Mac & iPad users rejoice: Universal Control is coming soon!

New feature should be on by default

Apple last night announced that Universal Control – the hot new feature that lets you control up to three Macs and iPads using one keyboard and mouse – has finally hit beta and will be available to everyone soon.

iPadOS 15.4 and macOS 12.3 betas bring it

The new iPadOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3 betas are in the hands of testers now. We don’t know how long the beta test will run, but we do know that most of the feedback since they were made available is that Universal Control works well and will almost certainly enhance people’s workflows.

When you install the beta you’ll find the feature – announced June 21 at WWDC – will be made available by default. To tweak or disable Universal Control you’ll find what you need in:

On a Mac: System Preferences>Displays>Advanced.

On iPad: Settings>General>AirPlay & Handoff. Look for Cursor and Keyboard.

Once in those spaces you can set it as follows:

• Allow your cursor and keyboard to move between any nerby Mac or iPad signed into your iCloud account.
• Push through the edge of a display to connect to a nearby Mac or iPad.
• Automatically reconnect to any nearby Mac or iPad.

How to use Universal Control

When you first move your pointer between he screen of your Mac and iPad you will see the icon of the device you are connecting from.

If one device is a portable device such as an iPad or MacBook, you’ll have to reconnect by moving between those screens each time you want to use it when the device is in range again, or has moved out of range or gone to sleep.

You can also arrange the devices in Display Preferences. This also makes the pointer move smoothly between screens without suddenly jumping higher or lower. It also means you can ensure Hot Corners don’t get used for Universal Control on some of your displays.

Apple was originally expected to introduce the feature last fall, but revised the launch to spring. It now looks possible we’ll see Universal Control ship in a final shipping version of the Apple operating systems as soon as next month.

Apple also introduced a bunch of other incoming features in the new operating systems.

iOS 15.4 will let you use Face ID while wearing a mask, brings in a range of new emoji such as heart hands, biting lip, pregnant person and pregnant man, and the ability to copy text from objects using the camera while in the Notes or Reminders apps.

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