Q: handoff works one way, not the other
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Oct 18, 2014 6:08 AMby justinbear56,Make sure that you're not using the "Private Browsing" on either device. Handoff will not notify you about a page you are on in Safari if you have privacy mode enabled on your device.
This cleared up my problem for me when I was using Safari on my phone and wasn't getting notification on my Mac.
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Oct 18, 2014 11:25 AMby jdallam,Just was reading this post(iOS device wasn't showing up, but mac showed up on iOS), and checked the private browsing on my phone. Mine was off, however after turning it on(private mode) then off, it all started working. I would totally try this out, and that may help for those who are iOS to mac only.
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Oct 18, 2014 1:01 PMby ohayobear,jdallam: sorry, that didn't help either. I turned on private mode, browsed, turned it off, still Handoff from iOS to Mac doesn't work consistently.
I'm hoping this is an issue addressed in iOS 8.1, otherwise one of the features I really looked forward to having won't work for me.
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Oct 18, 2014 1:17 PMby justinbear56,Well...your bluetooth is turned on for both devices. You're on the same network (wifi and or wired). Your privacy mode is off on both devices. You have signed in to iCloud on both devices using the same ID for each. On your iOS, you went to General>Handoff & Suggested Apps>and checked to see that Handoff is turned on. You can transfer from your Macbook Air to your iOS device, but not the other way around.
BTW: The indicator that the hand off has occurred is to the left of the Finder icon on your Mac icon tray. I thought it would pop up on the app...like a little notification on Safari, or Maps, or whatever...but it's located to the left of the Finder icon.
I would also turn off my iOS (iPhone) give it a minute or so, and then restart it. Making sure that wifi, and bluetooth are up and running, and that you're signed in to iCloud.
Other than that, I'm at a loss. I'm sorry it's giving you a hard time. I hope you find a solution sooner rather than later.
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Oct 18, 2014 1:32 PMby ohayobear,Yup, I've checked all of that (bluetooth on everywhere, devices on same network, privacy mode off, iCloud signed in both devices, Handoff turned on both devices). I am aware of where the icon is supposed to appear (left end of the dock). it worked for me on a few occasions so I know where to look for it, but 95 times out of a 100 it fails. I've rebooted the iOS device many times to try to get it to work.
if it works 100% of the time one way but not the other, I think its much more likely to be a bug than how I set up the devices. I've searched the net and there are others who report the same.
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Oct 18, 2014 10:51 PMby musicbender,ohayobear, I'm in the exact same boat as you. It was actually working perfectly yesterday, but today it's only one-sided just like yours.
Odd thing I noticed...when loading Safari on my iPhone it endlessly loads (loading animation on top left circles forever) even if the webpage is fully loaded. The bluetooth symbol blinks on occasion as well. It never did that before. Maybe the iPhone trying to Handoff, but it can't?
Tried everything listed here. Even tried signing out of my iCloud (on both devices) and restarting. Nothing is working. Is this just a bug? Is my iPhone at fault or my Macbook? Either my Macbook is not receiving or my iPhone is not sending.
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Oct 18, 2014 11:32 PMby jonathan157,Hi I have a similar issue and what I can tell you after spending 2 days investigating is that Apple is having so many issues with this and there is nothing wrong in your devices. So please wait because what Apple support is doing is opening tickets and waiting for an answer from the engineers. In my case I am not able to call from my mac because it says my iPhone should used the same iCloud and FaceTime account.
I just gave up because it depends on the Apples' side, if the answer they provide me can work for you I will update this post.
Regards,
Jonathan M.
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Oct 18, 2014 11:36 PMby catmankee,Thanks, Jonathan157.
If it can help, I post the same message I posted in a similar thread, as I have 2 iOS devices, iPhone and iPad, an iMac and a MBP Retina 13" that's the one that gives problems but ONLY with official Yosemite. If I use the beta I've installed on a USB disk, everything goes well.
Here's my experience:
I've the same problem as fxdr, on my MacBookPro Retina 13" early 2013.
Main problem is that Continuity works from iOS devices (iPad Air & iPhone 5s) to MBP but not in opposite way.
I already tried to log off and back on in iCloud on all devices, as suggested here by Chris (this topic was one of the first resources I found) without definitive results. On the contrary, it seemed to give me some problems (now vanished) between iOS devices, as they stopped working too. doing it again fixed it
Some more details:
1) both iOS devices work like a charm with my iMac late 2012: first tests were with MBP because I had the chance to update it first.
2) both iOS devices work like a charm with the MBP IF I USE Yosemite BETA that I've installed on an external USB disk. It worked before official release and still works (again tested few hours ago)
3) sometimes, on "normal" MBP, on its own, it starts work or stops without any advice, or works with iPhone but not with iPad or viceversa.
4) It seemed to work when I deactivated FileVault on MBP (Yosemite setup asked for it to activate on first start, while it didn't on iMac, and so I did) but, after some time, it started again to give problems.
5) when I power on MBP with "normal" disk and Yosemite official, if it works, it's not immediate. It starts working after 10-15 minutes. With USB disk and Beta, it's immediate
6) for example, now, with battery at 14% it works from iOS device to MBP only with both devices in both ways, but 30 minutes ago, it didn't in both ways. Powered up iMac and everything works in a flash.
Now, I'm waiting for a call from Apple support. Then, if I can't find a solution, I'll try a recovery. Any suggestions?
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Oct 23, 2014 8:08 PMby ohayobear,On my work Mac, Handoff works very consistently in both directions (iOS to Mac and Mac to iOS) even under widely varying conditions and on different networks (home versus work). However on my home Macs it's much less reliable.
I *think* the main difference here is that on my work Mac, I'm the only user who ever logs into the Mac. On my home Macs, both my wife and I log into them, and we typically use fast user switching to switch between accounts rather than logging off.
as an experiment, on one of my home Macs, I left it sleeping all day with only my own account logged in. my wife used the other Mac only. I came back home, woke up the Mac that had been sleeping with only my account logged in, and bam, Handoff works perfectly, both directions.
Yes, it's only one data point, but I wonder if there is an issue with Handoff and Macs commonly used in multiuser, and how much of the problems people are having are due to that.
