Quick Question: Who Exactly Is iPhone Handoff For?
Last month Apple introduced a feature called iPhone Handoff. It should not be confused with the Handoff feature. This is a new one. iPhone Handoff allows you to keep your number active on two iPhones at the same time so you can easily switch between them. According to Apple's support website, you can use one phone as the […]
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An integrated solution to a problem that almost no one has. Photo: Alison Johnson/The Verge
Last month, Apple introduced a feature called iPhone Handoff. Not to be confused with Handoff. This is a new one.
iPhone Handoff lets you keep your number active on two iPhones at the same time so you can easily switch between them. According to Apple's support website, you select one phone as your primary phone and set Handoff as your secondary phone. When you unlock one, your number will be activated on that phone - you'll receive calls there and that device will be used for Find My.
The idea is that your secondary phone is something you pick up at weekends, with apps and settings configured to suit your needs, for example, and Handoff means you can use it with your existing phone number. Apple touts it as a completely seamless way to use your phone number across two phones, but that convenience comes at a cost. T-Mobile is the first US carrier to support this feature, and it costs an extra $5 on your monthly phone bill to use it. Verizon also plans to support Handoff by the end of the year. If you're on AT&T, it looks like you're out of luck.
As someone who uses a lot of different phones, this all seems useful. But the more I thought about how it actually works, the more I wondered: who is this feature really for? Why not change your eSIM? The more I read about it, the more wild it seemed. So I present a short list of potential iPhone Handoff users, ranked from least to most speculative.
Given that Apple announced Handoff when it unveiled the Duo, that's probably the scenario the Cupertinos had in mind. You want the benefits of an average phone that turns into a giant phone, but you want to use your regular iPhone occasionally. Makes sense, I guess. Photo quality could be one of the motivations here as the Duo comes with reduced camera hardware. Or maybe you don't want to lug around the heavier, bulkier Duo on the weekends. Maybe you just love gadgets and want to switch between your phones. The heart wants what the heart wants!
If you want the Duo but don't want to carry the piece all the time, iPhone Handoff might be for you. Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
You have a work phone and a personal phone
I don't know many people who have a dual work/personal phone lifestyle, and I haven't had a work phone since the BlackBerry Curve, rest assured. But this can be a really nice feature for someone who needs to have two cell phones but doesn't want two phone numbers. But here's the key - if your work phone already has a phone number through an account managed by your employer, then Handoff isn't an option as it works now. T-Mobile specifies that the secondary iPhone you use with Handoff "must not have any other service connected to it" and cannot be used with a T-Mobile business account at launch. It seems to be a special use case.
You have a fun little iPhone that can't be hacked as your primary phone
Do I have a personal bias here? yes But I don't think I'm completely alone. Maybe you love your iPhone Air, or you've held on to an iPhone Mini for life, neither of which have great battery life. So maybe Handoff lets you get a newer phone with a better battery and camera while still keeping the smaller phone to use on bright days or weekends. Can I set up my 13 Mini as a more minimalist phone without social media and come back to it when I want to take a break? Do I even have the self-discipline to actually do this regularly? Oh, I have a request from the fifth.
Sometimes the ideas coming out of Cupertino seem to solve problems that only an Apple employee could. This feeling is one of them. Do you read a lot in PDF business class? Do you have the disposable income to keep another iPhone instead of buying and selling it to recoup the cost of a $2,000 phone? Do you insist on elegant solutions even when they create unnecessary complexity? Congratulations, you probably work for Apple.
Realistically, I think very few people want or need Handoff, and that's fine. Did Apple engineers with multiple iPhones invent a feature to make their lives easier? Maybe! They can do it! But I have a theory for the rest of us who like the idea of a secondary iPhone and don't work in a big circle of glass: try a cellular Apple Watch and see if that works.
An always-connected smartwatch remains the ultimate minimalist phone, and I'm becoming more convinced of that every year. You have access to messages, calls, music and navigation. It already shares your phone number. And you can customize the notifications you get so Instagram pings don't bother you if that's the freedom you want.
But if you really need two phones and don't want to pay your carrier for the privilege of having your line active on both, I've got more good news: swapping e-SIM cards between iPhones is reliable and free, and will only ruin your life if you're a professional phone user.
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