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I can't get Handoff/Continuity to work for the life of me

Y

youradhere4222

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 16, 2007
323
78
I have an iPhone 6 Plus and a mid-2014 MacBook Pro. These things should be compatible.

- They're both on the same WiFi network
- Handoff is enabled on OS X and iOS
- Both devices are logged into the same iCloud account
- Both devices are running the most up-to-date software
- Both devices are registered in my Apple support profile
- FaceTime preferences are updated to receive calls from my iPhone

I just don't know what the deal is. BT doesn't matter right? From my understanding all of this should be going through WiFi.

Is there an official Apple page for how to set this up? Does anyone have any advice for me? :confused:
 
C

cookies!

macrumors 6502
Jul 3, 2011
456
132
handoff isn't fully functional without 8.1 beta right now, and they might need a second GM candidate to get it fully functional too. and phone/sms handoff absolutely doesn't work without 8.1
 
Last edited:
G

genu1ne

macrumors newbie
Feb 10, 2007
22
0
You will actually need to activate Bluetooth on both devices (For the Handoff Feature) Calls/Texts are working without BT (at least for me on the beta)
 
venom466

venom466

macrumors member
Aug 4, 2014
40
2
Italy
Does anyone know which model of the BT/Wi-FI card is compatible to enable handoff on MBA mid2011?
 
M

matthewadams

macrumors 6502
Dec 6, 2012
379
168
Handoff is fully functional.

Open your Keychain, and search for Handoff. You should find at least 1 entry called "Handoff Encryption Key", if that is missing, thats the problem right there.
 
I

iFoggy

macrumors member
Apr 26, 2011
87
6
I also cannot seem to get it right, have everything I need iOS8.1 beta 1, OS X 10.10 GM 1.0

Where I get stuck is when enabling sms forwarding on the iPhone, pop up asks for the forwarding code but on the Mac nothing happens except iMessage does open / bounce if closed so there is some interaction.

Missing the code the Mac is supposed to supply
 
I

iGawain

macrumors member
Mar 15, 2012
43
0
London UK
I have calls and SMS working via my MBA 2011 and my iPhone/iPad on 8.1 beta, haven't ever got any of the handoff features working between devices (and MBA 2011 does support them according to system info).

When I connected to my work iMac (2011) and began typing a message, the SMS security window popped up and asked me to confirm I want to send SMS via messages on Mac, this happened at the precise moment I pressed return to send my message and it dismissed the request to allow SMS to work on Messenger. I have since tried to remove my iCloud account on iPhone and iMac and rebooted both, and I cannot for the life of me get it to request access to SMS messages again.

Anyone any thoughts on how to enable this? I can't find an option within messages anywhere.
 
A

apfelbaum

macrumors member
Aug 31, 2014
69
114
Germany
youradhere4222 said:
- They're both on the same WiFi network
- Handoff is enabled on OS X and iOS
- Both devices are logged into the same iCloud account
- Both devices are running the most up-to-date software
- Both devices are registered in my Apple support profile
- FaceTime preferences are updated to receive calls from my iPhone
Click to expand...

My setup is the same using an iPhone 6+ on iOS 8.0.2 and a late 2012 iMac on Yosemite Beta 4 right now and I can't get this fully working.

What does work is that when someone calls my phone I can pick them up on my Mac in Facetime. However the phone doesn't show up in my Wi-Fi list to use as an Instant Hotspot and Continuity also seems not to work, so far Safari or Mail didn't indicate in the dock or the phones lock screen that I am using the app on another device.

According to demos on Youtube and articles I read these things should work for a while now, any ideas what I might be doing wrong and what other settings I might try?
 
Apple_Robert

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
35,592
52,336
In a van down by the river
iFoggy said:
I also cannot seem to get it right, have everything I need iOS8.1 beta 1, OS X 10.10 GM 1.0

Where I get stuck is when enabling sms forwarding on the iPhone, pop up asks for the forwarding code but on the Mac nothing happens except iMessage does open / bounce if closed so there is some interaction.

Missing the code the Mac is supposed to supply
Click to expand...

Try turning off and on the text message forwarding option. That should get the numerical code to pop up on your Mac.
 
C

cookies!

macrumors 6502
Jul 3, 2011
456
132
matthewadams said:
Handoff is fully functional.

Open your Keychain, and search for Handoff. You should find at least 1 entry called "Handoff Encryption Key", if that is missing, thats the problem right there.
Click to expand...

Handoff is absolutely not fully functional for a lot of posters on the GM on this forum...

I have the encryption key in my chain but Handoff only works in some directions and on Safari for me.
 
roland.g

roland.g

macrumors 604
Apr 11, 2005
7,471
3,254
I have the PB4 running on my MBA and an iPhone 6 Plus. Continuity works between apps like Safari and Mail and Maps for me from computer to phone and phone to computer. The call features and SMS green texts are not available yet on the computer as that part has specifically been delayed until the public release of 10.10 at the earliest. However, the start typing an email and pickup right where you left off and same with Safari and other apps definitely works. I also know that when my phone rings, my iPad Mini with Retina also rings as it is running iOS 8 as well, but I haven't tried answering a call on the iPad.

I did hear that both the iPhone and Mac need to be on the same WiFi frequency. So if you have an Airport router running in dual band mode, my understanding is that if the iPhone logs into the 2.4 GHz frequency but the Mac logs into the 5 GHz frequency, you may not get it working. I thought mine was in dual band mode, but it works fine.
 
Young Turk

Young Turk

macrumors 6502
Jul 9, 2002
499
67
youradhere4222 said:
I have an iPhone 6 Plus and a mid-2014 MacBook Pro. These things should be compatible.

- They're both on the same WiFi network
- Handoff is enabled on OS X and iOS
- Both devices are logged into the same iCloud account
- Both devices are running the most up-to-date software
- Both devices are registered in my Apple support profile
- FaceTime preferences are updated to receive calls from my iPhone

I just don't know what the deal is. BT doesn't matter right? From my understanding all of this should be going through WiFi.

Is there an official Apple page for how to set this up? Does anyone have any advice for me? :confused:
Click to expand...

Was having same problems but iOS 8.1 beta fixed them.
 
Dragonforce

Dragonforce

macrumors 6502a
Apr 9, 2008
587
5
Germany
I'd like to add that apparently handoff and ANY Continuity function aren't properly working if you have only your mobile phone # registered, and not a single email address to receive and send iMessages from.
 
G

gdb19

macrumors newbie
Sep 22, 2014
16
2
I couldn't get handoff working at all, has it all setup and nothing missed. Updating my MacBook Air to the latest Yosemite public beta has mysteriously done the trick. With Bluetooth enabled this now works for safari, mail, messages and maps so far.

Just one thing that I was wondering if anyone knew. I've just turned on messages on my MacBook having never really been bothered about using it before. I kind of expected my historic iMessages from my phone to show up but they haven't - is there any way to get these to show?
 
Apple_Robert

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
35,592
52,336
In a van down by the river
gdb19 said:
I couldn't get handoff working at all, has it all setup and nothing missed. Updating my MacBook Air to the latest Yosemite public beta has mysteriously done the trick. With Bluetooth enabled this now works for safari, mail, messages and maps so far.

Just one thing that I was wondering if anyone knew. I've just turned on messages on my MacBook having never really been bothered about using it before. I kind of expected my historic iMessages from my phone to show up but they haven't - is there any way to get these to show?
Click to expand...
Prior (old) messages made from your phone will not show up on iMessages on your MBA.
 
venom466

venom466

macrumors member
Aug 4, 2014
40
2
Italy
gdb19 said:
I couldn't get handoff working at all, has it all setup and nothing missed. Updating my MacBook Air to the latest Yosemite public beta has mysteriously done the trick. With Bluetooth enabled this now works for safari, mail, messages and maps so far.

Just one thing that I was wondering if anyone knew. I've just turned on messages on my MacBook having never really been bothered about using it before. I kind of expected my historic iMessages from my phone to show up but they haven't - is there any way to get these to show?
Click to expand...

which kind of model of MBA do you have?
 
J

JoeTomasone

macrumors 6502a
Aug 8, 2014
516
81
I just installed the Yosemite GM but still don't have a way to turn handoff on in the settings of my Macbook Air mid-2011 model.
 
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