Continuity/Handoff stop working periodically

Question

Level 1

8 points

Continuity/Handoff stop working periodically

Machine: iMac Retina 5K, Late 2015

OS: macOS Sierra 10.12.5

I'm having an issue with Handoff/Continuity where the feature will stop functioning on the iMac after a few hours of use. I haven't noticed any particular time pattern.

Handoff/Continuity popups no longer appear on the iMac from any of my other devices, iCloud copy/paste no longer functions to/from the iMac and Apple Watch unlock no longer takes place (nor is there any indication that the iMac has attempted to use Apple Watch to unlock - simply a password prompt).

The issue can be temporarily resolved by disabling then re-enabling bluetooth on the iMac. However, the problem will simply reoccur some time later.

Rebooting the machine also will temporarily resolve the issue, but does not have any permanent effect.

I have tried disabling Bluetooth and deleting the Library>Preferences>com.apple.Bluetooth.plist file, however the problem again reoccurs some time after re-enabling Bluetooth.

Posted on May 20, 2017 10:05 PM

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Answer 1

raina_b22

Community Specialist

May 22, 2017 8:52 AM in response to Wheezle

Hey Wheezle,

If I understand correctly, you are having trouble using Continuity on your iMac with your other devices. The problem goes away if you reboot the computer but comes back over time. This sounds like there may be some interference from other software running in the background or in the environment. I would recommend you read these articles and use them to help troubleshoot the issue.

Start up in safe mode

To start up in safe mode:

Start or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key. The white Apple logo appears on your display. If you don't see the Apple logo, learn what to do.

Release the shift key when you see the login window. If your startup disk is encrypted with FileVault, you might be asked to log in twice: once to unlock the startup disk, and again to log in to the Finder.

To leave safe mode, restart your Mac without pressing any keys during startup.

If an issue doesn't happen in safe mode

If an issue doesn't happen when your Mac is started in safe mode, try restarting without pressing any keys.

If the issue comes back, you might have incompatible login items.

If the issue doesn't come back, it was probably caused by a cache or directory issue with your startup disk, which safe mode fixed.

Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac
Potential sources of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth interference
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. Have a good one.

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Answer 2

CarlAVII

Community Specialist

May 28, 2017 2:26 PM in response to Wheezle

Hi Wheezle,

Thanks for the update. If you are naot able to isolate the cause using safe mode, you can still isolate other software from interferring by creating a test user account instead. In a test user you would need to setup your accounts in Mail and other applications. Once there you can see if the issue persists.

Use another account for testing

If another user account is already set up on your Mac, you can simply log out of your account (Apple menu > Log Out) and log in with the other account. But the best way to test is with a newly created account:

Choose Apple menu () > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups.

Click , then enter an administrator name and password.

Click the Add button (+) below the list of users.

Complete the fields shown for a Standard or Administrator account, then click Create Account (or OK).

If you plan to test with any of the documents in your own account, make those documents available to the new account. Drag them to the Shared folder of the Users folder on your hard drive (~/Users/Shared). You can then move them to other folders after you log in as the new user.

Then log out of your account and log in with the new account:

Choose Apple menu > Log out.

At the login window, log in with the name and password of the new account. If you're also asked to sign in with an iCloud account or Apple ID, skip that step.

Now try to reproduce the issue in the new account. If you need to set up an email account or other account in order to test, you can do so.

How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac
Cheers.

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Answer 3

Wheezle Author

Level 1

8 points

May 24, 2017 10:15 PM in response to raina_b22

Hi Becky,

Unfortunately, Continuity/Handoff/Apple Watch Unlock do not appear to function at all when I boot the machine into safe mode. As such I am unable to use this method to isolate the issue.

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