EFF Says iOS 11's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Toggles in Control Center Are Misleading and Compromise Security

[I7guy]

Its a solution to a problem for the minority.

For the past 10 years, off has meant off, whether it be WiFi or Bluetooth.

This is Apple taking a step back, rather then one forward.

I might be in the minority but here is a real use case. I use a bluetooth connection with my home phone system. I've been turning off b/t on my iphone to disconnect the network. Now I can just use the toggle to disconnect. Much more convenient.

Of course the other way to get to the same place is to include an option to not automatically connect to network for b/t devices.

 

[fat jez]

Its a solution to a problem for the minority.

For the past 10 years, off has meant off, whether it be WiFi or Bluetooth.

This is Apple taking a step back, rather then one forward.

As somebody who does not own an Apple Watch and has used Airdrop once in all the years I’ve had iOS devices, I have to agree.

 

[Bacillus]

I wouldn't be surprised that Apple changes the defaults in iOS 11.1 (probably due late October 2017) to change the behavior of turning off Bluetooth and WiFi in Control Center to truly turning it off. And also go back to iOS 10.x defaults in terms of background activity.

Yeah, only the background sniffers like Uber would oppose

 

[Someyoungguy]

The control center buttons now mean disconnect. What’s hard to understand about that? The settings app on the other hand is pretty explicit in its controls meaning.

The frustration for me is that, in CC, on the same switch, toggling Wifi on = On, but toggling it off != Off.

 

[Feenician]

The frustration for me is that, in CC, on the same switch, toggling Wifi on = On, but toggling it off != Off.

Toggling it off means “disconnect active connections and idle until location moved or 5am”. Turning it on means allow “allow scanning and connection”

 

[viperGTS]

And also go back to iOS 10.x defaults in terms of background activity.

How has background activity changed in iOS 11? I didn't know Apple changed it (I think they changed location tracking in the background?)

 

[Jcxa]

Some like it, some hate it, most are unaware but believe in the concept of off means off. Quite the quandary Apple has gotten itself into. I'm waiting to see what kind of emoji Apple will come up with or will it be serious enough to go to watch band creation.

Control center was a nice concept, a pity the implementation is so misleading.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I like the new behavior.

You just have to know what it's doing for you based on what you did before.

Like I said, having to turn Airplane Mode OFF to get WiFi to work was odd. Not that an iPhone would take down a plane, but it just felt 'wrong'...

 

[MacFan782040]

I have a Bluetooth speaker outside on my patio. It's plugged into AC, always on. Each morning when I wake up, if I want to listen to music just with my phone while getting ready, I need to remember to toggle off my BT, or else it starts playing outside. That's my biggest frustration.

 

[chagla]

it wont' turn off wifi, but it will turn on.

 

[IGI2]

As you say, It was convenient before the change, now you have to go through additional steps to reproduce the same result.

Yet people blindly accept this and even worse, defend it!

It's better, not worse. It's added functionality.

I can quickly disconnect from BT (disconnect from Xiaomi Scale for example) or disconnect from a car, because someone else would like to play music. Or I can disconnect from a wanky Wi-Fi while it still can automatically connect to my home wifi when I get home.

 

[RDowson]

It can be useful when using wireless CarPlay. If you have turned off the WiFi for whatever reason and then jump into your car, it will still connect. Previously, you'd have to pull over, get your phone out and turn the WiFi back on.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

It is not about being paranoid. For my work, I needed the cellular network when I just need to turn off the WiFi and Bluetooth. Turning on airplane mode would not work the same. Also, going through different menu screens to turn off WiFi and then Bluetooth is time wasting when you need to do the same thing over and over again.
Apple's implementation now is just as bad as a incompetent programmer that turns off the feature when the programmer don't know how to make it work.

How much extra time does it take to turn off wifi in the settings vs the control panel? I'm willing to bet I can do the same operation in less than an additional 3 seconds. Oh so time consuming.
[doublepost=1507549883][/doublepost]

No I disagree, I turn something off from the control center I expect it to be off. There's no way you can argue a different position. That makes no sense.

YOU want it off. Do the majority of users want it off or just to disconnect from the current network? I can tell you for a fact that Apple looked at this when making that choice to change the behavior.

 

[iShater]

Use different icons to make it clear this is not and off/on switch, but a disconnect switch.

 

[fat jez]

[doublepost=1507549883][/doublepost]

YOU want it off. Do the majority of users want it off or just to disconnect from the current network? I can tell you for a fact that Apple looked at this when making that choice to change the behavior.

How do you know the majority of users DON’T want to turn WiFi and Bluetooth off? This is pandering to Pen and Watch users and I would be surprised if they are not in a minority of iOS 11 users.

If you have evidence to the contrary and of Apple looking into this, I’d love to see it.

Personally I believe Apple think their user base will blindly accept whatever they choose to do.

The direction Apple are going in, I really can see my next phone being Android. The new Blackberry looks tempting for that reason.

 

[winkosmosis]

I keep seeing in articles that turning off in Settings does disable Bluetooth. This is not the case. I've tried that and it simply turns itself back on. This is an issue because I do recordings in the car sometimes and I don't want it to switch to the car stereo as an input device.

Are journalists making this claim without actually checking whether it works?

 

[viperGTS]

How much extra time does it take to turn off wifi in the settings vs the control panel? I'm willing to bet I can do the same operation in less than an additional 3 seconds. Oh so time consuming.
[doublepost=1507549883][/doublepost]

YOU want it off. Do the majority of users want it off or just to disconnect from the current network? I can tell you for a fact that Apple looked at this when making that choice to change the behavior.

Less than 3 seconds can mean 2.99 seconds which is actually a lot of time when it used to take easily half a second to a second.

You ought to step off your high horse while you're at it. Everyone was fine with the way the toggles worked in iOS 7 through 10. The iOS 11 implementation is causing confusion; that clearly indicates there is something wrong with it.

I'm lucky I'm still on iOS 10, where I can enjoy quick and easy toggling

 

[kdarling]

How much extra time does it take to turn off wifi in the settings vs the control panel? I'm willing to bet I can do the same operation in less than an additional 3 seconds. Oh so time consuming.

Totally misses the point that the icons and their actions are misleading to anyone who isn't lucky enough to find out about their different behavior.

Use different icons to make it clear this is not and off/on switch, but a disconnect switch.

THIS. THIS. THIS.

It's okay to add new functionality, as long as it also gets new and unambiguous controls.

 

[wigby]

I wouldn’t mind if you could go into settings to do that.



I think the evidence in here is very clear that it’s not what the ‘typical’ user needs. And we all know what you can do, it’s what you can’t do that has people complaining on here.

Typical users never had a choice to do this with a simple swipe up menu. They simply want to continue doing it the way they're used to doing it which is understandable. But that doesn't make the consumer right either. If consumers were always right in what they want, we'd still be using command lines.

 

[cosmolv]

Just great! so inovative turn!

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

How do you know the majority of users DON’T want to turn WiFi and Bluetooth off? This is pandering to Pen and Watch users and I would be surprised if they are not in a minority of iOS 11 users.

If you have evidence to the contrary and of Apple looking into this, I’d love to see it.

Personally I believe Apple think their user base will blindly accept whatever they choose to do.

The direction Apple are going in, I really can see my next phone being Android. The new Blackberry looks tempting for that reason.

My comments were made based on information from an internal study Apple conducted along with their user analytical data.

Enjoy Android.
[doublepost=1507565412][/doublepost]

Less than 3 seconds can mean 2.99 seconds which is actually a lot of time when it used to take easily half a second to a second.

You ought to step off your high horse while you're at it. Everyone was fine with the way the toggles worked in iOS 7 through 10. The iOS 11 implementation is causing confusion; that clearly indicates there is something wrong with it.

I'm lucky I'm still on iOS 10, where I can enjoy quick and easy toggling

Causing confusion for a small group of users who now know how it actually functions.

 

[TurboPGT!]

UMMMMmmmmm.... saving battery life?

Myth, and totally unnecessary.

 

[CJLevinsk22]

^^^ So this article! What a dumb, misleading, and confusing design.

 

[LovingTeddy]

EFF always feels the need to define things for everyone, even where they don't understand them. They've turned into a group that does nothing but complain and have given up on actually taking action as they use to.

Apple made this change because it's the intension most users have when they use that functionality. For most, they don't care if it's truly on or off, just that they can disconnect from the current network/device quickly. If you're that paranoid that you need to turn off everything, airplane mode it is.

No I don't agree with you at all. When user turn off WiFi, Bluetooth or Data from control center or notification sheet (Android), user expect connection to be turned off. I turn off my data while I am not using it because I don't have unlimited data. I don't want my data continue to be used if I turned off.

 

[Altis]

Causing confusion for a small group of users who now know how it actually functions.

And misleading the other 95% into thinking WiFi/Bluetooth are off when they're still active.

Just another one of Apple's thought-less design implementations of late.