Visual confirmation of hotspot activation?

[pgoelz]

I have the action button set to turn the personal hotspot on and off. Trouble is that it is fairly easy to accidentally press the button long enough to activate. And since there is no persistent visual indication that the hotspot is activated, it can be on for weeks (using battery) until I notice it.

Is there any way to activate some sort of persistent visual indication the hotspot is active, possibly with a shortcut? I have not been able to figure it out

Paul

 

[Chinoo]

I don't believe there is any indication hotspot is on unless someone is connected and you can see it on top, but to be safe you can create an automation every day to run an example at 9pm, and turn off hotspot.

I use hotspot all the time for my girls. I use the control center icon.

 

[kitKAC]

When your hotspot is on, your iPhone disconnects from WiFi - you could pay attention to that?

 

[pgoelz]

Actually, the daily "hotspot off" automation is a good idea, thanks! I already have an automation that runs at 11PM to set low power mode..... I just added the "hotspot off" to that one.

Kinda silly though that there is no visible indication hotspot is on since it uses battery even if no one is connected.

 

[pgoelz]

Well, that adds to the confusion......

This started when I discovered this morning that "allow others to join" was enabled. I assumed because I had inadvertently pressed the action button. I THOUGHT WiFi was still on but maybe not. Testing today seems to show that you are correct and WiFi turns off if "allow others to join" is enabled.

BUT...... yes, testing shows that if "allow others to join" is enabled, WiFi turns off. BUT..... if you turn WiFi back on manually, WiFi turns on AND the "allow others to join" toggle stays enabled UNTIL you look at the page where it is configured. If you look at it, hotspot turns on and WiFi turns off again. IOW, turning WiFi on manually disables the hotspot but the toggle remains enabled and hotspot turns back on again if you open that settings page. Sheesh!!!!

For now, I have assigned the action button to something else and also kept the once a day "hotspot off' automation for good measure.

I have to say though that this might explain an issue I had yesterday where I was unable to connect to a robotic telescope via direct WiFi. It might have been that the hotspot was on and I never noticed that WiFi was disabled? Rebooting the phone resolved it but that probably turned hotspot OFF and WiFi ON.....

Paul

 

[Puonti]

You could have the shortcut set specific wallpapers when hotspot is toggled on / off?

 

[pgoelz]

You could have the shortcut set specific wallpapers when hotspot is toggled on / off?

Um...... that's a great idea, thanks!

Paul

 

[pgoelz]

OK, I'm stuck! The logic behind toggling the hotspot and setting a wallpaper is simple but I can't figure out how to test for the state of the hotspot so I can set a specific wallpaper. That would be an "IF / OTHERWISE" function, right? Am I locked to the preset system parameters (like "is locked")? If so, I don't see a way to test for hotspot status.

Ditto for silent mode..... I was also trying to do a silent mode shortcut that toggled with the action button and also set specific wallpapers based on silent mode status.

This happens every time I try to create a shortcut..... I know what to do, I just can't figure out how Apple wants me to do it

Paul

 

[Puonti]

Well, that's a problem... unfortunately I also don't have a good solution to offer. I would imagine there is some way to save the status, and read it back each time the shortcut is run to use it to drive that if / else structure.

 

[pgoelz]

OK, I have some answers.

1. As far as I can tell, it is not possible to change a wallpaper (or do anything else with an IF / OTHERWISE function based on the status of the personal hotspot. Someone please tell me I'm wrong?

2. It IS possible to change the wallpaper based on the status of silent mode if you have the Actions app installed. But it is NOT obvious how to do it First, add a "toggle silent mode" function. Then add "is silent mode on" (requires the Actions app to be installed). Then add an if / otherwise function. If the if / otherwise function immediately follows the "is silent mode on" function, "is silent mode on" can be selected as a condition in the "if" function. The rest of the if / otherwise function can be used to change wallpapers (or anything else) based on the status of silent mode.

For now I have assigned this silent mode toggle to the action button because A) it is useful and B) it now provides obvious and continuous feedback on the state of silent mode.

I really dislike shortcuts. While the functionality seems very powerful, every time I try to do anything beyond dead simple I find that I either can't do what I want -or- getting there is very un-obvious. I know.... I'm probably holding it wrong....

Paul