macOS 13.3 and iPadOS 16.4 Users Report Issues With Continuity Features

Some Mac and iPad users who updated their devices to Apple's latest software updates are reporting problems with Continuity features like Universal Control and Handoff.

Universal Control Colored Feature
Since last week's release of macOS 13.3 and iPadOS 16.4, many users have taken to the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, Twitter, and Apple's Support Communities to voice their frustration at the lack of functionality after updating.

Users also variously report problems with Handoff, Universal Clipboard, and Auto Unlock and Approve with Apple Watch. Based on online reports, the main Continuity feature to be negatively impacted by the updates appears to be Universal Control.

To recap the feature‌‌, if you have a Mac and an ‌‌iPad‌‌ next to each other and signed into the same Apple ID, you can use the keyboard and cursor on one device across both of them. So a Mac's trackpad can be used over on the ‌‌‌iPad‌‌‌ just by swiping across, and the Mac's keyboard will become the ‌‌iPad‌‌'s input device. The reverse is also true of an ‌‌‌iPad‌‌‌ if you have a keyboard and mouse attached to it.

Barring a restore of the previous OS, suggested solutions that have worked for some users include: Signing out of one's iCloud account on both devices; disabling, restarting, then re-enabling Handoff/Auto Unlock with Apple Watch; turning Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth on and off again; and toggling checkboxes related to Universal Control features.

Apple has not commented on the Continuity bugs, but it is likely aware of them and working on solutions. The company is rumored to be preparing to release iOS 16.4.1 for the iPhone, so it could release iPadOS 16.4.1 and macOS 13.3.1 in tandem. Such minor updates are typically focused on bug fixes and security improvements.

Top Rated Comments

antiprotest Avatar
14 months ago
Fix one thing, break three things. Like my old mechanic.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Prabas Avatar
14 months ago
Yeah, you can't depend on these features to work consistently, they've been hit or miss since launch. For me, Mac to iPhone clipboard started working just recently, iPhone to Mac hasn't worked for more than a year, same with continuity.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jdclifford Avatar
14 months ago
I thought it was just me. Universal control has been sporadic at best between my M1 iMac and M2 MBA but usually works between MBA and M1 iPad Pros. Sometimes I’ve been able to get it to work by turning on screen mirroring then turning it off.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HackMacDaddy Avatar
14 months ago
Can't wait for all the new features in i(Pad)OS/ 17 and MacOS 14 that may or may not work randomly!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
evertjr Avatar
14 months ago
Yes, handoff is fully broken for me, it's annoying because I use it all the time, I'm relying on airdrop in the meantime. After a reboot it functions for a while and suddenly stop working.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Verified Whiskey Avatar
14 months ago

Is pram and smc resetting still a thing?
Only on Intel machines I think
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....