All You Need to Know About Apple Continuity in iOS 8 and OS

By introducing two new operating systems - iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, Apple has confirmed that very soon end-users will get to experience some new features in their Apple devices. The newly launched operating systems (OSes) have many new features, and the most intriguing among those is the ‘Continuity’ feature along with its complementary feature name ‘Handoff.’ 

As manifested by the word itself, the ‘Continuity’ feature is meant to offer a line of continuity or connection between different Apple devices like the iPhone, iPad and the Mac in order to avoid the duplication of work.

In the words of an Apple spokesperson at WWDC, ‘Continuity’ in Yosemite and iOS 8 is a highly useful feature as it will make Mac and iOS device the best companions of each other. The feature will make many things feasible like:

Pass on work from one Apple device to other

If the iPhone or iPad is near your Mac, then using the ‘Handoff’ feature of ‘Continuity’ you can pass on the activity you were doing on your iPhone to your Mac or vice-versa. In this way, you can pick up a work in your Mac or iPad right where you left it off in your iPhone.

There can be numerous conditions where you will find this continuity feature handy. For instance, you start working on an email, presentation or spreadsheet on your Mac and suddenly, you get some important call that demands you to quickly hop on your car. This in a way means that you have to leave your half done work in between and if your deadline is close and you have planned to finish the work in your iPad while on go, then you have to start the same work from the very beginning in your iPad.

Here the continuity feature helps as it allows you to pick up the work in your iPad from where you had left it off in your Mac. Similarly, the half done work like an half written email in your iPad can be finished off in your Mac or you can continue browsing the same link that you were viewing in your iPad. All these passing off content and this building of continuity happen automatically, just that you require signing all Apple devices in to the same iCloud account. The feature works everywhere, whether it’s an elevator, couch, car, club, office, home or other locations.

Make calls through Mac

Not necessarily, every time your phone rings you find it close to answer the calls or messages. Your phone might be in the other room or you forgot to take it out from your bag after reaching from office. If reaching out to your distant placed iPhone is demanding extra effort from you, then you can simply choose to answer your calls or check your incoming messages from your Mac or iPad, whichever is near to you.

The ‘Continuity’ feature allows you to see your iPhone SMSs and MMSs messages on all your Apple devices including the Mac. Not just you can receive the messages on your Mac but can also reply to those messages directly from your Mac. The same technology works on phone calls also, means now you can make as well as receive your iPhone calls from your Mac as a speakerphone, provided your iPhone is close to your Mac. All this happens quite smoothly as long as your iPhone or iPad run on iOS 8 and your Mac runs on Yosemite and all these devices share the same Wi-Fi network.

If your Mac is running on OS X Yosemite and your iPhone is placed nearby, (connected to same Wi-Fi network) then Mac will identify the iPhone and catch its cellular network. Thus, it will allow you to see your iPhone messages on the big screen or accept the calls with the Mac operating as a speakerphone. Similarly, while working on your Mac system, if you want to make a call, you don’t require taking your iPhone in hands. You can dial the number on the computer screen and it will automatically connect to the iPhone to make the call.

Use iPhone to Create a Hotspot

‘Continuity’ lets you convert your iPhone into a hotspot for your iPad or Mac. If your Apple devices are in a place beyond the Wi-Fi range, then you can connect these devices to your iPhone’s hotspot, provided the phone is close by.

Here the ‘Instant Hotspot’ plays along with Continuity. No more the user requires going to the iOS settings to get the hotspot feature enabled as Continuity in Yosemite and iOS8 will create an automatic hotspot between a compatible iPhone and Mac.

Thus once available for usage, Apple ‘Continuity’ will enhance the compatibility between different Apple devices by making them more useful in a complementary mode for each other. How the end users will benefit from this feature and how much it proves helpful for them will get clear once the two newly launched Apple operating systems become available for end users usage.

Brooke M. Perry is an ardent technician associated with Qresolve online computer support with wide experience of fixing issues with PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphone. With a strong track record of devising effective ways of online tech support and system security, she has so far helped thousands of users across the globe.