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This trick lets you share photos between iPhone, iPad, and Mac faster than AirDrop

Universal Clipboard is so awesome.
pinched hand emoji overlaid on a blurred iphone
Image: KnowTechie

Did you know that Apple devices have a Universal Clipboard; so you can copy and paste between your devices?

That’s cool, but this iPhone trick means you can literally grab data from one device and ‘throw’ it onto any other nearby Apple device.

Apple added these gestures all the way back in 2019, with the release of iOS 13. It’s kinda magical to see in use. Check it out in the embedded tweet, then we’ll show you how to use it.

Neat, right? We’ll show you how to use it now so you can amaze your friends. You do need a few things set up first.

Here’s how to use this neat iPhone trick

To use gestures for copy and paste on Apple devices, you need them to be updated to iOS 10, iPadOS 13, macOS 10.12 or later.

READ MORE: How to quickly call emergency services on iPhone

For Universal Clipboard, you need to be signed in to your Apple ID on both devices, and they need to be on the same Wi-Fi network and be within Bluetooth range.

  1. Enable Handoff

    On iOS or iPadOS devices, head to Settings > General > AirPlay & Handoff and make sure the toggle next to Handoff is set to Onscreenshot of an iphone showing the settings menu for handoff

  2. For Macs, head to System Preferences > General and make sure Handoff is enabled.

  3. Tap to select either a picture from your camera roll or text from anywhere on the first device.

  4. Pinch closed with three fingers (we found it easier with two fingers and our thumb) on the image or text you selected

  5. Move to the second device you want to paste that content onto, and Pinch open with three fingers on the touchscreen or touchpad

  6. The image or text will automatically paste onto the second device

If the pinch close and pinch open gestures are giving you issues, make sure to watch the embedded Twitter video again to see the proper motions.

READ MORE: How to copy multiple items to the clipboard on Windows and Mac

Now you know about one of the coolest iPhone tricks ever. It feels like you’re actually picking up digital data between your fingers, and throwing it onto your second device. Pretty cool, right?

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