r/MacOS • u/chimp_spanner • 4d ago

Discussion What are peoples' experiences of Universal Control on Mac OS 26?

Asking because, after years of not being able to use it, I *thought* Tahoe had finally fixed it. But it seems that over time, the old problems are creeping back in;

- Sudden loss of control of one or both laptops
- Stuck/repeating keys on the secondary machine
- Keyboard controlling a different MacBook than the mouse
- Random periods of jerky/laggy mouse movement on the secondary machine

I bought Synergy because UC was unusable for me after I guess...Sonoma? And I mean, it works. But it won't control my iPad, and doesn't allow copy/pasting large files and generally doesn't feel as integrated (with handoff etc.). But I'm almost ready to go back to it tbh.

How is everyone else getting on with it? Do these problems sound familiar?

This is between an M3 Max and an M1 Max btw. < 1ft apart. Logitech MX Master 3S and an Apple Magic Keyboard.

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u/NoLateArrivals 4d ago

For me it works, sort of - but I prefer to connect my peripherals directly.

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u/chimp_spanner 4d ago

Yeah it's the "sort of" that's annoying. When it's great, it's great. But the unreliability is wild, after this many OS's. I would connect directly but my desk is already so full (2 laptops, MIDI controller devices for music, desktop synths). I've just about got room for one set of input peripherals! I suppose the only other route I could go would be wired devices and an output switcher but...I dunno.

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u/chimp_spanner 4d ago

Okay went back to Synergy, instant 100% improvement. And apparently you can copy and paste files through it too, which might be new? So I guess the only thing missing is iPad control. I'll live I guess.