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macOS Monterey 12.3 Beta 3 Makes Accessing Universal Control Settings Easier

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In the third beta of macOS Monterey that Apple released to developers today, there is a small Universal Control update that is designed to make it easier to access the various Universal Control settings that you might need when using the feature to control multiple Macs and iPads with a single mouse/trackpad and keyboard.

universal-control-1.jpg

If you open up the Displays section of System Preferences after updating to the new software, there is a new "Universal Control..." button that was first noticed by 9to5Mac. The Universal Control button goes directly to the three Universal Control settings that are available.

universal-control-2.jpg

Prior to this beta, the Universal Control options were located under the now-removed "Advanced" tab, and were just a bit harder to get to.

The Universal Control settings have not changed, even though their location has been updated. The first two settings are enabled by default and allow Universal Control to work, while the third is optional and can be toggled on to allow you to automatically reconnect to any nearby Mac or iPad you've previously connected to.

Universal Control is live in the macOS Monterey 12.3 and iPadOS 15.4 betas available to developers and public beta testers, and it is working well even in a beta capacity. The feature will be available to everyone when the updates see a public release, which could perhaps come in March following Apple's planned March 8 event.

Article Link: macOS Monterey 12.3 Beta 3 Makes Accessing Universal Control Settings Easier
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/02/15/universal-control-settings-monterey/
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Does it make a USB-C display, dock, or hard drive not kernel panicking the Mac any easier?
 
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Well, those three checkboxes are all that matters, and they are turned on by default iirc. Moving its location hardly matters, and unlike disastrous handoff, this one at least can’t get triggered randomly easily so I’m fine.
 
I’m really looking forward to this feature. It’s a great innovation by Apple, and I’m glad they’re taking their time to get it right.
 
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Shirasaki said:
Well, those three checkboxes are all that matters, and they are turned on by default iirc. Moving its location hardly matters, and unlike disastrous handoff, this one at least can’t get triggered randomly easily so I’m fine.
Click to expand...
Handoff is a bit of a different animal, isn't it. Universal Control involves mouse and cursor control across different Apple devices, whereas Handoff involves passing clipboard data (among other things?) to other Apple devices.
 
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I'm getting kernel panics on 12.3 bata 2. My machine shuts down and reboots automatically. did not do this in any other bata

really starting to miss BIG SUR. CATALINA also.
 
jchap said:
Handoff is a bit of a different animal, isn't it. Universal Control involves mouse and cursor control across different Apple devices, whereas Handoff involves passing clipboard data (among other things?) to other Apple devices.
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Handsoff is part of/required by UC. You can't turn it off while turning UC on.

UC is the ultimate solution that Apple has imagined, combining Handsoff and AirDrop with the soft-KVM, it makes multiple devices feel like one. So far the experience is so great that I couldn't live without when I have multiple Macs around. I sometime forgot that I'm using multiple Macs now and would try to drag an application window from one to another. Hopefully they can make applications work across devices someday.
 
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I set the third option back to off, because you can't change the side of your other device automatically.

And when I took my iPad to another room and tried to use the cursor gesture to show apps in slide over, I didn't realize my cursor went to my Mac, which made me lose the cursor due to how massive my iMac screen is. I was so confused about what happened to my iPad cursor.
 
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symphony said:
And when I took my iPad to another room and tried to use the cursor gesture to show apps in slide over, I didn't realize my cursor went to my Mac, which made me lose the cursor due to how massive my iMac screen is. I was so confused about what happened to my iPad cursor.
Click to expand...
Ah, I can see how that would be a problem... I wonder if that's something Apple has considered during beta testing, the proximity of the devices being used?
 
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I’ve been troubleshooting a problem with UC since the first beta. I can get it to work flawlessly with my MacBook at my office, but on my M1 Pro at home I have not been able to successfully connect, I get a timeout error on my iPad. All a running the latest betas. If I reboot my Spectrum home network, it works for a few minutes. I’m guessing that something is blocking the connection when the network is fully operational. Anyone else having similar issues?
 
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How is it supposed to update from beta2 to beta3? I don't have a prompt in software update and on a whim removed my iMac 2019 from Beta and enrolled again,it downloaded and installed but still on beta2.
I'm mainly interested in the re written Metal drivers that are supposed to enable GPU Metal on Blender ( in Blender beta and alpha versions) with this update.
 
MigC said:
How is it supposed to update from beta2 to beta3? I don't have a prompt in software update and on a whim removed my iMac 2019 from Beta and enrolled again,it downloaded and installed but still on beta2.
I'm mainly interested in the re written Metal drivers that are supposed to enable GPU Metal on Blender ( in Blender beta and alpha versions) with this update.
Click to expand...
beta3 is developer only at present whereas beta2 is public
do you have a developer account?
 
Can’t wait for this. I use my iPad Pro and MacBook Air side by side a lot and having the features of Universal Control will be super handy.

Does any one know if the feature works from Magic Keyboard on the iPad back to the Mac? Or does the mouse support only work from the Mac to the iPad?
 
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Does it fix scrolling issue with Logitech MX mouse? Can’t get scrolling to work in either 16” M1 mbp or M1 iPad.
 
I’ve been excited for this for some time, but I rely on my devices for work, so I can’t use the beta. I use a Logitech MX Master 3 mouse and a Keychron K2 mechanical keyboard (which has bluetooth). Will I be able to use these for universal control? I want to make sure i’ve got everything i need to utilize universal control for its official release…
 
I have a question.
Why is Universal Control settings included in the "Displays" settings?
In the first place, it's a function for keyboard and mouse Input operations, isn't it?
 
Is having an Apple Silicon Mac required for getting UC to work? I've got a long in the tooth iPad Pro that may be ready for recycling, but I'm wondering if it can get an second life as another display using UC along side my intel MacBook Pro (which will also get updated eventually when there are new Apple Displays that I can pair with a 14" Pro).
 
contacos said:
I still can’t get this to work. Does it not work if your Mac is connected to an external display via usb/c at the same time?
Click to expand...
I’ve been able to get it to work with an external monitor connected via USB-C on my office setup, but can’t get it to work at home. I’ve narrowed down the issue to my Spectrum home network router.
 
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