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Universal Control is a Result of Years of Work on iPadOS, Says Apple Product Manager

BootsWalking said:
That's like saying how can an Xerox PARC mouse be the same thing as an Apple mouse if it doesn't work on a Mac?

The original poster said the integration was unique to Apple - it isn't. Logitech and others have had this integration between desktops, notebooks, and tablets for years. There's no cleverness required to state the obvious but the original poster apparently wasn't aware this feature predates Apple by a considerable period of time.
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No they didn’t say that even slightly. They mentioned the seemless intergration with the Apple eco system and products, and that this is a good example of it. Which it is. They didn’t suggest it didn’t exist before. You’re putting words in mouths.

Here:
Caliber26 said:
There's a lot to criticize Apple for, but this is the type of seamless integration that separates them from the rest of the pack and why so many of us are happy to pay their premium prices.
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And it’s as I said - If you want to share your keyboard and mouse between macs and iPads in this sort of manner, then this is the only way you can or have ever been able too.
 
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cupcakes2000 said:
No they didn’t say that even slightly. They mentioned the seemless intergration with the Apple eco system and products, and that this is a good example of it. Which it is. They didn’t suggest it didn’t exist before. You’re putting words in mouths.

Here:



And it’s as I said - If you want to share your keyboard and mouse between macs and iPads in this sort of manner, then this is the only way you can or have ever been able too.
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The quote again is:

There's a lot to criticize Apple for, but this is the type of seamless integration that separates them from the rest of the pack and why so many of us are happy to pay their premium prices.

Logitech's offerings are seamless with the Wintel computer/tablet and Mac ecosystems they're designed for. What are you claiming "rest of the pack" refers to? Only third-parties designing peripherals for Apple, lol? And this Apple feature is free so what premium was the OP referring to if not for Mac and iPads?
 
Wildkraut said:
So the Apple folks sat there in uncountable meetings thumb twiddling, till someone shouted “Hey let’s snatch the open source code of Synergy, adapt it and call it Universal Control, but limit it to Apple devices…” ? ??. Then it took them a few more years to understand the existing code base to modify it in a way that they could publicly say “We invented something amazing gorgeous, the best feature ever…” ?
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That **** takes time
 
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tharitm said:
The next thing to do should be to remove the requirement for both devices to be under the same Apple ID. Instead replace with a prompt or confirmation of a 6 digit code on both devices. This will allow anyone using a Mac for work to quickly connect to the iPad.
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If they do, that means that whoever connects is logged in to the device as the owner of that device. That seems problematic for iPads. That might work for Sidecar where you are just using the iPad as a secondary screen, but Universal Control gives full control to whoever is connecting.
 
MayaUser said:
not the same ...lacks a lot of features
"Logitech Flow allows users of both Windows and macOS machines to quickly and painlessly copy and paste text, both plain text and rich text, images, files and folders between peer computers. It achieves this by sending clipboard hints from the flow out computer to the flow in computer during channel switch." And this is the limit of what you can do between 2 desktop OS..so even the compatibility is limited to desktop OS
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Yes, and Apple has been doing that Universal Clipboard feature between devices for years, too.
 
TheJustAbout said:
In theory it’s cool, so long as you have 802.11 enabled, if you want to use 802.11 with a wired machine, forget it!!! I can’t think of any valid reason for this, same subnet - broadcast domain - so nothing stopping it at L3, perhaps something further up the stack needs a 802.11 feature to make it work? I’ve logged it with Apple anyway ??
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The wifi connection is an adhoc wifi network directly between devices, not your local wifi router network.
 
Wildkraut said:
So the Apple folks sat there in uncountable meetings thumb twiddling, till someone shouted “Hey let’s snatch the open source code of Synergy, adapt it and call it Universal Control, but limit it to Apple devices…” ? ??. Then it took them a few more years to understand the existing code base to modify it in a way that they could publicly say “We invented something amazing gorgeous, the best feature ever…” ?
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Even if they used Synergy code (doubt it), they’d still have added

  • auth via iCloud
  • seamless reconnect
  • ad-hoc Wi-Fi
  • new UI in SysPrefs
  • iPadOS support
And I’m probably forgetting a lot. Does Synergy do file drag & drop?
 
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ss2cire said:
You can save locally, when choosing a location to save make sure you select “on my iPad” (on iPhone it’ll say “on my iPhone”)
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iOS/iPadOS apps can't see out of their file sandbox unless it's done by a manual user operation or shortcut. That's what makes certain integrations frustrating.

That's by design of course. By making that limitation, Apple enforced that apps cannot hijack each other's files for shady purposes. But it also means workflows are difficult.

I think the future of iPad is multiple small apps workflow rather than the giant "do everything" of the established Mac apps. But Apple isn't doing a good job of promoting those features to devs.
 
idmean said:
This doesn’t allow you to drag and drop files. This only shares the cursor and implements something akin to Universal Clipboard, which Apple introduced more than five years ago.
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Exactly. Sharing input devices is nice (& easy-ish) but seamlessly sharing files is another thing.
I've just updated a large App I self publish to support Universal control file sharing.
The iPad version of my app now allows drag and drop importing of files.
Previously you had to save to iCloud on the iMac and then open the Files app on the iPad, find the file and tap on it.
This is huge. It's beautiful, elegant and it only took a couple of dozen lines of code to implement.
 
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GeoStructural said:
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.
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I haven't used a Samsung phone or computer in many years so I was unaware of this.

And I agree on the second point. I do quite a bit of screen-sharing on Zoom and I get annoyed by the fact that I have to turn on DND so that my text message previews don't get seen by everyone. Especially since I'm friends with some very crass and vulgar people. ?
 
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cupcakes2000 said:
How can this be the same thing if it doesn’t work between an iPad and a mac? You think you’re being clever - but you aren’t. We have all heard of barrier you know.

It does and you can and you don’t. I find when complaining, it’s handy to complain about issues that exist instead of making some up and then complaining about those. Even on the internet.
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Let’s not pretend Files on iPad is in any way comparable to a proper file system able to access any directory on a network. It is the one of the biggest limitations of iPadOS, right up there with proper multitasking and windowing, and multiuser accounts. I am sure with more reflection there are others, but off the top of my head those are the biggest irritants from my workplace.
 
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Caliber26 said:
I haven't used a Samsung phone or computer in many years so I was unaware of this.

And I agree on the second point. I do quite a bit of screen-sharing on Zoom and I get annoyed by the fact that I have to turn on DND so that my text message previews don't get seen by everyone. Especially since I'm friends with some very crass and vulgar people. ?
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Hahaha... Let me tell you my story, I use the iPad to teach/lecture... I scribble on it with the Apple Pencil... one time a "STD Appointment at 3:00 p.m." reminder popped up and I didn't even notice it until I looked at my students' faces... what an embarrassing moment, and that wasn't the worst one.
 
BootsWalking said:
Logitech's offerings are seamless
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Logitechs solutions can be problematical. Once turned on it was ALWAYS one and allow you to move to the other device, regardless of proximity.

I used it for a short while until one day I was on one device in one room and realized that I could still leave the screen and hit the other device that was running downstairs and lost my mouse and keyboard until I dragged it back.

It also required me to configure both devices, and the would only work with the Logitech devices.

UC is seamless, requires proximity and almost zero setup.
 
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dk001 said:
What is the use case for this functionality?
I'm struggling to find one.
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iPad apps which co-exist next to your Mac, in addition to a great second screen? There are so many use cases, not sure what confuses you.

I often use Procreate to doodle some things and transfer them into my documents. Great for feedback. I have chat apps and notes open on my iPad - the way it works with full/half screen apps is great for these kind of usages.

It’s basically like a having a portable second monitor, but working 120hz without any lag wirelessly. With great apps optimized for its size. And with some apps that are not found on a Mac. Best of both worlds, working seamlessly - you almost forget it’s two devices.
 
arvinsim said:
- Doesn't work with other platforms(Windows, Linux)
- Doesn't work with machines with different Apple ids

Meh
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It’s not designed for that. The reason the experience is so good is because macOS and iPadOS share the same shortcuts, gestures and even UI elements. It wouldn’t feel seamless on Windows or Linux.

Also, while I get why it working with different Apple Ids would be useful, this is hardly possible due to security concerns. A fix, of course, would be multi-user support on iPadOS.

With that said, one person’s “meh” is another person’s best feature in a long time.
 
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How can you go to home screen on ipad with the universal control mouse cursor esp if you open an app and you need to close out of it? I had to use my hands to swipe on the screen. Is there something i am missing
 
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