Quick question: Who exactly is iPhone Handoff for?

Last month, Apple announced a feature called iPhone Handoff. Not to be confused with that Handoff; this is a new one.

iPhone Handoff allows you to keep your number active on two iPhones at the same time so you can easily switch between them. According to Apple’s support website, you pick one phone as your main phone and set up Handoff on the other as your secondary phone. When you unlock one of them, your number becomes active on that phone — that’s where you’ll get calls, and that device will be used for Find My.

The idea is that your secondary phone will be something you pick up on weekends, for example, with apps and settings configured to your needs, and Handoff means you can use it with your existing phone number. Apple is pitching it as a totally seamless way to use your number on two phones, but that convenience comes at a cost. T-Mobile is the first US carrier to support the feature, and it’s an extra $5 on your monthly phone bill to use it. Verizon is also planning to support Handoff by the end of the year. If you’re on AT&T you’re out of luck, it seems.

As someone who uses a lot of different phones, this all sounds handy. But the more I considered how it would actually work, the more I wondered: Who is this feature really for? Why not just switch your eSIM? As I read up on it, the wilder it seemed. And so I present my short list of potential iPhone Handoff users, ranked from least to most speculative.

You want to live the Duo lifestyle but you don’t want to give up your slab phone

Given that Apple announced Handoff when it unveiled the Duo, this is likely a scenario that Cupertino had in mind. You want the benefits of a medium phone that turns into a giant phone, but you also want to use your regular iPhone sometimes. Seems reasonable, I guess. Photo quality could be one motivator here since the Duo comes with downgraded camera hardware. Or maybe you just don’t want to carry the heavier, bulkier Duo on weekends. Maybe you just like gadgets and you want to switch between phones on a whim. The heart wants what the heart wants!

You have a work phone and a personal phone

I don’t know a lot of people who live the dual work/personal phone lifestyle, and I haven’t had a work phone since my BlackBerry Curve, rest its soul. But this could be a genuinely nice feature for someone who needs to keep two phones around but doesn’t want two phone numbers. But that’s the key — if your work phone already has a phone number through an account that’s managed by your employer, then Handoff as it works now isn’t an option. T-Mobile specifies that the secondary iPhone you’re using with Handoff “should not have any other service attached to it,” and that it can’t be used with a T-Mobile business account at launch. Kinda seems like a niche use case.

You have a small, fun iPhone that can’t hack it as your main phone

Do I have a personal bias here? Yes. But I don’t think I’m totally alone. Maybe you love your iPhone Air or you’re holding on to an iPhone Mini for dear life, neither of which has great battery life. So maybe Handoff lets you get a newer phone with better battery and cameras while still holding on to the smaller phone to use on lighter days or weekends. Could I set up my 13 Mini as a more minimalist phone without social media and switch back to it when I want to take a break? Totally. Do I have the self-discipline to actually do that on a regular basis? Uh, I plead the Fifth.

You work at Apple

Sometimes the ideas that come out of Cupertino seem to solve problems only an Apple employee could have. This feels like one of them. Do you read a lot of PDFs in business class? Do you have the disposable income to keep another iPhone around rather than trading it in to offset the cost of a $2,000 phone? Do you insist on elegant solutions even when they create unneeded complexity? Congratulations, you probably work for Apple.

But… why?

Realistically, I think very few people will want or need Handoff, and that’s fine. Did Apple engineers with multiple iPhones invent a feature to make their own lives easier? Maybe! They get to do that! But I have a theory for the rest of us who like the idea of a secondary iPhone and don’t work in a big glass circle: Try a cellular Apple Watch and see if that doesn’t do the trick.

An always-connected smartwatch remains the best minimalist phone, and I grow more convinced of this every year. You get access to messages, calling, music, and navigation. It already shares your phone number. And you can customize what notifications you’ll get so that it doesn’t bother you with Instagram pings if that’s the freedom you’re looking for.

But if you truly need two phones and you don’t want to pay your carrier for the privilege of having your line active on both, I have more good news: Swapping eSIMs between iPhones is reliable and free, and it only ruins your life if you’re a professional phone user.

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