What is Handoff?

By Chaitanya Teegela

With iOS8, Apple worked hard to reward its users for having multiple Apple devices by promoting “Continuity” between them. Handoff is a functionality that allows you to start a task on one device and finish it on another.

Available tasks include writing an email, searching for a location, taking an incoming phone call or even handling your Airbnb bookings. Your iPad and Mac can pick up phone calls from your iPhone, or you can take a New York Times article you didn’t finish on your Mac and finish reading it on your iPhone.

Here’s a video for a quick visual demo, using a simulator to show an iPhone screen side by side with a desktop screen.

Handoff For Users

To have Handoff  work well on your devices, there are a few simple requirements:

• It only works for iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, so make sure you have your devices updated
• Both of your devices need to be tied into the same iCloud account
• Both of your devices need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network
• Both devices need to have their Bluetooth turned on

When you are set with those requirements, here’s how you can use Handoff, starting with your phone:

1. Open an app on your phone
2. On another connected device, find the icon representing the app that’s open on your phone
   1. For iPad, go to your lock screen and swipe up at the bottom left corner (you can only see the app icon on the lock screen)
   2. For Mac, tap Handoff app icon on the Dock.
3. Tap on that app icon to continue/switch to using it on the iPad or Mac

To start with your Mac, simply:

1. Open an app on your computer
2. On another connected device, double tap the home button to reveal multitasking (all your open apps and favorites, etc.). There will now be available screen representing Handoff.
3. Tap on that screen icon to continue/switch to using it on the phone.

Most of Apple’s native apps like Safari, Maps and Email are available for Handoff. Third-party apps with Handoff functionality include Airbnb, NY Times, The Wall Street Journal, Wunderlist, iA Writer Pro, Quip, Camera Plus and more.

Handoff For Developers

As you can tell, there still aren’t many third-party apps that integrate with Apple’s offering for “Continuity”, so using it in your own development will help your app stand out from your competition in the App Store.

In the future, Handoff has even greater potential. A popular social network like Facebook owns different applications to serve their mobile and Mac users, including its website, the Facebook app and Facebook Messenger. Eventually, smaller social network companies could skip the development for a separate application for Mac users. This competitive advantage for developers also applies to apps in other categories. However, developers should expect extended testing before launching a Handoff app and consider guiding first-time Handoff users through the process.

If the existing app or newly developed app is document based, the app can choose to automatically support Handoff. Otherwise, developers should identify which activity in the app could be handed off. Best practices for implementing Continuity require careful design, including avoiding transferring large amount of data, ensuring different versions of the app work well on different platforms and saving the activity object before updating the Handoff activity state.

High Barrier to Entry

So what are the drawbacks of Handoff? To start with, users have to verify a multitude of settings before actually being able to do anything useful. They need to first enable Handoff, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, then make sure they have updated OS versions and then log into their iCloud. And you have to repeat this process on every device you own.

If I have a phone call coming in in and don’t already have all of this ready to go, there is no way I can successfully pick up my phone call on my Mac in the 45-second standard holding time. While I’d most likely have the correct OS’s installed and same iCloud accounts, remembering or taking the effort to ensure both my devices are on the same Wi-Fi network AND have Bluetooth turned on is a lot to ask.

What is Apple’s Plan?

Apple’s marketing slogan (“iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Connected like never before.”) clearly illustrates why they created Handoff. They want to ensure their customers can use whatever device they need at the right moment without an awkward transition between devices.

 

Apple’s long-term effort to improve user experience across platforms has created a sustainable competitive advantage for the next five to ten years. Because each Apple product is so highly integrated with others, it’s very hard for competitors running Google’s Android to duplicate this experience. The network effect between devices created by “Continuity” could be very helpful for Apple maintaining customers. Apple hopes “Continuity” will be so successful that you will using it everyday, as people already are with iCloud and AirDrop.

---

Filed under: Product Engineering | Topics: apple, handoff, iOS, IOS 8, ios developer, ios development, iPhone