Level 2

367 points

Continuity Camera fail - "Device timed out"

Just upgraded to Mojave, and tried Continuity Camera.

Opened a new doc in Pages, right-clicked, and chose "Import from iPhone" and "Take Photo". I took the photo.

A few seconds later, in Pages, I got an error message: "Could not import from iPhone. The device timed out."

So I tried doing this with my iPad, and this time when I took the photo with the iPad, I saw "Use Photo" on the screen. Hit that, and the photo went into Pages.

But with the iPhone, I never get "Use Photo".

What's wrong here?

iMac, macOS Mojave (10.14), null

Posted on Sep 25, 2018 11:33 AM

Top-ranking reply

V.Ulmo

Level 1

8 points

Posted on Oct 14, 2018 9:43 AM

I had the identical problem.

This finally worked: Even though I had connected BlueTooth between my iPhone and laptop, and connected LAN via my wifi system to the same router and LAN network, an ethernet connection between my laptop and the Wifi of the iPhone did not work together even though both were on the same TCP/IP LAN. I had to turn my laptop wifi on, which I connected to the same wifi and LAN as my iPhone, and then for the first time the "Continuity Camera" worked: I did Pages->Insert->Import from iPhone->Take Photo, then I waited for some moments (maybe 4 seconds (everything with Apple is slow)), then the Camera app on my iPhone started, and I took a picture. Then it had a "Use Picture" button, so I pressed that, and then the picture showed up in Pages.

I also had this same problem with Handoff before: I had to turn on the Wifi of my laptop in order to use Handoff with my iPhone. I don't like this since I consider wired more secure than wifi, but at least now I know the operational parameters of these features. It makes sense that if Contuinity Camera is a part of Handoff or uses similar principles that both don't work when using hardwire Ethernet.

I also confirmed the same behavior with my iMac: Continuity Camera works with iMac wifi on, does not work with iMac wifi off, even though hardwired to identical LAN. This time, I had my iPhone in dark (sleep mode, screen not lit), and it woke up and went to the photo app, so that part worked great.

iPhone 6+ with iOS 12.0.1

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) with macOS Mojave Version 10.14

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) with macOS Mojave Version 10.14

Wifi: UniFi AP-Pro Version 3.7.5.4969; Router: UniFi Security Gateway 3P 4.3.33.4936086

FEATURE REQUEST TO APPLE: MAKE HANDOFF (and Continuity Camera) WORK WITH WIFI OFF ON THE ETHERNET CONNECTED DEVICES (FOR INSTANCE, I USE ALL MY DEVICES, INCLUDING ETHERNET DEVICES, ON THE SAME LAN).

EVEN BETTER FEATURE REQUEST TO APPLE: MAKE HANDOFF (and Continuity Camera) WORK IF ANY CONNECTION TYPE CAN BE USED AT ALL (SUCH AS BLUETOOTH, LAN, INTERNET, ETC).

View in context

90 replies

Oct 10, 2018 7:58 PM in response to Chris Reid1

Were you able to successfully pair your Mac & iPhone via bluetooth?

Oct 11, 2018 12:25 AM in response to Studio27b.net

you need to pair your mac and iPhone via bluetooth first in order for continuity to work in addition to satisfying all parameters specified in the apple support doc i included above.

Sep 28, 2018 8:10 AM in response to lambanlaa

lambanlaa wrote:

"Use Photo" means Continuity Camera did work, and you should select that button to paste the photo.

Please click helpful if my answer did help you. Thanks.

I did.

By the way, I think what got it working for me was actually restarting my iPhone.

When I asked what "Use Photo" was, I was not seeing it; now I do, and it works perfectly :-)

Sep 26, 2018 7:29 AM in response to Roger Barre

Previous If it doesn't work, try a simple reboot.

Oct 9, 2018 8:17 AM in response to Roger Barre

I had the same issue but mine started working with the 12.0.1 update to my phone. I think it may have something to do with the beta software. As of 12.0.1 I am using only public releases.

Ric R

Level 1

13 points

Nov 7, 2018 12:02 PM in response to notgnirriaf

Actually, I should add that the sequence of clearing appears to be significant. After first clearing the cashe, continuity camera still did not work. I then went to my digital radio+iPhone and removed the exiting but non-functional link, then paired again. (Earlier attempts at pairing -- before I knew anything about the cashe on the Mac, had failed to restore the impaired function on the radio. The error message was "unable to play" or words to that effect, "at this time.") With the now functioning pairing, the iPhone responded promptly to the continuity camera invocation.

Who knows what other arcane tricks Bluetooth may be up to?!

Sep 29, 2018 8:48 AM in response to Roger Barre

I was able to get it to work by logging out of my iCloud account on the iMac then logging back in.

Sep 25, 2018 1:34 PM in response to Roger Barre

I have the same issue.

Originally it was timed out.

Then it said I needed to activate two-factor authentication (which is already enabled).

Now it's back to timed out. Happens both on my iphone to mac and ipad to mac.

tw_1

Level 1

64 points

Sep 27, 2018 1:55 PM in response to Roger Barre

Apple Engineers are looking into this issue.

b3brett

Level 1

39 points

Sep 27, 2018 2:26 PM in response to tw_1

This appears to be a general problem with Hand-Off. I am also noticing that Safari hand-off between iPhone and Mac is also not working. My iPad is working fine.

Oct 3, 2018 12:24 PM in response to Roger Barre

Thanks for the info. I'm still having the issue so I reverted to using AirDrop. It's an extra step but it gets the job done. I'm looking forward to being able to use Continuity soon though 🙂

Oct 11, 2018 8:09 AM in response to yohannesfromsan jose

I was able to get continuity camera to work without pairing the Bluetooth.

Sep 26, 2018 4:01 AM in response to Quangle00

Tried that - still not working....

iPhone 6s, iOS12. 2015MBP, MacOS Mojave 10.4. Same AppleID on both devices with 2FA active. BT enabled and devices paired.

Could not import from “<name of iPhone”

The device timed out

Boubas

Level 1

4 points

Sep 27, 2018 12:46 PM in response to Roger Barre

Having the same problem on iMac 27 inch Late 2013 and iPhone SE. 2FA on - Bluetooth on on both devices - Both on the same Wifi network - Both on the same Apple ID.

I tried logging out from Apple ID from both devices and log back in - Didn't work

I tried rebooting the Mac - Didn't work

I tried to pair my iPhone manually over Bluetooth - Didn't work...

...it really should not be this difficult. Hope Apple issues an update soon or provides a solution of some sort. A lot of people seem to have the same problem

Sep 29, 2018 12:48 PM in response to Roger Barre

Seems to be a blutooth issue.

My phone won't stay connected to the Mac. It'll connect for a moment, then disconnect.

I'm using an iPhone 7 Plus and MacBook Pro, both updated to the latest OS. Using Apple's Pages app.

The iPhone connected to the MacBook but I'm getting the "device time out" as well.

Hope they get the bug fixed. It seems like a cool feature.

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Continuity Camera fail - "Device timed out"