4 ms·

The functionality you describe in "Handover" is achieved (and more besides, such as playback control) on Linux with KDE Connect.

by dTal 4y ago

least 4y ago
Handoff is only a small part of the continuity stuff Apple has for working between your Apple devices and it's called Continuity [1]. KDE Connect is great but it comes nowhere close to mimicking the functionality of it. [1] https://www.apple.com/macos/continuity/ https://www.apple.com/macos/continuity/
- msla 4y ago
  Sounds like a privacy nightmare, not to mention a huge security hole.
  - exitb 4y ago
    None of these services use any resources outside of your local network to work.
reaperducer 4y ago
The functionality you describe in "Handover" is achieved (and more besides, such as playback control) on Linux with KDE Connect. I can start writing an e-mail on my phone, put down my phone and then continue working on it on my tablet, and then putdown my tablet and immediately finish it up on my desktop in Linux? Handover is more than a global clipboard.
- nehal3m 4y ago
  Sure, save it as a draft. You don't need no fancy stinkin' email syncin' Handoff for that.
  - least 4y ago
    Why stop there? We don't need no stinkin' emails at all because back in my day, we used to send letters through the post! Even if you save it as a draft, you'd still need a way to sync it between your devices. Handoff makes it simple and convenient.
    - lliamander 4y ago
      Gmail automatically saves emails drafts. Thunderbird might as well, though I'm not sure. I also have this same experience with Slack. I often switch between mobile and Linux desktop for these applications, no special software required.
    - nehal3m 4y ago
      IMAP does just that; save it as a draft (most clients automatically do that anyway) and pick it up wherever.
  - reaperducer 4y ago
    IMAP is a kludge compared with Handoff. Now when Linux can do the same thing with a word processing document, with an IM client, with a spreadsheet, with a presentation program, with my web browser; let me use my phone as a webcam, a signature pad, or a document scanner, get back to me.
    - youainti 4y ago
      Does this require using apple specific software though? I doubt it would work if I have an app/program installed on o ly one of the devices.
      - least 4y ago
        Handoff can work with third party applications though mostly it’s Apple stuff. One notable exception is you can hand off webpages from your phone to macOS and it’ll be handled by any browser.
    - 4y ago
- axiolite 4y ago
  > I can start writing an e-mail on my phone, put down my phone and then continue working on it on my tablet, and then putdown my tablet and immediately finish it up on my desktop in Linux? I was doing that in the 1990s (thanks to IMAP and auto-saving drafts) without any vendor lock-in.
  - kergonath 4y ago
    The thing is, it is OS-wide and does not work only for emails. It is not difficult to add to an application and all first party apps that have an equivalent on Apple Watch, iPhone/iPad and Mac work very well. A typical use case is looking at a web page on the phone, putting it on the big screen for whatever reason (for me it’s often to show a video). Or transition seamlessly from whatever I was doing on my phone whilst commuting to the desktop. Or the other way around. Or, having received a message on the watch, if a long reply is needed, the shortcut is there when I get my phone to go directly to the right message. Having that shortcut in a predictable and permanent place means that it’s trivial to do, regardless of the app in use. It is not huge, but it is the opposite of the thousands paper cuts. It’s a reliable features that provides thousands tiny time savings and some small convenience. It was not uncommon for me to send myself emails with URLs of things to have a look at when at home before this sort of things made switching devices much more convenient (Air Drop also helps immensely).

The functionality you describe in "Handover" is achieved (and more besides, such as playback control) on Linux with KDE Connect.

by dTal 4y ago

The functionality you describe in "Handover" is achieved (and more besides, such as playback control) on Linux with KDE Connect.

least 4y ago

Handoff is only a small part of the continuity stuff Apple has for working between your Apple devices and it's called Continuity [1]. KDE Connect is great but it comes nowhere close to mimicking the functionality of it. [1] https://www.apple.com/macos/continuity/ https://www.apple.com/macos/continuity/

msla 4y ago
Sounds like a privacy nightmare, not to mention a huge security hole.
- exitb 4y ago
  None of these services use any resources outside of your local network to work.

reaperducer 4y ago

The functionality you describe in "Handover" is achieved (and more besides, such as playback control) on Linux with KDE Connect. I can start writing an e-mail on my phone, put down my phone and then continue working on it on my tablet, and then putdown my tablet and immediately finish it up on my desktop in Linux? Handover is more than a global clipboard.

nehal3m 4y ago
Sure, save it as a draft. You don't need no fancy stinkin' email syncin' Handoff for that.
- least 4y ago
  Why stop there? We don't need no stinkin' emails at all because back in my day, we used to send letters through the post! Even if you save it as a draft, you'd still need a way to sync it between your devices. Handoff makes it simple and convenient.
  - lliamander 4y ago
    Gmail automatically saves emails drafts. Thunderbird might as well, though I'm not sure. I also have this same experience with Slack. I often switch between mobile and Linux desktop for these applications, no special software required.
  - nehal3m 4y ago
    IMAP does just that; save it as a draft (most clients automatically do that anyway) and pick it up wherever.
- reaperducer 4y ago
  IMAP is a kludge compared with Handoff. Now when Linux can do the same thing with a word processing document, with an IM client, with a spreadsheet, with a presentation program, with my web browser; let me use my phone as a webcam, a signature pad, or a document scanner, get back to me.
  - youainti 4y ago
    Does this require using apple specific software though? I doubt it would work if I have an app/program installed on o ly one of the devices.
    - least 4y ago
      Handoff can work with third party applications though mostly it’s Apple stuff. One notable exception is you can hand off webpages from your phone to macOS and it’ll be handled by any browser.
  - 4y ago
axiolite 4y ago
> I can start writing an e-mail on my phone, put down my phone and then continue working on it on my tablet, and then putdown my tablet and immediately finish it up on my desktop in Linux? I was doing that in the 1990s (thanks to IMAP and auto-saving drafts) without any vendor lock-in.
- kergonath 4y ago
  The thing is, it is OS-wide and does not work only for emails. It is not difficult to add to an application and all first party apps that have an equivalent on Apple Watch, iPhone/iPad and Mac work very well. A typical use case is looking at a web page on the phone, putting it on the big screen for whatever reason (for me it’s often to show a video). Or transition seamlessly from whatever I was doing on my phone whilst commuting to the desktop. Or the other way around. Or, having received a message on the watch, if a long reply is needed, the shortcut is there when I get my phone to go directly to the right message. Having that shortcut in a predictable and permanent place means that it’s trivial to do, regardless of the app in use. It is not huge, but it is the opposite of the thousands paper cuts. It’s a reliable features that provides thousands tiny time savings and some small convenience. It was not uncommon for me to send myself emails with URLs of things to have a look at when at home before this sort of things made switching devices much more convenient (Air Drop also helps immensely).