Apple, please give us more control over the privacy of iPhone Mirroring

For me, iPhone Mirroring is one of the most useful improvements to the Apple ecosystem in recent years, and it’s something I use daily.

While I fully understand Apple’s focus on privacy, for my use the way it currently works is just annoying…

iPhone mirroring

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

Shared access to iCloud documents on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Continuity features such as the universal clipboard. Automatically sync notes, photos, calendars, bookmarks, passwords, messages, and more. AirDrop. Personal Hotspot… and much more.

For me, iPhone mirroring has been a valuable addition to the ecosystem. As a Mac first person who spends quite a few hours a day sitting at a desk, I actually leave iPhone Mirroring open all day. I just appreciate the convenience of only having to communicate with one device, and there are a few iPhone-only apps that I’d like to be able to use on my Mac.

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

Apple’s privacy policy is understandable

iPhone Mirroring is a potentially very dangerous feature in situations like abusive relationships, so it’s no surprise that Apple has been extremely cautious about privacy.

You can only use iPhone mirroring when iPhone is locked. As far as I can see, the main reason is to prevent passive snooping and to be able to display a notification that the feature is being used. It also then displays a notification on the iPhone stating that the feature has were used.

You can choose between asking for verification each time you use the feature or verifying automatically. But even if you opt for the latter, it will still require you to enter the iPhone passcode on the iPhone itself quite often.

iPhone Mirroring also times out very aggressively when running in the background. I originally thought it was a battery protection measure, but it happens just as often when my iPhone is perched on the MagSafe charger on my desk and my Mac is also on power.

But I would like more control

All of these protections make a lot of sense by default, but can be annoying when the feature is used daily like I do. What I would like Apple to do is to give us more granular control over privacy.

What I would like (as an optional setting) is the ability to:

• Use the feature regardless of whether my iPhone is locked
• Always require Face ID instead of my passcode (unless my phone has been restarted)
• It never times out unless my Mac goes to sleep.

Is this something you would also like to see? Please fill out our poll and share your thoughts in the comments.

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