This week’s video is all about Handoff and how it works on devices running iOS 8.
Suppose that I’m working in Notes on my iPhone and after typing for a bit I realize that I’m going to need to do a lot more typing than I anticipated. Much as I love my iPhone, its keyboard is cramped. So I’d like to finish the note on a more appropriate device like my iPad, which has a larger keyboard. Well, if the two devices are on the same Wi-Fi network, I can.
All I have to do is leave Notes open on my iPhone and pick up my iPad. When I press its Home button I see a small icon of the Notes app in the bottom left corner. I swipe up on it, enter my passcode, and Notes launches. There’s the note I started. I then continue typing on the iPad.
And if works the other way. I’ve opened Safari on my iPad and I’d like to hand off that page to my iPhone. I press my iPhone’s Home button and there’s a Safari icon. I swipe up on it, enter my passcode, and Safari automatically launches on the iPhone and takes me to the page I was viewing.
Currently Handoff works with Mail, Safari, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Maps, Messages, Reminders, Calendar, and Contacts and it’s a feature available to third-party developers. Best of all, when Yosemite is released you’ll be able to hand off these things to your Mac as well.
It’s a great feature for helping ensure that you use the right device for the right document.