iPad Handoff and Universal Clipboard

[foofighterjim]

I have recently had a request from a member of staff who uses an iPad as they have VI issues, they also have a Mac for video editing for their subject. Both devices were purchased and setup before I started here so until now I have left well alone as each device seemed to be doing their individual role quite nicely. The member of staff concerned would now like to be able to transfer text and other session content (and possibly video files) between the two devices, after a little investigation I believe they are referring to Handoff and Universal Clipboard. As I understand it Handoff requires iOS 8 or later and OS X Yosemite or later and Universal Clipboard requires iOS 10 or later and macOS Sierra or later.

 

I believe the iPad is setup with an iTunes account associated with their school email address and is currently running iOS 10 (so far so good).

 

The Mac on the other hand does not have an Apple ID associated with it and therefore is stuck on Leopard 10.5 or Snow Leopard 10.6, I have no idea how far it can be upgraded (I believe the Mac is circa 2012, but can't be sure). What's more the Mac appears to have had an administrator account set on it locking out most of the settings, this password has not been documented so it looks like we will have to factory reset the Mac anyway. The Mac is used predominantly for iMovie and iDVD so whatever we do can't interfere with this, I know that iDVD has long been removed from Mac OS but I assume upgrading will leave the application in tact?

 

I know that in order for Handoff and Universal Clipboard to work both devices need to be using the same Apple ID. Should I just keep it simple and setup two accounts on the Mac, an admin one with an Apple ID controlled by us, and another for the member of staff on their ID? Or should I really be looking into using an MDM (we signed up to Meraki whilst it was still free), we do have a handful of other macs around school for very specific tasks but again they aren't managed. We don't have any other management software like Configurator nor are we signed up to DEP or Apple School Manager as it stands, I'm not sure if the effort involved in doing this outweighs the gains but I would like to do small project like this to actually start getting an understanding of Apple in education having never being involved with it in the past.

 

Any thoughts welcome!

[foofighterjim]

[Joanne]

This should be able to help you with the password problem...

 

How to reset your Mac OS X password without an installer disc | MacYourself

 

I've done it before with success. As for the software... I wouldn't bank on it hanging around.

 

Good luck!

[Brimstone]

I have recently had a request from a member of staff who uses an iPad as they have VI issues, they also have a Mac for video editing for their subject. Both devices were purchased and setup before I started here so until now I have left well alone as each device seemed to be doing their individual role quite nicely. The member of staff concerned would now like to be able to transfer text and other session content (and possibly video files) between the two devices, after a little investigation I believe they are referring to Handoff and Universal Clipboard. As I understand it Handoff requires iOS 8 or later and OS X Yosemite or later and Universal Clipboard requires iOS 10 or later and macOS Sierra or later.

 

I believe the iPad is setup with an iTunes account associated with their school email address and is currently running iOS 10 (so far so good).

 

The Mac on the other hand does not have an Apple ID associated with it and therefore is stuck on Leopard 10.5 or Snow Leopard 10.6, I have no idea how far it can be upgraded (I believe the Mac is circa 2012, but can't be sure). What's more the Mac appears to have had an administrator account set on it locking out most of the settings, this password has not been documented so it looks like we will have to factory reset the Mac anyway. The Mac is used predominantly for iMovie and iDVD so whatever we do can't interfere with this, I know that iDVD has long been removed from Mac OS but I assume upgrading will leave the application in tact?

 

I know that in order for Handoff and Universal Clipboard to work both devices need to be using the same Apple ID. Should I just keep it simple and setup two accounts on the Mac, an admin one with an Apple ID controlled by us, and another for the member of staff on their ID? Or should I really be looking into using an MDM (we signed up to Meraki whilst it was still free), we do have a handful of other macs around school for very specific tasks but again they aren't managed. We don't have any other management software like Configurator nor are we signed up to DEP or Apple School Manager as it stands, I'm not sure if the effort involved in doing this outweighs the gains but I would like to do small project like this to actually start getting an understanding of Apple in education having never being involved with it in the past.

 

Any thoughts welcome!

 

 

 

1. So first thing to check on is whether the MacBook supports Handoff and Clipboard, see below..

 

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204689

 

2. If it's supported then you can reset the admin password by....

 

1: Reboot the computer and hold the command and s keys down to enter single user mode.

You will need a wired/built in keyboard, a PC one will work, the Windows key is the commnad key.

(if a lock appears and a password request, there is a firmware password, you have to know it or take it to Apple to fix it)

2: When you get control, type fsck -fy and press enter, it will take a bit to finish

3: Next type mount -uw / (there is a space before and after -uw) this mounts the drive

4: Next type ls /Users this will list the Users on the machine so you can get the name

5: Next type passwd username (where username is the name of the account)

6: Enter the new password twice, you won't see anythin

3. If you upgrade the Mac iDVD will no longer work as it's not compatible with anything past 10.6.

 

4. It's then up to you whether you decide to use the existing Apple ID or set up an instutional one for the teacher, but it's worth bearing in mind that you have to be signed into each device with the same one otherwise this will not work.

 

An MDM will not give you this solution.

 

 

[foofighterjim]

Thanks for the advice regarding the password @Joanne and @Brimstone

 

Looks like the Mac upgrade it is a non starter unless I find a suitable alternative for iDVD. At least I can unlock the Mac settings now though!

[Joanne]

wouldn't iMovie suffice for video editing? I find it very easy to use and you can create quite polished looking videos with enough imagination?

[foofighterjim]

wouldn't iMovie suffice for video editing? I find it very easy to use and you can create quite polished looking videos with enough imagination?

 

Yes, at present they use iMovie for the editing and add chapter markers into the video(s). When bringing this into iDVD it automatically creates chapters for the DVD based on these markers and creates the menu structure for it too.

[Joanne]

Oooh I see.