It’s amazing how a few years ago we all condemned phone calls and SMS messages. The Internet will be the future of communication. IM and Skype calls will reign forever. But like everything else on the internet, we overestimated its capabilities.
Also, technology is cyclical. In 2005, I hated receiving calls and SMS. Now I prefer to have someone call me on my birthday or any other occasion, instead of just leaving a message on Facebook.
This tweet sums it up the best.
Silicon Valley ’08: “I never even use my iPhone as a phone again.” Silicon Valley ’14: “Answering calls from my Mac is *awesome*!”
— Startup L. Jackson (@StartupLJackson) October 21, 2014
Anyway, here we are. And if you have a Mac running OS X Yosemite and an iPhone running iOS 8.0/8.1 (8.0 for calls 8.1 for SMS), you can answer calls and text messages without lifting your finger from your keyboard. Mac (As long as your phone and Mac are connected to the same Wi-Fi network).
If phone calls and text messages are still here, answering them from your Mac will at least be better than finding your phone, picking it up, and actually pressing it to your ear. #FirstWorldProblems
First, check if your Mac is compatible
Call and SMS exchange is part of the “Continuity and Handoff” feature set. It uses a combination of Bluetooth 4.0 LE and Wi-Fi to send data between devices. If your Mac doesn’t have Bluetooth 4.0 LE, your device won’t get the feature that lets you continue working on the same document on your Mac after turning it off on your iPhone.
Related: You can also answer calls and exchange text messages on your iPad through your iPhone. Here’s our guide on how to do that.
Note that while Apple doesn’t have an official list of which devices will get specific features from the “Continuity and Handoff” box, call and SMS features work fine on the last MacBook Pro. my 2011 (Apple support page says “Mid 2012 or later”). This means that even if your Mac is older, it might still be worth a try.
How to set everything up
First, make sure you’re signed in to both devices with the same iCloud or Apple account. Both devices also need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
go message app, open Preferences (use cmd + ; shortcut), and go to account navigation. You’ll see your Apple account here. If not, click + button and add it.
On your iPhone, go to Setting -> overview -> Handovers & Recommended Applications, and activate Hand.
How calling works
To make a call, you need to go to the FaceTime app and sign in with your Apple ID. Once set up, you don’t need to access the app to make or receive calls.
To call someone from your Mac, you need to open the Contacts app or highlight any number from a website or any document.
If you want to dial in numbers manually, check out a third-party app called Continuity Keypad. It is just an interface for the keyboard and it also has a Notification Center widget for quick typing.
How to turn off calling: If you get too many calls, all that ringing can be annoying. To disable this feature, open FaceTime app, go to Interest and uncheck the box for Cellular calls on iPhone. Unfortunately, Apple hasn’t added a silent feature to calls on the Mac.
How does SMS work
SMS takes some setup. Once you’re connected on the same Wi-Fi network and have accounts available, you’ll get a pop-up asking if you want to enable SMS messaging from your iPhone (again, you will need to use iOS 8.1).
You will then need to enter a passcode to authenticate.
From now on, any SMS coming to your phone will show up on your Mac as long as they’re on the same Wi-Fi network.
How does Call and SMS Handoff work for you?
I found the SMS feature to work well, but call quality is highly dependent on cellular and Wi-Fi networks, which are beyond my control. How was your experience? Let us know in the comments below.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
