With the upcoming release of iOS7.1 and OSX Yosemite there will be a lot more that people can do between their iPhones, iPads, and their Macs. That said, some people may not want to upgrade their devices yet and some may have devices too old to be upgraded. If either of those sound like your case then you can still get a good amount of work done between your iOS and Mac with these eight applications.
1. Notifyr
Notifyr is an application that allows you to get notifications on your Mac from your iPhone. That means things like text messages, emails, Whatsapp notifications, and pretty much any other notifications will pop up on your Mac so you know that they’re there. Unfortunately you cannot use Notifyr or its Mac companion app to respond to these notifications. It just lets you know that it’s there. A few issues here and there have also been reported but generally it seems to be working rather well.
2. Knock
Knock is an interesting application that allows you to unlock your Mac using your iPhone. The premise is fairly simple. You install the application on your Mac and your iPhone and then link them. Once linked you can then hit a button on your iPhone to unlock your Mac. This can be great for people who don’t want to enter a password over and over again but still want a secured Mac. It’s simple to install and easy to use.
3. Command-C
Command-C is a simple application that allows you to copy and paste text from your Mac to your iPhone and vice versa using your local WiFi network. It’s simple to use and it doesn’t require having the application open. The only potential worry is that you must be connected to the same Wifi network as your Mac so that the app can do its job. You won’t be copying text on your iPhone at work and having someone paste it at home on your Mac or vice versa. Otherwise it works really well.
4. Type2Phone
Type2Phone is an application that lets you type on your iPhone using the keyboard on your Mac. This can be incredibly useful if you do a lot of work at your Mac and you don’t want to undock or pick up your iPhone to answer every message. Simply click in the text box, type out your message, and then go back to work on your Mac with no worries.
5. Dialogue
Dialogue is an application that lets you answer phone calls on your Mac from your iPhone. When iOS7.1 and Yosemite get released, this feature will actually be a stock feature on both so this app won’t be needed much anymore. Until that time comes, this is the best alternative. Some people have had some issues and some features aren’t supported such as making calls from your Mac. It’s a little buggy but it gets the job done for the most part.
6. iProcrastinate
If you’re in the market for a task management application that works on both iOS and Mac then iProcrastinate is a great app to try. You can add tasks between platforms so if you remember something you need to do and you’re not near your Mac, you can easily add it to the app in iOS and it’ll sync over. This is great for the businessman on the go who doesn’t want to make the same edits across both platforms.
7. PhotoSync
PhotoSync is the answer if you want to transfer photos to your Mac without using a cable or iTunes. It’s a very simple app to use. Just download it on both platforms and you can transfer your images at will. It has decent ratings and there haven’t been a lot of bugs reported. If you want better control of your image sync on both Mac and iOS then this is the way to do it.
8. Evernote
Evernote is an amazing application on any platform but it does have the capabilities to work well between Mac and iOS. When you install both apps and login in, you can sync all information between your device and Evernote. Since you can do a heap of things with Evernote, this can help you perform a lot of tasks and save a lot of things between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. You can even create an Evernote contact in your phone with your personal Evernote email and have Siri send emails to it if you want to do it that way. Millions of people use Evernote and there’s a reason. It’s pretty fantastic.
A lot of these apps will be rendered useless by iOS7.1 and Yosemite. Specifically ones that deal with phone calls and notifications. If you do upgrade to those, be sure to switch over to the built-in stuff because it will likely be more stable and contain more features. Until then, use these apps and enjoy a more involved experienced using your Mac and iOS together!
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Featured photo credit: Janet Tokerud via janet.tokerud.com
