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erpetao

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 19, 2011
223
95
My understanding is that the iPhone makes the wifi go to sleep when not connected to a power source and uses 3G to save battery.

That was the standard behaviour until recently. Now I have changed mobile provider to Three UK, and I have noticed that wifi stays always on even when locked and not charging. Is my iPhone wasting battery now? Why the change?

I recently installed an app from three called "Three Intouch" which has an option that says "keep wi-fi connection alive" that came enabled by default. I disabled it and even removed the app, but wi-fi still stays on while sleeping. Do you think that it was caused by this app, or is it just the three network that maybe uses more battery than wifi now and the iPhone decides that it's more efficient?

When I try to google this problem I get thousands of threads of people complaining about the opposite problem (wi-fi being disabled when on sleep), but I haven't seen anybody with this particular problem (Wifi staying ON).
 

SanjeevRana

macrumors 6502a
Aug 2, 2011
607
10
I am not sure what you mean by "recently" ... as far as I can remember, iOS always has had WiFi On while screen off by design ..

unless its different because of some laws in Europe (doubt it) ?
 

erpetao

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 19, 2011
223
95
I am not sure what you mean by "recently" ... as far as I can remember, iOS always has had WiFi On while screen off by design ..



unless its different because of some laws in Europe (doubt it) ?


No, iOS always make the wifi go to sleep when locked. There are thousands of threads about it.
 

SanjeevRana

macrumors 6502a
Aug 2, 2011
607
10
No, iOS always make the wifi go to sleep when locked. There are thousands of threads about it.

... This has never been an issue in near history ... Also whenever it has happened in past it's because of combination of router and its settings which have caused this behavior ... iOS alone is not responsible for this issue ...

Do u get this across ALL wifi networks ? Also what ver of iOS is it ?
 

erpetao

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 19, 2011
223
95

geoff5093

macrumors 68020
Sep 16, 2014
2,251
2,564
Dover, NH
WiFi should be an option to stay on or off with the screen, like Android, because many people are on limited data plans and they wouldn't want it using mobile data when in range of WiFi.
 

nateo200

macrumors 68030
Feb 4, 2009
2,906
42
Upstate NY
WiFi should be an option to stay on or off with the screen, like Android, because many people are on limited data plans and they wouldn't want it using mobile data when in range of WiFi.

Exactly....I remember when one of my phones didn't do this and it was stupid because of all the background stuff happened when my phone was off :mad: Its not a problem with my new 6 though, hasnt been since my 4 a long while ago.
 

cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,154
... This has never been an issue in near history ... Also whenever it has happened in past it's because of combination of router and its settings which have caused this behavior ... iOS alone is not responsible for this issue ...



Do u get this across ALL wifi networks ? Also what ver of iOS is it ?


Keep wifi alive has been a jailbreak tweak since iOS 4 and likely forever. Meaning wifi shuts off after locked and a certain amount of time of inactivity when not plugged in.

I can't see it on my 6 but my 4S is so slow I when I unlock it I can see the indicator flash from wifi to 3G back to wifi.
 

Damolee

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2012
512
79
Think in later versions of iOS 7 they brought this back.

In iOS 6 the WIFI use to switch off when the display was off and it use to annoy me because I would miss notifications.

This is something they have fixed. It runs in a low power dormant state so doesn't take up too much battery.

Think I lose a few % battery overnight but I enable Do Not Disturb.
 

erpetao

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 19, 2011
223
95
So what's the standard behaviour in iOS 7.1.2 and newer when not plugged?

a. Wifi gets disabled when phone goes to sleep / locked.
b. Wifi stays on always.

Is it a) or b) ?

I can't find any official documentation regarding this.
 

geoff5093

macrumors 68020
Sep 16, 2014
2,251
2,564
Dover, NH
It's easy to check, leave your phone for a while, turn it on, and see if the second you wake it if WiFi is on or not. It takes a second or two for it to connect, so you can tell if the WiFi was on all the whole time or of it tuned off.
 

erpetao

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 19, 2011
223
95
I've been checking and it varies depending on the wifi network.

In my home wifi and at "office a" work wifi, the wifi stays connected. At "office b" they have a wifi login screen (like in hotels) and the wifi get's disconnected if you are not charging, so you need to go through the whole process of login in again (really annoying).

Does anybody know why does this happen?
 
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