Secret Revealed: Make and Receive Phone Calls on Your iPad or Mac Today!

Do you sometimes wish you could take phone calls on your iPad or Mac? Maybe you’re used to using your iPhone for everything, but sometimes you’d rather leave it in another room and use your other devices instead. Or maybe you don’t even have an iPhone and you wish you could still make and receive calls on your iPad or Mac. Well, good news! It’s possible, and it’s not that hard to set up.

The trick is to use a feature called “Continuity” that’s built into Apple devices. Continuity allows you to seamlessly switch between using your iPhone, iPad, and Mac without missing a beat. If you’re signed in to the same Apple ID on all your devices and they’re all connected to the same Wi-Fi network, you can use Continuity to make and receive phone calls on any of them.

Setup on iPhone

Before you can use Continuity on your iPad or Mac, you need to first set it up on your iPhone. Here’s how:

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap on “Phone”.
  3. Tap on “Calls on Other Devices”.
  4. Turn on “Allow Calls on Other Devices”.
  5. Make sure your iPad and/or Mac are listed under “Allow Calls On”.

That’s it for your iPhone!

Setup on iPad

Now that you’ve set up Continuity on your iPhone, you can use it on your iPad. Here’s what to do:

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap on “FaceTime”.
  3. Turn on “Calls from iPhone”.
  4. Make sure “Allow Calls on Other Devices” is turned on.

If you have multiple devices (for example, an iPhone and an iPad), you might also want to specify which device you want to use to make and receive calls. To do that:

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap on “Phone”.
  3. Tap on “Calls on Other Devices”.
  4. Turn on the devices you want to use.

That’s it! Now you can make and receive phone calls on your iPad, using the built-in Phone app. When someone calls your iPhone, your iPad will ring too, and you can use your iPad’s speaker and microphone to talk.

Setup on Mac

You can also use Continuity to make and receive phone calls on your Mac. Here’s what to do:

  1. Open the FaceTime app on your Mac.
  2. Go to “FaceTime” > “Preferences”.
  3. Turn on “iPhone Cellular Calls”.
  4. Make sure your iPhone and iPad are listed under “Allow Calls From”.

That’s it! Now you can make and receive phone calls on your Mac, using the FaceTime app. When someone calls your iPhone, your Mac will ring too, and you can use your Mac’s speaker and microphone to talk.

Conclusion

Continuity is a great feature that allows you to make and receive phone calls on any of your Apple devices. It’s easy to set up, and once you’ve done it, you’ll never have to worry about missing a call or leaving your phone in another room again. So go ahead and give it a try!

This article explains how to make and receive phone calls on your iPad or Mac, instead of just on your iPhone.

What to Know

  • First, on iPhone: Settings > Cellular > Calls on Other Devices, and enable Allow Calls on Other Devices.Make calls from your iPad by selecting phone numbers in FaceTime, Contacts, Messages, Calendar, or Safari.You can also call using Contacts or manually enter phone numbers in FaceTime from your Mac.

Can You Use an iPad or Mac as a Phone?

Yes, you can use your Mac or iPad in lieu of a phone, but you do have to have your iPhone nearby since the iPhone is often doing most of the work. Now, there’s some initial setup to do else the function won’t work, but we’ll cover what you’ll need to do. Before we get into that, make sure:

  • All your device are running the latest operating system it can (at least macOS Yosemite, 10.10 and iPadOS 13)FaceTime is enabled on each deviceYour devices are all signed into the same Apple ID

After that, you’ll either need to use your iPad or Mac’s external microphone, or otherwise have a headset with a microphone available to plug in. And lastly, you’ll need to enable the ability to route calls to your other devices on the iPhone and whatever other devices you plan to use.

Adjust the Settings in Order to Make or Receive a Call on Your Mac

Once you have this working, you’ll wonder how you lived without making or receiving calls this way.

The Mac mini does not have a built-in microphone. Also, some models of iPad and Mac don’t have a headphone jack, so if you want to plug in a headset you may need to get ahold of a USB-C or Lighting headphone adapter.

  • Open Settings on your iPhone, tap Cellular, then tap Calls on Other Devices.
  • Make sure Allow Calls on Other Devices is toggled on.
  • Under ALLOW CALLS ON you can see which usable devices are connected, and toggle call routing on or off for each of them.
  • For the iPad, go into Settings and then FaceTime, and turn on both FaceTime and Calls from iPhone. If you’re also asked about enabling Wi-Fi calling, enable it.
  • For a Mac, open the FaceTime app and click the FaceTime menu.
  • Select Preferences > Settings > Calls from iPhone. As with the iPad, if you’re asked to enable Wi-Fi calling, do so.

How Do I Make a Call From My iPad?

Once the initial setup is out of the way, making and receiving calls through your iPad is a breeze.

Open Settings on your iPhone, tap Cellular, then tap Calls on Other Devices.

Make sure Allow Calls on Other Devices is toggled on.

Under ALLOW CALLS ON you can see which usable devices are connected, and toggle call routing on or off for each of them.

For the iPad, go into Settings and then FaceTime, and turn on both FaceTime and Calls from iPhone. If you’re also asked about enabling Wi-Fi calling, enable it.

For a Mac, open the FaceTime app and click the FaceTime menu.

Select Preferences > Settings > Calls from iPhone. As with the iPad, if you’re asked to enable Wi-Fi calling, do so.

  • Receiving a call is fairly straightforward as call notifications should appear on your iPad much like they do on your iPhone. Just tap the notification that pops up on your iPad to take the call, or swipe the notification to ignore the call.
  • To make a call from your iPad, open FaceTime and enter a contact or phone number, then tap the phone icon.
  • You can also make a call from your iPad by tapping on phone numbers that appear in other apps such as Contacts, Messages, Calendar, or Safari.

How Do I Make a Call From My Mac?

Much like with the iPad, routing calls through your Mac is pretty simple once everything is properly prepared.

Receiving a call is fairly straightforward as call notifications should appear on your iPad much like they do on your iPhone. Just tap the notification that pops up on your iPad to take the call, or swipe the notification to ignore the call.

To make a call from your iPad, open FaceTime and enter a contact or phone number, then tap the phone icon.

You can also make a call from your iPad by tapping on phone numbers that appear in other apps such as Contacts, Messages, Calendar, or Safari.

  • Incoming calls will produce notifications on your Mac, which you can accept to take the call or dismiss to ignore it.
  • To make a call from your Mac, open Contacts and click the contact you want to call, then click the phone icon.
  • You can also manually dial a number for a call from your Mac by opening FaceTime, typing in the number (press Enter when you’re done), then clicking the Audio button.

Incoming calls will produce notifications on your Mac, which you can accept to take the call or dismiss to ignore it.

To make a call from your Mac, open Contacts and click the contact you want to call, then click the phone icon.

You can also manually dial a number for a call from your Mac by opening FaceTime, typing in the number (press Enter when you’re done), then clicking the Audio button.

  • How do I call 911 on an iPad?
  • Once you’ve set up calls on your iPad, you can dial 911 just like any other number. Just like with normal calls, you can use FaceTime, provided your iPad is on the same Wi-Fi network as your phone.
  • How do I record a FaceTime call on Mac?
  • The easiest way to record a FaceTime call is with your Mac’s screen recording feature. Start the call, and then press Command + Shift + 5 to open the screen-recording menu. Choose whether to record the entire screen or just a selected portion, and then select Options and pick an option under Microphone to capture audio.

Once you’ve set up calls on your iPad, you can dial 911 just like any other number. Just like with normal calls, you can use FaceTime, provided your iPad is on the same Wi-Fi network as your phone.

The easiest way to record a FaceTime call is with your Mac’s screen recording feature. Start the call, and then press Command + Shift + 5 to open the screen-recording menu. Choose whether to record the entire screen or just a selected portion, and then select Options and pick an option under Microphone to capture audio.

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