The Subtle Sync
The most underrated feature of Apple’s various devices, in my opinion, is Continuity. This little invisible feature allows anyone with multiple Apple devices to pick up where they left on one device, then pick it up on another.
Continuity is amazing because it just works… most of the time. The feature has been around for a few years, but I don’t think that it’s used to its full potential. I’d like to see some of these features come to continuity in iOS 12.
1. Notification Center Sync Through Bluetooth on Mac From iPhone #
I’ve heard opinions on this both for and against iOS notifications on Mac, but I am very much for it. I already get too many notifications on my phone and would love a chance to be able to easily clear them from my mac or respond to any iOS app via my Mac! I definitely do not feel the same way about Mac notification on iOS. Perhaps there should be an option to enable it, but by default, I’d like to not get useless chrome notifications on my iPhone.
2. Facetime Transposition #
I’m confident that this would be extremely difficult, but I would love to be able to simply swipe up from my lock screen and after a few seconds be able to continue my FaceTime call from my Mac. I have a strong beef with iPhone battery life, and any opportunity to use my Mac instead of my phone I take. This would be a great way to help keep calls going and keep my phone running a little longer.
3. iMessage for Mac apps #
Imagine how much more powerful iMessage could become if Apple were to allow apps developed for a desktop integrate themselves with iMessage. I’m not saying that Apple needs an app store for iMessage on desktop, but for apps in the Mac App Store with an accompanying iOS/iMessage app, it would make sense to allow some varying apps to integrate basic functions.
An ideal app for this concept would be Sketch. I think that it would be fantastic for anyone to send a file or even just a dynamic link from their Mac that could be opened up in Sketch Mirror or previewed in the iMessage app on an iPhone or Apple Watch!
4. Synced Siri #
It perplexes me that in 2017 that Siri still exists as three separate entities on Apple devices. One version on the Mac, one on iOS and one on Apple Watch. How great would it be to simply be able to ask Siri on Mac to set an Alarm for 8 am on your iPhone and be done with it?! One Siri designed to sync and work with all of your devices would save so much time and definitely make the assistant feel that much smarter.
In my opinion, I think iOS still has much room to grow, and I’d love to see some of these ideas get implemented eventually. These past few years Apple has been playing cleanup with its operating system, but as they continues to innovate in hardware I’d like to see them continue to innovate with their software across all of their platforms.