{"id":1673,"date":"2022-03-16T15:10:52","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T15:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/16\/universal-control-is-apples-most-impressive-new-feature-in-years\/"},"modified":"2022-03-16T15:10:55","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T15:10:55","slug":"universal-control-is-apples-most-impressive-new-feature-in-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/16\/universal-control-is-apples-most-impressive-new-feature-in-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Universal Control is Apple\u2019s most impressive new feature in years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/3\/16\/22980566\/universal-control-ios-macos-mac-ipad-hands-on<\/a>
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It\u2019s been a good month for Mac desktop setup aficionados. Apple just released the Studio Display<\/a>, its first vaguely affordable (as in not $6,000<\/a>) new monitor in more than a decade. But there\u2019s another new option that I\u2019ve been testing that flips the entire idea of an external monitor on its head. Universal Control is now available in iOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3<\/a>, and if you can make it work in your setup, you really ought to try it.<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t heard of Universal Control, it basically lets you use your Mac\u2019s keyboard and mouse or trackpad to control your iPad (or another Mac, though I haven\u2019t been able to test that). Just nudge your cursor to the side of your Mac\u2019s monitor, and it\u2019ll jump on over to the iPad like it was another monitor hooked up to your Mac. But it\u2019s not a Mac monitor \u2014 it\u2019s still an iPad. Just one that you can control with the keyboard and trackpad you were using seconds ago with your Mac.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been able to use iPads as wired or wireless external Mac monitors for many years through official or third-party means. With Universal Control, though, you\u2019re still using iPad OS on the iPad\u2019s screen \u2014 you just don\u2019t have to take your hands off your Mac\u2019s input devices to get there. It\u2019s multitasking between multiple OSes and devices instead of just multiple apps.<\/p>\n

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When you first connect, your cursor \u201cpushes through\u201d from the Mac\u2019s screen to the iPad\u2019s.<\/em><\/figcaption>Screenshot by Sam Byford \/ The Verge<\/cite><\/p>\n

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Why would you want to do that? Fair question. I haven\u2019t been using iPadOS as much as a primary work operating system since Apple decided to start making good laptops again, but there are still things that I prefer it for over macOS. In particular, it\u2019s best for focused use cases where you only need one or two things on-screen at once. Social media and entertainment apps are usually better on the iPad than the Mac, for example, if the Mac even has a native app in the first place. I spent today mostly working on my Mac Mini with Slack and Twitter pinned to my iPad Pro screen on the side, sometimes switching to the YouTube app for research. Hey, anything to cut down on browser tabs and Electron apps.<\/p>\n

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