Mac Tips & Tricks: Your iPhone and Mac

Mac Tips & Tricks: Your iPhone and Mac — Better Together

If you got your Mac through your company's TechBenefits scheme or from Farpoint, there's a good chance you also use an iPhone. Here's something that surprises a lot of switchers: your iPhone and Mac are designed to work as a team. Apple calls the umbrella feature Continuity, and once you've set it up you'll wonder how you ever managed without it. From pasting text across devices to scanning a document with your phone's camera, these features save real time every day.

1. AirDrop and Handoff — start here, finish there.

AirDrop lets you send files, links, photos, and more between your Apple devices wirelessly — no cables, no email, no cloud round-trip needed. Just drag a file to the Share Sheet or right-click and choose Share > AirDrop. Handoff takes it further: start writing an email, browsing a webpage, or editing a note on your iPhone, and a small icon appears in your Mac's Dock letting you pick up exactly where you left off.

Try this:

• Turn on AirDrop on both devices: on Mac open Finder > Go > AirDrop. On iPhone, swipe into Control Centre and long-press the connectivity panel to reveal AirDrop.
• To use Handoff, make sure both devices are signed in to the same Apple Account, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth switched on and within a few metres of each other.
• Try browsing a page on Safari on your iPhone — look for the Handoff icon in the bottom-left of your Mac's Dock and click it to open the same page instantly.

2. Universal Clipboard — copy on one device, paste on the other.

This is the one that makes people gasp. Copy text, an image, or a link on your iPhone and then press Cmd+V on your Mac — and it pastes. Works the other direction too. There's nothing to configure beyond the same Apple Account, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Handoff being switched on. The clipboard stays shared for about two minutes, which is plenty for everyday tasks.

Try this:

• Copy a phone number from a website on your iPhone, then paste it straight into a spreadsheet or email on your Mac — no retyping required.
• Copy a block of text from a Word document on your Mac, walk away, and paste it into Notes or Messages on your iPhone while you're on the move.
• If it's not working, go to System Settings > General > AirDrop & Handoff on your Mac and confirm 'Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices' is turned on.

3. Continuity Camera and iPhone Mirroring.

Your iPhone's camera is almost certainly better than your Mac's built-in webcam. Continuity Camera lets macOS use your iPhone as its camera automatically — just place your iPhone upright nearby and your Mac will offer to switch. In FaceTime, Zoom, Teams, and other apps you'll see 'iPhone Camera' as an input option. iPhone Mirroring, introduced in macOS Sequoia, goes a step further: your iPhone's entire screen appears as a window on your Mac, fully controllable with your keyboard and trackpad.

Try this:

• In a video call, click the camera selector and choose 'iPhone Camera'. You get Portrait mode, Studio Light, and Desk View (a top-down view of your desk) automatically.
• To launch iPhone Mirroring, click the iPhone Mirroring icon in your Dock — it appears automatically once your iPhone is nearby and locked. Your phone's screen opens as a window.
• In iPhone Mirroring, you can drag files from your Mac straight into iPhone apps, making it easy to share photos or documents into apps only available on iOS.

4. Answer calls and send texts without touching your phone.

You can answer phone calls and send SMS messages directly on your Mac — no need to pick up your phone mid-flow. When a call comes in, a notification pops up and you answer in one click. Open Messages on your Mac and your iMessages and green-bubble texts are all there, synced in real time. Particularly handy when your iPhone is charging in another room, or when you're deep in a document and don't want to break concentration.

Try this:

• On your iPhone, go to Settings > Phone > Calls on Other Devices and switch on your Mac. Your Mac will now ring whenever your iPhone does.
• Open Messages on your Mac (it's in your Applications folder). All your conversations should sync automatically. Reply to a text without touching your phone.
• To forward green-bubble SMS texts (not just iMessages), go to iPhone Settings > Messages > Text Message Forwarding and toggle on your Mac's name.

Things to remember.

• All Continuity features require the same Apple Account on every device — check System Settings > [Your Name] on Mac and Settings > [Your Name] on iPhone.
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth must both be on for AirDrop, Handoff, and Universal Clipboard to work, even if you're not actively on the same Wi-Fi network.
• iPhone Mirroring only works when your iPhone is locked and nearby — it pauses automatically if someone picks up and unlocks the phone.
• If you're reading this through your employer's TechBenefits scheme, these features work best when you pair your salary sacrifice Mac with an iPhone — the two together are genuinely greater than the sum of their parts.

 

Got a Mac through your company's TechBenefits scheme or purchased it at Farpoint? You'll get a fortnightly Mac tips email like this one. If you have a question about your Mac, hit reply — we're techies with the human touch.

email:mhooper@farpoint.co.uk

www.farpoint.co.uk

www.techbenefits.co.uk · 01225 460 678

TechBenefits is a trading name of Farpoint Developments Ltd.