8 Real-World Uses of iPhone Mirroring in iOS 18 and MacOS Sequoia

Apple’s new one? iPhone Mirroring feature Is it really useful in recent versions of iOS and MacOS? No matter where your iPhone is nearby—whether it’s charging in another room or buried in the bottom of a bag or pocket—you can view and control it from your Mac.

Aside from the convenience of having the phone in my hand, I also found several reasons to use iPhone Mirroring. I actually find myself using it regularly iPhone 16 now this iOS 18 and MacOS Sequoia was released. (And if you’re running latest betasYou can try one of the most interesting mirroring features, the ability to drag and drop elements directly to the phone (or vice versa).

Read more: How to Control Your iPhone from Your Mac Using iPhone Mirroring

iOS 18 and MacOS Sequoia are available now and bring a number of other features such as: animated text messages and ability Customize your iPhone’s home screen.

When your iPhone is in your purse, purse, or other room

The easiest use case is when you want to access something on your phone, but it’s buried in a bag and you can’t reach it or get up (or you can, but the snoozing cat or dog on your lap won’t). do not appreciate the interruption). Connecting via iPhone Mirroring is much more convenient.

However, this feature doesn’t work over long distances, like when you accidentally leave your iPhone at home and need to access it from work. iPhone Mirroring uses Apple’s Continuity technology to work; This means the iPhone and Mac must be within Bluetooth range of each other.

When you need to check in on an iPhone app

Missed your daily Duolingo login and your phone isn’t handy? If your Mac is, iPhone Mirroring can connect and keep your streak going.

Or maybe you should finish your work today Word It’s hard, but it will be obvious that you check your phone while working. The hidden iPhone Mirroring window can be easily closed or hidden if necessary.

When you want to use an application and not a web interface

Even today, some popular services work much better in apps than in web interfaces. Yes, we’re looking at you Instagram. Sharing from an app often involves more options or a better user experience. Since iPhone Mirroring gives you almost full access to the iPhone’s interface, you can share using the mouse pointer instead of your finger.

When you want to quickly transfer items between devices (coming soon)

I create a lot of screenshots for work and take even more photos personally; These are all in my Photos library. These images are then synced to my Mac via iCloud – although sometimes this appears at a pace accurately described as “when the phone gets close to it”. I find myself using AirDrop between devices when I need something on my Mac immediately; this works but is bulkier than I prefer.

But later this year, we’ll be able to drag and drop all kinds of files, not just images, between the iPhone and a Mac running iPhone Mirroring. This will work both ways: Transfer a video or important PDF to the phone by dropping it from the Mac Finder window onto the mirrored iPhone. (Now you can play in the latest version iOS 18.1 and MacOS Sequoia betas.)

When you don’t want to fill your Mac with unnecessary software

MacOS has a long legacy of supporting system extensions, startup items, and various background processes that you probably don’t realize are running most of the time. For example, some large application packages distribute these accessory files like a dropped Lego box. In most cases, the consumption of resources is negligible, but these parts still consume storage and processing power.

In contrast, iOS has always been built as a silo system, with each app having its own protected storage and tightly controlled ways to interact with other apps. You may want to install the mobile version of applications that you do not use often but need to keep with you and avoid application drift that occurs under MacOS.

iPhone Mirroring offers a way to continue using an app like this on your Mac without infecting MacOS with all the associated detritus that’s normally installed on it.

When you want to sign in to your bank’s app instead of doing it on a computer

Unfortunately many of these suggestions focus on the theme of “an app is better than a website” and often there is no better example than banking sites.

It may be easier and more secure to access your bank accounts or investments by using iPhone Mirroring to sign in with the iOS app instead of a web browser on your Mac. You’ll still need to authenticate when you open the iPhone app (because you can’t use Face ID or Touch ID on the device), but this may be a more useful option.

When you want to access locked and hidden applications on your phone

In iOS 18, you can hide sensitive apps or require authentication (like Face ID) to open them. If you prefer to use them on your phone rather than through an app or web interface on your Mac, iPhone Mirroring lets you access them when the phone isn’t nearby.

When you do this, the iPhone Mirroring app requires authentication via Mac, as you’d expect. Enter your Mac’s sign-in password, use Touch ID, or authenticate on your connected Apple Watch to open locked apps or make the Incognito folder on the phone visible.

When you want to show what’s on iPhone while giving a presentation

Granted, this is a smaller subset of use cases, but if you need to show something on iPhone during an online or in-person presentation, iPhone Mirroring is a much easier option than other methods.

Aside from the overhead camera setup, the most common method was to connect the iPhone to the Mac with a cable and use QuickTime Player to display the phone’s screen. Then you still need to operate the phone with your hands.

Now, thanks to iPhone Mirroring, the phone can be connected wirelessly and manipulated using your Mac’s trackpad or mouse and keyboard.

The main limitation of this approach is that enabling it pauses the mirrored connection when you need to do something on the phone.

And there is a broadcast limitation that we would like to change

One unheralded feature among Apple devices is the ability to stream media from iPhone to Mac using AirPlay. Is it time to sit back and watch a movie or an episode of your favorite TV show? You can launch it on the iPhone and choose the larger-screen Mac as the target.

Since iPhone Mirroring lets you control an iPhone that’s out of reach, it would be nice to start a movie to play on the Mac’s screen. But digital rights management eliminates this idea in the context of iPhone Mirroring. Although you can open an application such as TV and start a program, the image remains black.

This black screen also applies if you use AirPlay to cast with iPhone Mirroring enabled. The only way this will work is if you physically control the phone and stream to the Mac.

iPhone Mirroring is just one of the new features on iPhone and Mac with iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. Don’t miss How can you color your texts in Messages? and how to work with it updated Control Center.