This motion hack speeds up photo sharing between iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Have you ever had trouble syncing photos between Apple devices using iCloud Photos? Use this little-known three-finger motion to rapidly exchange photographs between iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Using iOS/macOS motions and Apple’s Universal Clipboard feature, designer Michael Tobin shared a simple way to transfer photographs across iPhone, iPad, and Mac without using AirDrop or waiting for iCloud Photos to sync.

The functionality has been available since 2019, but due to the focus on text, combining it with three-finger motions for photographs has been overlooked.

How to exchange images immediately across iPhone, iPad, and Mac

To swiftly copy and paste photographs across Apple devices (that are close together), use this approach.

PLEASE tell me I am not the only one who didn’t know about this feature ??? pic.twitter.com/iBAYEV3JbG

— michael tobin (@initialfocus) March 29, 2022

• To use Continuity Handoff, you must enable it in both Mac and iOS settings (System Preferences > General > Allow Handoff…).
• Turn on WiFi and Bluetooth.
• Works between Apple devices logged in with the same Apple ID
  • Pinch a photo with three fingers on an iPhone or iPad (Copy appears at the top of the screen).
  • The command + c keyboard shortcut appears to function on Mac and iPad for copying photos.
  • To share the photo, use a three-finger pinch-out (expand) in Messages, Notes, Pages, email, etc. (iPhone, iPad, Mac)
  • Pasting using three-finger pinch-out (expand) works on Mac, but not on iPad.