Apple Watch stays connected to Wi-Fi when connected to iPhone.

[Rydawg96]

Well, this is an annoying change. Before upgrading to WatchOS 5, my Apple Watch would only connect to Wi-Fi when it was out of range of my iPhone or was trying to install a WatchOS update. Now, the Watch is connecting to Wi-Fi constantly even when its connected to my iPhone. And to disable this, I have to toggle off Wi-Fi from control centre, which means when it does get out of range of my iPhone, it wont reconnect to Wi-Fi. Also, the Wi-Fi turns on again automatically when I leave my current location or when it charges overnight. How do I make it auto disconnect when I am in range of my iPhone?

Heres proof its connecting when in range of my iPhone. The right image is the devices connected to my router.

 

[matrix07]

And why dont you want that?

 

[barjam]

I am glad they made this change, why wouldn't you want the watch to connect to wifi if available?

 

[Rydawg96]

I am glad they made this change, why wouldn't you want the watch to connect to wifi if available?

Because it drains the battery way way faster. Why would you want it to be connected to WiFi when it’s already running fine through Bluetooth? Just adds more battery drain TBH.

 

[zhenya]

Battery life is exactly the same for me. So whether they made this change or not, it hasn't impacted battery life.

Overall this is something that needs to happen though. It's long been a problem with the watch that you walk out of range of your phone but the watch doesn't switch to wifi for up to several minutes. Hopefully this improves things.

 

[avanpelt]

My experience with the Series 2 is that the Bluetooth connection with my iPhone 7 was flaky, at best. This is a welcome change, as far as I’m concerned. If a trusted Wi-Fi network is within range, I want the watch to connect to it. I haven’t noticed any difference in battery life on the Series 2 since upgrading to watchOS 5 on Monday.