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

[KoolStar]

Sometimes you need to sign out of iCloud and sign back in on your devices for it to activate.

 

[melman101]

I followed the steps matthewadams posted in the other thread and thought to post them here, since it worked for me and it was a little hard to find the other thread:

Before beginning make sure you have a backup of stuff that will get deleted when you sign out of iCloud (safari passwords, pictures stored in iCloud, etc.) Most of them should return when you sign back in, but always have a backup.

Make sure your sharingd is not being blocked by the firewall on your Mac. My firewall blocked it and that is why it didn't setup right for me. Also, if you reset your Phone, handoff might stop working and you will have to repeat the process over again.

1) Turn off handoff on the Mac and phone.
2) Sign out of iCloud on the mac and the phone. Make sure you can approve iCloud keychain requests from another device, or approve it with a security code.
3) Sign out of messages and FaceTime on your computer and phone.
4) On your phone reset network settings.
5) On your mac, delete 2 files in ~/Library/Preferences. com.apple.sharingd.plist, and com.apple.ids.deviceproperties.plist. Also open keychain access and search for handoff. Delete the encryption key.
6) Sign back on to iCloud on your computer and phone. Make sure you leave handoff turned off. Also make sure you enable Keychain on both your phone and Mac. This will require you to approve each device from another device, or for you to approve it with a security code. If all you have is your phone and mac, you will need to approve it with a security code.
7) Sign back into messages and FaceTime on your computer and phone. On your phone, make sure you select Use your appleId for faceTime and messages.
8) Make sure your computer picks up your phone number for messages and FaceTime as well.
9) On your phone, go to Settings > FaceTime and turn on iPhone Celluar Calls.
10) On your phone, go to Settings > Messages, turn on Text Message Forwarding (Requires iOS 8.1 and latest Yosemite GM release) Hopefully your computer is an option to turn on. Your phone will ask for a code, hopefully your computer will provide one. Your Messages App should have a popup with the verification code. Put the code in on your phone. Hopefully your computer will then verify the code and dismiss the popup.
11) Turn on handoff on your phone and your computer.
12) Try using safari, mail, or creating a message on one device and see if the handoff appears on the other device.


Good Luck. And thanks to matthewadams for figuring it out.

Ok this worked for me now . I was on PB6 and it wasn't working so I figured I better try this.

NOTE: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR ICLOUD KEYCHAIN SECURITY CODE if you are doing this. I didn't and freaked out, but turns out you can turn it back on on the phone if you don't have the code and then request access from the Mac. But it was a scary one!

Thanks for the help!

 

[gamesetmatch]

First of all, I apologize for bringing this topic up again.

SMS Text Forwarding and iMessages synch correctly (and almost instantly) between my Macbook, iPhone 5 and iPad mini retina.

Although I CAN start a phone call from my Mac, I am unable to receive notifications on my computer when the iPhone is ringing. Notification Center is set to receive alerts, sounds and icon badges.

All my three devices are set up identically, with the same iCloud account, and iPhone cellular calls has been accepted between the Mac, the iPad and iPhone.

Any workaround for this annoying situation would be appreciated. (Here's running OS X Public Beta 6, recently downloaded).

Thank you!

Mark.

 

[CKaleb]

Hi, Early 2011 MBP 17'' (Yosemite PB5) and iPhone 5 here, I can't get sms sync to work, I can receive phone calls on my Mac but I am unable to start them from it (it always shows "call failed").

I tried disabling and enabling phone calling on FaceTime, and signed out and back from iCloud in both devices.

Anything else I should try to be able to start phone calls?

 

[tomo999]

Downloaded PB6 this morning - all working (phone calls, imessage etc) except for text messages to/from android phones. Does this actually work for others or is it still disabled?
MBPr 13" mid 2014
iOS 8.0.2

 

[melman101]

Downloaded PB6 this morning - all working (phone calls, imessage etc) except for text messages to/from android phones. Does this actually work for others or is it still disabled?
MBPr 13" mid 2014
iOS 8.0.2

Umm, if you have an android phone, this will never work. It's only between iPhones and Macs. You will eventually be able to send texts to Android phones, only if you have an iPhone.

Note: If you do have an iPhone, it still needs iOS 8.1 to enable the SMS Relay. That is not out yet.

 

[Actarus]

Will it work if the Mac is connected to Ethernet instead of Wifi?

 

[melman101]

Will it work if the Mac is connected to Ethernet instead of Wifi?

Yes, as long as they are on the same network.

 

[JoeTomasone]

Umm, if you have an android phone, this will never work. It's only between iPhones and Macs. You will eventually be able to send texts to Android phones, only if you have an iPhone.

Note: If you do have an iPhone, it still needs iOS 8.1 to enable the SMS Relay. That is not out yet.

Pretttty sure he meant SMS Relay to/from Android Phones from an iPhone - i.e., not iMessage.

 

[tomo999]

Pretttty sure he meant SMS Relay to/from Android Phones from an iPhone - i.e., not iMessage.

Yup- I'm an iphone user and can happily use Yosemite to send imessages to all of my iphone using friends.

What I'm after is the ability to use Yosemite to text friends who own android phones (and to receive their responses). I thought this was going to be a feature of Yosemite but had read that it had been disabled until the official release. Just wondered if this was still the case; I know I still can't text any of my android using friends using my MBP.

 

[gamesetmatch]

Hi tomo999,

You'll be able to text your non-iPhone-users friends with the SMS Text Forwarding which it supposed to be implemented in iOS 8.1.

You'll receive those texts exactly as on your iPhone: with a green bubble, as opposed to the blue bubbles which come from iMessages.

I am texting some collegue at work who still owns a *cough* Blackberry back and forth with no issues.

-Mark.

 

[tomo999]

Hi tomo999,

You'll be able to text your non-iPhone-users friends with the SMS Text Forwarding which it supposed to be implemented in iOS 8.1.

You'll receive those texts exactly as on your iPhone: with a green bubble, as opposed to the blue bubbles which come from iMessages.

I am texting some collegue at work who still owns a *cough* Blackberry back and forth with no issues.

-Mark.

Thanks Mark - So iOS8.1 is out on Monday; can't wait try it with Yosemite