Hit or miss?: Apple’s Universal Clipboard lets you copy on one device and paste on another

IF you have ever emailed yourself to get something from one Apple Mac device to another, today is going to be a good day for you. That’s the theory.

IF you have ever emailed yourself to get something from one device to another, today is going to be a very good day for you. Well, that’s the theory.

Apple releases macOS Sierra, the operating system that’s a free update for Mac computers.

There is a lot of reasons why Mac users will be excited about the new operating system.

There are 10 reasons to love the update, from Siri on the Mac to having your Apple Watch automatically unlock your computer, but at the top of the list is a Universal Clipboard.

The theory is simple. You copy something on one device, such as your iPhone, and then hit paste on another device, such as your Mac computer.

You don’t have any special commands or shortcuts. It just works — or at least it’s supposed to.

Even in this age where just about everything is in the cloud, getting something from one device to another is one of life’s little hassles.

The Universal Clipboard solves that — more or less.

macOS Sierra first impressions: Universal Clipboard doesn’t work. Auto Unlock doesn’t work. Tabs in iWork don’t work.

Did I even upgrade?

— Rafiparrr (@RafiParrr) September 20, 2016

1st run, macOS Sierra headline features:

* Siri transcribed “Sierra” wrong
* Universal Clipboard works macOS→iOS, but not iOS→macOS

— Nate Silva (@natevancouver) September 20, 2016

Is it my imagination or does copy/paste not work properly in #ios10? Half the time it doesn't paste at all!

— Richard Taylor (@RichTaylorTech) September 20, 2016

What you need to know

It works well with text but not so well with images, which need to be pasted into an app.

There’s a time limit. If you copy something, you have a few minutes to hit paste before you have to start again with another copy.

And you need to check your settings first. Along with needing Sierra on your computer, you need iOS10 on your mobile device, Bluetooth needs to be on and you need to have hand-off activated in settings.

Your computer, in general, has to be newer than 2013 although you can check specific models with Apple.

Unlike Apple’s other wireless file transfer system AirDrop, you need to be logged in the iCloud with the same account on both devices.

Does it work?

Well, yes it does. And sometimes, at least for me, no it doesn’t.

We spent an hour trying to copy pictures and text from one device to another using the ultimate test case: a picture of a puppy and a caption that says “this is a puppy”.

Sometimes, the transfer worked. Sometimes it didn’t.

Maybe it’s just me, although some other people who have quickly downloaded Sierra have taken to Twitter to complain about the feature. Maybe it’s teething issues. Maybe this will be the best feature ever. Maybe you should never work with children or animals when you’re testing an operating system on the first day.

Today people around the world are downloading macOS Sierra to find that out.

Copy here and paste there. If this feature lives up to the promise, Universal Clipboard will be universally loved.

TWITTER: @Chesterrod

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Originally published as Hit or miss?: Apple’s Universal Clipboard lets you copy on one device and paste on another