact the ability to continue where you left off on other devices is the feature. The shortcuts themselves may change, but the feature will (hopefully) remain.
- Status