Continuity: Finally, Apple's Ecosystem Feels Unified

I own Apple devices in every category. My main computer is a MacBook Air. My smartphone is an iPhone. My tablet is an iPad. The draw is supposed to be the ecosystem. When you’re all in, everything is supposed to work seamlessly.

But, for the longest time, it felt like that wasn’t the case. All of these gadgets, despite being made by the same company, weren’t working in sync. Sure, there were some things that would sync via iCloud, such as notes and calendars. And iMessage would let you send and receive from many different devices. But changing between devices felt sort of jarring.

For instance, if you were involved in a conversation in iMessage and you wanted to continue it on your Mac, you previously had to sit down in front of your computer, open Messages and look for the conversation you were having.

Not optimal.

Now? If the conversation is open on your iPhone, it’ll pop up in the Dock on your Mac. When you click the icon, Messages will open and zap right over to that conversation. It’s super slick, and it works with several other Apple apps. It’ll eventually work with third-party apps, too.

And, in what’s probably my favorite addition in iOS 8.1, you can send SMS messages from your Mac or iPad, in addition to iMessages. This works by using your iCloud-connected iPhone. And, quite handily, it works whether your iPhone is on the same network as your Mac or iPad, and Bluetooth doesn’t need to be on, either.

These features are part of Apple’s Continuity movement. Apple, too, realized that transitioning from an iPhone to a Mac to an iPad (in whichever order) didn’t feel that great. In the short time I’ve had these features as a Yosemite beta tester, I’ve found them quite enjoyable to use.

What about you? Do you have some thoughts on Continuity? Drop us a line below.