Macbook Air Safari notifies my iPhone when it is in use (even when using Chrome), why?

Question

Level 1

8 points

Macbook Air Safari notifies my iPhone when it is in use (even when using Chrome), why?

Upgraded our family computer and laptop to El Capitan. Noticed a bar pop up on the bottom of my iPhone screen from Safari: from Macbook Air. Clicked on it and it went to the page my son was viewing on Safari. It has become quite a nuisance to see these memos pop up when someone is using the laptop. So, I asked my son to try using Chrome. And guess what? Safari sends me a notification from the Macbook Air with a link to the page my son is visiting in Chrome. Why? This is a very intrusive feature. Note: the notification only comes in from the Macbook Air and not our iMac.

MacBook Air, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Oct 11, 2015 9:06 AM

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Answer 1

CarlAVII

Community Specialist

Oct 12, 2015 6:40 AM in response to sokoinde

sokoinde,

Thank you for using the Apple Support Community. Due to the nature of your issue or question you may find more information by using another one of Apple's support resources - https://getsupport.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action.

All my best

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Answer 2

CarlAVII

Community Specialist

Oct 11, 2015 12:58 PM in response to sokoinde

Hi sokoinde,

The feature that causes these notifications to appear on your iPhone is called Handoff. This is enabled by default when you have the same iCloud account signed into both devices, Bluetooth enabled, and both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. Fortunately, should you desire to have the same iCloud account on both the MacBook Air and your iPhone, this functionality can be turned off on either in order to prevent these notifications.

To turn off Handoff on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings > General > Handoff & Suggested Apps, and turn off Handoff.

On your Mac, go to System Preferences > General and uncheck the Allow Handoff setting.

Use Continuity to connect your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac - Apple Support

Cheers!

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Answer 3

sokoinde Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 12, 2015 1:30 AM in response to sokoinde

Thank you for the prompt response. I was able to resolve the pop up notifications from the Handoff feature by following your advice. Out of curiosity...any reason why Safari would send out notifications when Chrome is in use?

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