They say good things come to those who wait, and we have a wait to roll out for the universal control of Apple.
If you miss it, Apple postponed Universal Control as a feature at its WWDC 2021 conference, which lets you control many connected Apple devices – an iPad, an MacBook Air and an IMAC, for example – just with a mouse and keyboard. You simply place your devices next to each other, then take your pointer to the edge of a screen and it “burst” through “burst” on the next one, so that you can copy the files between them or type on a Mac with a separate Mac keyboard.
And now, it has finally come out in beta on McOS Montere, so definitely I decided to take it for a spin. And, despite some early problems, it was better than me.
It was worth waiting
Starting was as easy as pie – mostly. Once my Mac Mini and iPad Air were updated to McOS Montere 12.3 and iPados 15.4 Betas. No more installation is required, no tismelting of settings, nothing. The universal control was simply there, ready to go. As apple is prone to saying, it just works.
Sometimes, my Mac and iPad took about a minute to recognize each other and kick for universal control. It was especially true that my Mac only after waking up from sleep. But the actual connection was automatic, so there was no need to click through a tedious wizard to add or start my equipment.
And this is an important point. Certainly, KVM switches exist over the years, and they do a similar function, allowing you to control multiple computers with a set of input. But they are complex to install and look hard. They are not the mainstream solution. Universal control is complete opposite. It has been cooked from the beginning and does not require any configuration. It is so simple that anyone can use it.
The sacred wow universal control is incredible.
It is running between a MacBook Pro, an iPad Mini and an iPad Pro, which is just using the MacBook trackpad and keyboard. It is aware of the situation, lets you pull the files, and the iPados supports gestures.
Publicity was real and it all works only pic.twitter.com/pwutlyztkw
– Federico Vizi (@viticci) 27 January, 2022
But its benefits are beyond simplicity – it is really exciting to use. The first time when I took a picture in a notes document on my iPad directly from my Mac, I really felt hurt with joy. The process is so smooth and natural, it seems that it was always to be like this. It makes something more that seems backward and nearby. Of course, I have now ruined my expectations forever, but it was worth it. From outside, my enthusiasm may look like a classic case Apple's reality distortion fieldBut seriously, try it yourself. You will fall in love like I did.
First, I will transfer files between your devices using dropbox or Apple's aircraft, but they feel positively ridiculous compared to universal control. When you can transfer your files, why in the photo app to the Dropbox folder or album Straight Do you need a device in app or place? Universal control completely cuts away friction.
In addition, this means that you do not require many keyboards, mice and trackpads for many of your devices. Once you move the mouse pointer from one device to another, your keyboard automatically switchs the focus so that you can use the third-party keyboard case of your iPad to type on IMAC. It is a great timeline and perfect for productivity.
Some magical – when it works
Since universal control is still a beta, I ran into some problems. In fact, it did not work at all at the first time, but a quick restart of my Mac corrected that issue. Some people have reported universal control work for them for the first time, while others had to restart their iPad as well as their Mac. Your experience may be different.
Changing the device orientation – such as moving the iPad from the left side of my Mac – Baggi. Sometimes Universal Control focused on the new placement and flipped the “portal” on which side of the screen on another device, but it would take several minutes to do so. Sometimes it has never changed at all. Luckily, there is a new menu System Preferences> Display This makes you manually change orientation. You can also change the vertical position of each other relative to the other, so the mouse never appears in a strange place.
I also had issues with the fall of connections, which stopped universal control in its track. Sometimes my iPad refused to appear in my Mac's display settings, while the two devices were overlade over each other. Both mean universal control did not work, at least temporarily.
Despite these minor hiccups, it is clear that universal control is a real deal. Apple's ecosystem has always been strong, but this new feature is one of the best reasons to team your Mac or iPad with another compatible Apple device. This is also a great example that when Apple actually gets something right, it looks almost incredibly good. I can't wait until it is out of beta – let's expect it to take another seven months.
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