Apple, please give us more control over iPhone Mirroring privacy

For me iPhone Mirroring has been one of the most useful enhancements to the Apple ecosystem in recent years, and is something I use on a daily basis.

However, while I completely understand Apple’s focus on privacy protection, for my usage the way it works at present is simply annoying …

iPhone Mirroring

I’m a fan of individual Apple devices, but one of the main reasons I’ve stayed loyal to the company across a range of devices over the years is the power of the company’s ecosystem.

Shared access to iCloud documents on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Continuity features like Universal Clipboard. Automatic syncing of notes, photos, calendars, bookmarks, passwords, messages, and so on. AirDrop. Personal hotspot … and very much more.

For me, iPhone mirroring was a valuable addition to the ecosystem. As a Mac-first guy who spends quite a few hours a day sat at a desk, I actually keep iPhone Mirroring open throughout the day. I just appreciate the convenience of only having to interact with a single device, and there are a few apps that are iPhone-only that I like to be able to use on my Mac.

I had suspected this was a rather eccentric usage pattern, almost unique to me, but checking with my colleagues, I’m not the only one to do this.

Apple’s privacy protections are understandable

IPhone Mirroring is a potentially very dangerous feature in situations like abusive relationships, and it’s therefore no surprise that Apple has been extremely cautious when it comes to privacy.

You can only use iPhone Mirroring when the iPhone is locked. As far as I can see, the primary reason for this is to prevent passive spying and be able to display an alert stating that the feature is in use. It also displays a notification on the iPhone afterwards, stating that the feature has been used.

You can choose between asking for authentication every time the feature is used, or authenticating automatically. But even if you opt for the latter, it will still demand that the iPhone passcode be entered on the iPhone itself relatively frequently.

iPhone Mirroring also times out very aggressively when running in the background. I’d initially thought this was a battery protection measure, but it happens just as frequently when my iPhone is sat on the MagSafe charger on my desk and my Mac is also running on power.

But I’d like greater control

All of these protections make a great deal of sense by default, but can be annoying when the feature is used on a daily basis in the way that I do. What I would like Apple to do is to allow us more granular control over the privacy protections.

What I’d like (as optional settings) are the ability to:

• Use the feature whether or not my iPhone is locked
• Always require Face ID rather than my passcode (unless my phone has been restarted)
• Never time out, unless my Mac goes to sleep.

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Image: 9to5Mac collage of images from Apple and J Lee on Unsplash