How Universal Control on macOS Monterey works
4Reported today on The Verge
For the full article visit: https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/8/22523613/macos-monterey-wwdc-apple-ipad
Reported today in The Verge.
How Universal Control on macOS Monterey works
The best moment of this year's WWDC keynote was a straightforward demo of a macOS feature, Universal Control. The idea is simple enough: it allows you to use the keyboard and trackpad on a Mac to directly control an iPad, and even makes it simple to drag and drop content between those devices.
What made the demo so impressive is how easy and seamless it all seemed. In a classic Apple move, there was no setup required at all. The segment happened so fast that it even seemed (incorrectly, as it turns out) like the Mac was able to physically locate the iPad in space so it knew where to put the mouse pointer.
After Zaprudering the clip and asking Apple a few questions, I now have a better understanding of what's going on here. It turns out that the entire system is actually simpler than it first appears. It's essentially a new way to use a bunch of technologies Apple had already developed. That's not a knock on Universal Control - sometimes the best software features are a result of clever thinking instead of brute force technological improvements.
So here's what's happening in that demo.
First, you need to get the iPad and Mac relatively close to each other. Universal Control is built off the same Continuity and Handoff features that have long been a part of iOS and macOS. When the devices are close enough, their Bluetooth modules let each other know. Of course, all the devices here need to be on the same iCloud account for this to work.
Then, you start up Universal Control by dragging your mouse pointer all the way to the left or right edge of your Mac's screen, then a little bit beyond that edge. When you do, the Mac will assume that you're trying to drag the mouse over to another device, in t