Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Aren't Fully Disabled When Toggled Off in Control Center on iOS 11

Apple has confirmed that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are not fully disabled when toggled off in Control Center on iOS 11.

bluetooth wifi control center ios 11
Even when toggled off in Control Center on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 11 and later, a new support document says Bluetooth and Wi-Fi will continue to be available for AirDrop, AirPlay, Apple Pencil, Apple Watch, Location Services, and Continuity features like Handoff and Instant Hotspot.

Toggling off Bluetooth or Wi-Fi in Control Center only disconnects accessories now, rather than disabling connectivity entirely.

If Bluetooth is turned off, the iOS device can't be connected to any Bluetooth accessories until one of these conditions is met:

  • You turn on Bluetooth in Control Center.
  • You connect to a Bluetooth accessory in Settings > Bluetooth.
  • It's 5 a.m. local time.
  • You restart your device.

While Wi-Fi is disabled, auto-join for any nearby Wi-Fi networks will also be disabled until one of these conditions is met:

  • You turn on Wi-Fi in Control Center.
  • You connect to a Wi-Fi network in Settings > Wi-Fi.
  • You walk or drive to a new location.
  • It's 5 a.m. local time.
  • You restart your device.

Apple made this change in the iOS 11 beta, and it gained more attention after the software was publicly released yesterday.

iOS 11 users can still completely disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for all networks and devices by toggling them off in the Settings app.

Apple says users should try to keep Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on for the best experience on an iOS device.

(Thanks, FlunkedFlank!)

Related Forum: iOS 11

Top Rated Comments

djeeyore25 Avatar
86 months ago
This feature is annoying.
Score: 95 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Moonjumper Avatar
86 months ago
The original iPhone famously came without a manual as everything was so obvious. That time is over.
Score: 91 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mlrollin91 Avatar
86 months ago
Where did this 5am thing come from? How did they decided on 5am?
Score: 68 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ghostface147 Avatar
86 months ago
This annoys me. Add a 3D touch option to turn it off. Thanks.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Geert76 Avatar
86 months ago
it's all about simplicity, right? :rolleyes:
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
enrilo Avatar
86 months ago
Can you press and hold one of the shortcuts to open the full settings page in the Settings app yet?
Nope... that's the annoying part.
I'd really want the previous behavior. This "feature" is completely useless for a "pro" user and I though it was a bug for 8 betas.

Also: why not to put a flag into settings to restore the complete switch off instead of this. Apple, wtf are you doing?!
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
iPad And Calculator App Feature 1

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...