I just dragged a ZIP file from MacOS to the "On My iPad" folder of Files. No cloud required.
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Universal Control is a Result of Years of Work on iPadOS, Says Apple Product Manager
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They implemented something four years ago, some of which was already in iOS' Handoff and Universal Clipboard, but they didn't implement Universal Control.
Or at least something a little more useful than iMovie and GarageBand. They should bring back Final Cut Express for the iPad.
You can do this already? Install the files App if you haven't.
Logitech flow...
No one is mentioning the obvious missing feature.
I want this to work between PC and iPad OS (Flow doesn't do this I don't believe, and obviously nor does universal control)
I use a PC for work (zero chance this will ever change)
But use my ipad w/keyboard for Teams, Outlook, etc.
I can pair my MX mouse to my ipad but I have to hit the sync button to go between the PC and iPad
Wouldn't it be cool if this worked between PC and iPad OS for this situation?
No one is mentioning the obvious missing feature.
I want this to work between PC and iPad OS (Flow doesn't do this I don't believe, and obviously nor does universal control)
I use a PC for work (zero chance this will ever change)
But use my ipad w/keyboard for Teams, Outlook, etc.
I can pair my MX mouse to my ipad but I have to hit the sync button to go between the PC and iPad
Wouldn't it be cool if this worked between PC and iPad OS for this situation?
You can if a compatible iPad app exists, but that's true for Mac. I can't open and edit a PSD on my second Mac if I don't have a PSD editing app installed.
I copied a PSD from my Mac to my iPad and opened it in my iPad Photoshop.
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I remember using Synergy at my first job back in 2007 (I see it's closed source now). We were a Linux shop but I was a Mac guy too. So one day they put a Mac next to me so I could write some code for it as well. I setup Synergy and was able seamlessly control both of them! They couldn't believe it haha
Most people only have one iPad? I'm such a pack rat:
iPad mini (first generation) in a waterproof case, only every runs a swim workout program
iPad Air (first), recently retired to be a drone controller
iPad Pro 12.9 (second?), large screen for orchestral music
iPad Air (5th), new workhorse
iPad something, for work use
iPad mini (first generation) in a waterproof case, only every runs a swim workout program
iPad Air (first), recently retired to be a drone controller
iPad Pro 12.9 (second?), large screen for orchestral music
iPad Air (5th), new workhorse
iPad something, for work use
It is incredibly cool. For my purposes though, I can't think of any use for it. I don't like multiple screen setups. Too distracting.
Tell us you don't understand the lifecycle (it doesn't begin with development) of cross platform feature development without saying it.
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Works like a champ but seems to kick the crap out of my M1 iPad Pro battery, not a big deal though, I just plug it into my 16” MacBook Pro to charge as it’s sitting next to it. If you just use the latest Apple kit then this is slick AF.
It's right there in the 2017 video I posted and it's universal to not only the Mac but between Mac and PCs and Wintel tablets.
As someone who has this hardware, no... no they didn't.
They advertised it but they never implemented it. Unless you consider a 10% success rate "implemented."
Is there a consensus optimal sized iPad to use with these Universal Control / SideCar features? I would want one on each side.
I was thinking of picking up a new laptop with some USB displays, but maybe dual iPads with an M1 would work better.
I was thinking of picking up a new laptop with some USB displays, but maybe dual iPads with an M1 would work better.
Universal control doesn’t work between devices with different Apple IDs.
?
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I see a lot of comparison against logitech flow. At a first glance this is a copy of that feature, but I feel there's no shame in Apple having done it better.
This is exactly what happened with Tablets. Apple wasn't the first to come out with a commerical tablet, but they are now making the most popular tablet in the industry.
They come by, see what's out there, see an opportunity to make an amazing version out of the thing, and then they do it.
The concept of flow is great. Its execution, however, is not great. I have a logitech mouse and keyboard and when I use it just between my personal macbook pro and work macbook pro alone, it works 10% of the time. You can feel the delay when it switches between computers.
My experience logitech options software has also left me sour about the outlook of the company. I've had the mouse and keyboard combo for 2 years and while it has improved, I've had repeated issues with the mice's gesture suddenly not working, forcing me to kill Logitech Options daemon and restart the hardware just to get it going again.
My sister who has a logitech mice paired with logitech Options and the M1 Macbook Pro had connectivity dropouts recently where it just kept switching between connection loss state and paired state, making the mice unusuable.
3 paragraphs goes to show that the hardware is decent, the concept is great, but the execution is poor. Their K380 keyboard, made of plastic creeks which shows cheap build quality when compared to the Magic Keyboard.
I got so fustrated with the combo that I went back to a Magic Keyboard and Trackpad. This was only possible all thanks to Apple's own implementation with universal control and I've been loving it ever since.
Universal control isn't perfect. Sometimes it doesn't connect for me and I have to sleep my iPad and wake it again to make it work or restart my iPad/Mac, but contrary to Logitech, it works 90% of the time and it is super slick.
I use my iPad Pro as a sketch pad and taking notes and switch between my work mac every day. This implementation is the one I've been waiting for.
This is exactly what happened with Tablets. Apple wasn't the first to come out with a commerical tablet, but they are now making the most popular tablet in the industry.
They come by, see what's out there, see an opportunity to make an amazing version out of the thing, and then they do it.
The concept of flow is great. Its execution, however, is not great. I have a logitech mouse and keyboard and when I use it just between my personal macbook pro and work macbook pro alone, it works 10% of the time. You can feel the delay when it switches between computers.
My experience logitech options software has also left me sour about the outlook of the company. I've had the mouse and keyboard combo for 2 years and while it has improved, I've had repeated issues with the mice's gesture suddenly not working, forcing me to kill Logitech Options daemon and restart the hardware just to get it going again.
My sister who has a logitech mice paired with logitech Options and the M1 Macbook Pro had connectivity dropouts recently where it just kept switching between connection loss state and paired state, making the mice unusuable.
3 paragraphs goes to show that the hardware is decent, the concept is great, but the execution is poor. Their K380 keyboard, made of plastic creeks which shows cheap build quality when compared to the Magic Keyboard.
I got so fustrated with the combo that I went back to a Magic Keyboard and Trackpad. This was only possible all thanks to Apple's own implementation with universal control and I've been loving it ever since.
Universal control isn't perfect. Sometimes it doesn't connect for me and I have to sleep my iPad and wake it again to make it work or restart my iPad/Mac, but contrary to Logitech, it works 90% of the time and it is super slick.
I use my iPad Pro as a sketch pad and taking notes and switch between my work mac every day. This implementation is the one I've been waiting for.
I agree with your general idea, however Samsung has been doing this with their smartphones and PC/Chromebook for years.
I am on the opposite side of the "integration" argument, I try hard to disconnect my iPad Pro from my iPhone, one I use for work, and the other for communication and entertainment, I don't want unwanted things popping up on my iPad screen when I am screensharing.
Some observations:
Requires a network
Requires Logitech hardware
No drag and drop, just copy and paste
Apple's Universal Clipboard was first
Its pretty good, especially if you need Windows support, but it's not the blanket example of Apple did it second you implied. To be fair it did the one mouse two computers nicely first.
PS. As someone else pointed out, Synergy was on Linux a decade before Logitech Flow. The idea goes back a long time.
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And Synergy even more years ago, even open source…
For sure Apple snatched the idea an few code lines here and there.
Synergy - Share one mouse & keyboard across computers
Synergy is an app that shares one mouse and one keyboard across multiple computers and monitors. Instant download, easy to setup in minutes.
symless.com
I run projects, some rather big.
I have seen this type of functionality before. I think Logitech and Linux already had this a few years back.
Functionality like this from Initiation to conclusion of Hypercare does not take years. Maybe one or two.
LOL Me as someone that also has this hardware can say, Apples Universal Control sucks, too. Scrolling often stutters and the cursor often becomes jumpy or laggy.
Another Universal Control Issue, which does not always happen, but happens often enough to piss me off. When you copy(CMD+C) bigger files few GB’s, this universal crap starts precopying it to the other devices flooding the network with senseless precopying traffic.
Universal Control is also far from just works and successfully implemented.
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