iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

[MacRumors]

iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads.

As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already connected to the hotel's network.

A captive Wi-Fi network is the type that requires you to fill out a web form before gaining access. They are commonly found at hotels, gyms, coffee shops, airports, and some other public places. With this new feature, which likely extends to macOS 26 too, it will be quicker and easier to connect multiple Apple devices to these networks.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman was first to report that Apple was planning this feature, which was not mentioned during the WWDC 2025 keynote last month. MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris later discovered references to it within the code for the first iOS 26 developer beta. It was believed that the feature was not functional yet, but evidently it is. According to an earlier post, it seems that Weinbach had installed the second iOS 26 developer beta.

iOS 26 will likely be released in September, bringing this handy option to the masses.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1939725040909451538

Article Link: iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

 

[Hank3rd]

I noticed this last week when staying at an Omni hotel in Austin. Pretty cool.

 

[TechRunner]

Traveling in late September/early October. Looking forward to trying this out.

 

[autistic-savant]

Now all they need to do is sort the Available Networks by SIGNAL STRENGTH and not the idiotic alphabetical sort 😂

 

[b17777]

I loved this feature on the Apple TV last summer while traveling a lot. Get the phone signed in, and then be able to watch baseball games on the Apple TV.

 

[jsavvy]

I loved this feature on the Apple TV last summer while traveling a lot. Get the phone signed in, and then be able to watch baseball games on the Apple TV.

the Apple TV already has this function? I usually take a Roku because they’ve been easier to connect to captive Wi-Fi while traveling.

These “small” convenience features are great. Yes, even better than new emojis.

 

[danny1305]

Now all they need to do is sort the Available Networks by SIGNAL STRENGTH and not the idiotic alphabetical sort 😂

That’s actually a terrible idea

 

[2301]

This was one year ago in home network, so not a bombshell..

 

[JohnC1959]

Now all they need to do is sort the Available Networks by SIGNAL STRENGTH and not the idiotic alphabetical sort 😂

Sounds good, but in practice you may have 20 wifi's listed and the one you need (hotel, etc.) is far from the strongest. In that case you have to carefully scan the list for the right wifi instead of finding it quickly by alphabet.

 

[AppleTO]

Oh, so this just fills the fields the same. You still have to go through the captive process. I thought this would make it so the devices just connected and worked automatically.

 

[JohnC1959]

Oh, so this just fills the fields the same. You still have to go through the captive process. I thought this would make it so the devices just connected and worked automatically.

Good to have that clarification. I too thought as you did. Well, at least it helps some. Anytime I stay somewhere I always end up having to connect both my phone and mac and the more they can streamline that the better.

 

[SportBud77]

the Apple TV already has this function? I usually take a Roku because they’ve been easier to connect to captive Wi-Fi while traveling.

These “small” convenience features are great. Yes, even better than new emojis.

YES! I am sitting in a Marriott right now with an iOS 26 iPhone and an iOS26 Apple TV. Everything worked perfectly. Signed in on my phone and it shared with both my iPad and the Apple TV.

 

[k1121j]

I better feature would be to tell you not to use the Public WIFI

 

[victorvictoria]

Frankly, I've never felt inconvenienced by having to log in on the two devices I take with me when traveling. Who needs to save 5 seconds?

 

[Weaselboy]

Frankly, I've never felt inconvenienced by having to log in on the two devices I take with me when traveling. Who needs to save 5 seconds?

I have stayed in hotels that make you repeat the login process every 24 hours, and that gets to be a pain with my phone and MBP, plus the wife's iPad. So I'll welcome this feature.

 

[JohnC1959]

Frankly, I've never felt inconvenienced by having to log in on the two devices I take with me when traveling. Who needs to save 5 seconds?

Yes, it's not a big deal, but then again I won't complain if that not big deal is even a less big deal.

 

[FoxyKaye]

I have stayed in hotels that make you repeat the login process every 24 hours, and that gets to be a pain with my phone and MBP, plus the wife's iPad. So I'll welcome this feature.

RIGHT?! It's literally maddening, since hotel captive wifi is never consistent or well-maintained. It will work on the laptop, but not the phone. The next day, it will work on the phone but not the laptop. If this helps stop the insanity of "Forget Network" re-logging in at hotels (and on planes), then, I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.

 

[victorvictoria]

RIGHT?! It's literally maddening, since hotel captive wifi is never consistent or well-maintained. It will work on the laptop, but not the phone. The next day, it will work on the phone but not the laptop. If this helps stop the insanity of "Forget Network" re-logging in at hotels (and on planes), then, I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.

It's a security issue. People come, people go, people leave their devices behind. New people arrive and find them. Or housekeeping finds them, and if they're still logged in…well, think about it.

 

[macjaffa]

Oh, so this just fills the fields the same. You still have to go through the captive process. I thought this would make it so the devices just connected and worked automatically.

Yeah. I always fill in ******** into these forms anyway. Seriously they dont need to know any of the info they ask for.

 

[justanthonylee]

Now all they need to do is sort the Available Networks by SIGNAL STRENGTH and not the idiotic alphabetical sort 😂

If you do that they would be jumping all over the place, so NO.

 

[svish]

Good to see this. Will make it very convenient and easy. Looking forward to trying it out once I update my devices.

 

[applefan8254]

Can we get ability to hotspot a Wi-Fi network we are connected to? Some of our cars require software updates these days, and they require Wi-Fi but sometimes the cars don't support captive portal. If iPhone could hotspot wifi networks it would do a great thing for allowing us to download software updates and use Wi-Fi on a range of devices that don't support captive portal. Thanks

 

[jsavvy]

If you do that they would be jumping all over the place, so NO.

Why does it not do the same on the Mac?

 

[HMFIC03]

Would this mean a HomePod would work in a hotel?

 

[pesos]

What they really need to sort out is a way to exempt parental filtering controls just for wifi captive portals. Friggin ridiculous annoyance to manually have to figure out (one at a time) then allow (one at a time) the sites - especially when they have 2-3 redirects in the process...