Anyone testing iPhone Handoff calling on OS X Yosemite, Apple’s latest Mac operating system, have probably noticed one major detail missing: a dialer. Student developers Eytan Schulman and Harrison Weinerman have created a very useful utility called Continuity Keypad that solves that problem.
Essentially what the app does is bridge a gap created by Handoff and FaceTime when making calls on your Mac using your iPhone. It creates a dialer similar to the one found on your iPhone allowing you to easily call numbers using your iPhone from your Mac, and it uses transparency to fit in with the new look of OS X.
The current implementation of Handoff between iPhone and Mac allows you to answer incoming calls from anyone, call out numbers saved in your contacts, or type out a number in a text field and call from the sub menu, but Continuity Keypad makes the experience of initiating a call to someone not in your contacts a much more intuitive experience.
The utility does have a few limitations at this point like pound (#) and star (*) functionality during calls, but these buttons do work when initiating a call. The utility does make calling a second number during a call on Mac much easier, though, and anyone testing iPhone Handoff calling on OS X Yosemite should find it useful.
The app’s developers plan to continue working on the utility by improving performance and adding additional feature before releasing it alongside OS X Yosemite later this fall, and current Yosemite testers can try out an beta version of the app for free here in the mean time.
In addition to the work above, the video below shows the potential for a dialer using the Today view in Notification Center, which will support widgets with OS X 10.10.
