If Apple had its way, every iPhone user would also own a Mac, an iPad, an Apple TV, an Apple Watch, AirPod headphones, and a HomePod speaker, along with subscriptions to Apple Music and Apple TV+. And they’re doing pretty well at this. I know several people who own more than one Apple product.
One strategy towards this goal is relatively seamless integration between their products, in some cases, requiring the user to own one Apple product if they want to use another one. Anyone who wants to use an Apple Watch, for example, must also have an iPhone. I remember when you needed a Mac to use an Apple iPod music player. Then Apple smartly opened the iPod to Windows users, which had a huge impact on the device’s sales.
Until now, you need Apple hardware to use Apple’s Facetime video calling service, and, even though the company just announced that Android and Windows users will be able to join Facetime calls via the web, the person who initiates the call must do so from a Mac, iPhone or iPad. Apple is adding other features to Facetime to compete with Zoom and Google Meet including SharePlay that lets people watch video or listen to audio together and share their screens via the app. It is also adding “spatial audio” which, says Apple, makes, “Individual voices sound like they’re coming from the direction in which each person is positioned on your screen, helping conversations flow more naturally.”
But even when owning one Apple product to use another isn’t mandatory, Apple does what it can to encourage users to buy into the Apple ecosystem, by making their products work together better than they work with competing products.
Universal Control
This became evident on Monday during the introduction to Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) when the company introduced “Universal Control” that allows you to use your Mac’s mouse and keyboard to control and move data between a Mac and an iPad. During the keynote address, Apple Vice President Craig Federighi demonstrated how he could work on a document from his iPad and then set the iPad down next to his Mac, use his Mac trackpad to move the cursor from the Mac to the iPad and then drag and drop files from one device to the other. It also allowed him to use his Mac’s keyboard trackpad (or mouse) to control his iPad. For those with an iPad and two Macs, you can move data between all three machines.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PcKvaW5jzw]
Apple Vice President Craig Federighi demonstrates Universal Control
The concept is now new but, like other products Apple emulates, Apple did it in a cooler and more polished manner than others. Logitech Flow and Synergy allow you to control multiple computers with one keyboard and mouse and drag files between them and they work across both Windows and Macs (but not iPads). But, unlike Apple, these products are a bit more “universal” because they work across platforms. For Apple, the “universe” consists almost entirely of Apple products.
I don’t have a need for products that control multiple devices because I rarely have a reason to use two computers at the same time. I do have two screens connected to my desktop computer so I can drag windows from one screen to another, giving me a lot more space for my work. I also use Dropbox which, like iCloud, Microsoft OneDrive and other cloud storage systems, automatically synchronizes all of my devices so that a file I create on one computer is automatically uploaded to Dropbox and then downloaded to all my other devices. So, if I start a project at my desktop, I can easily continue to work on it from the laptop without having to move the file.
Blending operating systems
Although you don’t need a Mac to use an iPhone or vice-versa, Apple has ways that make the devices work well together and is working to blend their features, apps and user interface. With its upcoming iOS operating system for iPhone and iPad, Apple is allowing users to install the same extensions (programs that work inside and enhance the browser) from Mac Safari to iOS and making it easier for developers to share code between devices.
And while Macs do have a different operating system from iPhones and iPads, the company strives to make the user experience reasonably similar to encourage people to stay within the Apple product family. Personally, I have mixed products from different operating systems for years. I’ve used Macs with Android phones, Windows computers with iPhones and — for years — my Mac laptop and Windows desktop have worked well together, sharing files via Dropbox.
There was once announcement WWDC that wasn’t focused on getting people to buy Apple products. The company said that its Siri voice assistant, which previously worked only on Apple products, would be coming to some non-Apple devices. Competing voice assistants from Amazon and Google have long been available on third party devices. I can use either Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant on my microwave oven, portable air conditioner and Fitbit smartwatch, among many other devices.