All Sections

Mac OS X Yosemite lets you make iPhone calls via your Mac

Apple’s latest operating system, OSX Yosemite, will let you make phone calls and receive text messages on your laptop or desktop via your iPhone.

The company’s forthcoming OSX Yosemite operating system will include a new feature known as Continuity, which bridges the gap between Apple’s laptop and desktop operating systems and iOS devices. Continuity’s headline feature is the fact it allows Apple iPhone users to make phone calls and send SMS text messages via their Mac laptops and desktops.

Soon you'll be able to make iPhone calls on your Macbook.

Users will be able to place calls by pulling up contacts via Spotlight search in OSX Yosemite, or by highlighting telephone numbers on Web pages and selecting ‘dial’ from the resulting drop-down menu. Calls can be received (or ignored) by using a widget that appears when a call is in progress. Audio is sent and received via the speaker and microphone built into the Mac or an appropriate headset.

OSX Yosemite’s version of the Messages app will let you send and receive iMessages to iPhone users as before, but will also now include ordinary SMS text messages, so it’s possible to communicate with non-iOS users.

Usefully, OSX Yosemite’s Continuity feature now lets you use Airdrop between OSX and iOS devices, so it’s possible to wirelessly send photos, videos etc. from your iPhone or iPad to your MacBook and vice versa.

Handoff, a component of Continuity, allows users to begin working on one document on their iOS device and complete it on their larger OSX machine. The feature can send (for example) your half-finished email compositions on iOS to your OSX device and loads it up automatically so you can finish it at your convenience.

OSX Yosemite is available to developers as of now, but will be rolled out as a free download in Autumn.

Image: Flickr

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *