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

[chucker23n1]

I was under the impression that the Airplane mode toggle no longer affects WiFi and Bluetooth in iOS 11.

I'm pretty sure that's not true. Hitting Airplane Mode clearly turns the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular icons grey, and in addition adds a diagonal line to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It's quite clearly communicating that none of these are connected. You can, however, explicitly connect to Wi-Fi even with Airplane Mode on (but this isn't new).

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

For real?! When I turn something off, I expect it to be turned off. You can't get much more simpler then that.

Yeah, that is what happens when you turn it off in settings. What is the problem? When you want a quick "I'm having issues with this wifi, lemme turn it off" you have the quick access Control Center for that. The button doesn't say "turns off all wifi signals". It's all how you look at it. I see it as "disconnect this (or all) wifi network" and... Lo and Behold that is exactly what it SAYS it does when you press it.

 

[FelixDerKater]

I'm surprised this didn't get corrected while it was in beta.

 

[chucker23n1]

Would it be fair to say more people are familiar with the concept of an on and off light switch than half state toggles?
When a person turns of a common light switch they don't expect it to turn back on by itself.

People have a clear, simple expectation with a lightswitch because they also have a clear, simple expectation with a light: to provide light. That's it. That's all. With Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the expectation is far more complicated.

• Do people think of sending photos over AirDrop as Wi-Fi?
• How about using Wi-Fi for Location Services — they probably think of that as 'GPS', even though it oftentimes isn't GPS at all.
• Do they think of the Watch getting playback status from the iPhone as Bluetooth?

That's why the lightswitch metaphor breaks down. In the past, you did have that simple switch, but it didn't do what people expected it to do — it broke functionality they didn't expect to break. Hence the change.

 

[ohio.emt]

I'm pretty sure that's not true. Hitting Airplane Mode clearly turns the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular icons grey, and in addition adds a diagonal line to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It's quite clearly communicating that none of these are connected. You can, however, explicitly connect to Wi-Fi even with Airplane Mode on (but this isn't new).

Correct.

If you don’t have airplane mode enabled and hit WiFi or Bluetooth the icon just turns grey, and if you 3D Touch it says under the icon disconnected.

If airplane mode is enabled then the icons turn grey and have a line through them, and if you 3D Touch it says off under the toggles.

At least on the latest beta it does.

 

[Mr_Ed]

A few thoughts.

• I do think the UI is less than ideal. It does say "Disconnected from", which is unambiguous enough, but that message is easily overlooked.
• It's also problematic that the toggles in Settings behave differently.
• It seems obvious to me that 3D Touch on those two toggles should give me more options. Why can't I directly pick a Wi-Fi network from Control Center? Other Control Center menus like AirDrop and Timer have various submenu options, and this one seems obvious to add. Thus, I'm guessing they eventually will — they just haven't gotten around to it.

Now, as for the user perspective:

• Continuity highly depends on a perception of 'it just works'. When it does, stuff like unlocking your Mac with the Watch, copying and pasting between Mac and iPhone, and so forth are quite amazing. When they don't, they are infuriating. And when you have to start fiddling with stuff and manually configuring things like "well, you gotta turn Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and this and that on first", the suspension of disbelief breaks.
• Another feature that depends on Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth when you don't expect it to? Location Services. These two taken together explain why users might have a perception of "well, I don't really need Wi-Fi", then confusingly end up with a broken user experience.

Then there's the question of why you would turn off Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth at all. In this thread, I've seen:

• Privacy, security. Theoretically, the radios do expose you more, although I suspect the cellular connection is a far bigger factor here. Taken together, if you want to go incognito, toggling Airplane Mode is probably a much better call: it turns virtually all radios off (including GPS and NFC, I think?), and it then lets you manually turn Wi-Fi back on if you desire.
• "I don't currently need it." I don't know what that means, exactly. You also don't currently need app x, y, z to be installed, or photo A or music track B to be on your device, but you don't remove those just because. There seems to be an excessive concern here that you need to manually manage your device, when it can probably do so much better itself.
• Save battery. That's a more concrete variant of "don't currently need it". However, this idea is based on outdated assumptions — in the 2000s, the radios did make up a significant portion of your phone's battery life, but these days, they do not. The chips have gotten much smarter at shifting to low-power modes while idling. You're probably chasing a problem that isn't there.

In conclusion:

• I don't care much either way about Bluetooth, but the 3D-touching the Wi-Fi toggle should simply let me choose to disconnect from the network, disable Wi-Fi altogether, or pick a different network. And the Settings pages for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth should be similar to that.
• Apple should have done a better job communicating this somehow.
• The problem you're trying to solve probably isn't there. Want to save some battery and/or go a little more private and secure? Turn on Airplane Mode. Done.

Continuity, AirDrop and some of the other features added recently do depend on Wifi and/or BT but not every iPhone/iPad owner has the required hardware on the other end. I don't see the addition of these new features as justification for the re-definition of "on" and "off". Same applies to other pieces of hardware like the Apple Watch or the ear buds. I'm sure some Apple users will make a point to always have all the latest and greatest Apple mobile and desktop hardware, but I'm willing to bet many will not. One of the reasons I have been a long time Apple consumer is my own experience with regards to the longevity of their products. That means my desktop machine is not capable of any of those functions, and I don't see myself buying a new one any time soon.

It is true that modern BT and Wifi implementations are far more efficient than they used to be, but if I have forgotten to charge my phone, every little bit counts, so quickly turning Wifi and/or BT off should be an option. Additionally, I often find myself switching Wifi on/off due to or bandwidth issues. Sometimes I am connected to wifi and find bandwidth is so lousy that switching Wifi off and going back to cell is preferable. This is just one example where Airplane mode is not the answer, as some have suggested.

 

[sejoki]

I think it’s actually quite brilliant. I’ve turned Wi-Fi off so many times because it was slow or not working at all and then forgot to turn it on later.
It re-enables it at 5 a.m or when you change locations, so I assume that’s exactly the reason it’s designed this way.
There’s never been a “disconnect” switch for Wi-Fi and for mobile devices it makes a lot of sense. So to me, the issue isn’t that it doesn’t turn it off now, but that it ever did. Ever since the Control Center was introduced, it was an on/off switch. But I rarely found myself in situations I needed to turn it off completely. Except when on a plane, and that’s what airplane mode is for.
A quick way to disconnect is exactly what a phone needs.

 

[ChazSch]

maybe this is causing the wifi slow issues.... I still have a very very laggy mail program

 

[Dave.UK]

Can you not read? I said I use the toggle to disconnect from my current WiFi. It now does exactly what I want it to instead of brute forcing the disconnect by turning the radio off. I've never had any desire to turn the wifi radio off. Why is that surprising?

Probably because when I turn something off, I expect it to be turned off. Not too difficult to understand I hope.

 

[PlainviewX]

Completely agree.

 

[sdwaltz]

Crazy, insane claims by a watchdog group w/nothing to do so they're now FINDING problems that don't exist.

 

[deanbar]

I couldn’t agree more.

I like another user who said, “the iPhone used to not require a user manual. Not anymore...”

Unfortunately much like any other Apple product these days, getting too much like windows, no longer intuitive. You need a user manual for sure

 

[Dave.UK]

Yeah, that is what happens when you turn it off in settings. What is the problem? When you want a quick "I'm having issues with this wifi, lemme turn it off" you have the quick access Control Center for that. The button doesn't say "turns off all wifi signals". It's all how you look at it. I see it as "disconnect this (or all) wifi network" and... Lo and Behold that is exactly what it SAYS it does when you press it.

Doe's the off in the control center explain it like that?

Can't believe people are defending that off doesn't mean off!

 

[fat jez]

Doe's the off in the control center explain it like that?

Can't believe people are defending that off doesn't mean off!

That's die-hard Apple fans for you, they will defend whatever Apple do. Some of us take a slightly more realistic view.

I don't want to switch my bedroom light off, only to have it come on again at 5am. If I go into the control centre to disconnect the wifi, does it matter if the wifi is now off (my preference) or disconnected? The end result is the same, so why change the behaviour now? iOS11 is now the only OS on any platform where off does not mean off.

 

[JamesPDX]

Doe's the off in the control center explain it like that?

Can't believe people are defending that off doesn't mean off!

Because under another iOS, the Control Center was a shortcut to essentials in System. That's what's misleading.

 

[sinsin07]

People have a clear, simple expectation with a lightswitch because they also have a clear, simple expectation with a light: to provide light. That's it. That's all. With Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the expectation is far more complicated.

People also have a clear definition of what toggles do, on or off. Not disconnect and reconnect at a later arbitrary time.

snip..but it didn't do what people expected it to do — it broke functionality they didn't expect to break. Hence the change.

People keep saying this, but where is the proof of this?
How do you know this is not Apple just imposing what they feel people want or what they deem is the best way?
Just as likely as your claim.

From the comments in this thread alone, there is an argument that their are two sides, both wanting the toggle to function differently.

 

[Dave.UK]

Because under another iOS, the Control Center was a shortcut to essentials in System. That's what's misleading.

Exactly. When I turn something off in Android, I know it's turned off.

If they ever changed that, then I would be very cross.

 

[TurboPGT!]

Nope. I disagree and believe fully to the contrary. The simple toggles are in Control Center are not enough for the average user to know what they've done. Most people should never be turning Wi-Fi or Bluetooth off to begin with, and such a thing should not be so easily done.

 

[HyruleBorn]

Who was the idiot who thought this would be a smart solution for iOS 11?

 

[bmot]

Why not use the force touch to allow multiple settings for those functions. It’s like the tools are there but aren’t being used. Inconsistent crap.

 

[IlluminatedSage]

ok, so this is why i keep having the wifi turned on when i try and keep it turned off unless i'm at home. don't need extra transmitters on in my pocket. but... apple is playing games? uncool

 

[HopefulHumanist]

I support the new behavior because often people leave them off and then wonder why certain features aren’t working (continuity, handoff, airdrop, etc). The number of people who would benefit from this change far outweighs the people who are annoyed and cannot bring themselves to use the settings app for whatever reason.

I agree that it should be made more clear to users though.

 

[LordVic]

Yeah, that is what happens when you turn it off in settings. What is the problem? When you want a quick "I'm having issues with this wifi, lemme turn it off" you have the quick access Control Center for that. The button doesn't say "turns off all wifi signals". It's all how you look at it. I see it as "disconnect this (or all) wifi network" and... Lo and Behold that is exactly what it SAYS it does when you press it.

it's confusing and bad design. when you have wifi on, the logo of the wifi option turns blue. When you press it and it turns grey, that indicates a state change. in previous iOS, that state change was off

Now suddenly. that's not "Off", it's in fact "ON" but disconnected.

it's bad software design.

 

[Dave.UK]

Nope. I disagree and believe fully to the contrary. The simple toggles are in Control Center are not enough for the average user to know what they've done. Most people should never be turning Wi-Fi or Bluetooth off to begin with, and such a thing should not be so easily done.

Isn't IOS advertised as being pretty much idiot proof? So if you turn something odd, then it should be off. Also don't understand why you think people should never be turning off WiFi or Bluetooth.

 

[sinsin07]

Nope. I disagree and believe fully to the contrary. The simple toggles are in Control Center are not enough for the average user to know what they've done. Most people should never be turning Wi-Fi or Bluetooth off to begin with, and such a thing should not be so easily done.

Another unsupported, unsubstantiated, anecdotal generalization.

More speculation without proof:

snip.. because often people leave them off and then wonder why certain features aren’t working (continuity, handoff, airdrop, etc). The number of people who would benefit from this change far outweighs the people who aren’t annoyed and cannot bring themselves to use the settings app for whatever reason.