Wi-Fi assist doesn't seem to help

[Mac'nCheese]

I was looking forward to the new wi-fi assist feature but it doesn't seem to help. I usually listen to some comedy central shows to and from work and until I got the new phone, I would always have to shut wi-fi off since the phone would also go from LTE to any optimum hot spots I would pass. Every time the hot spot signal would start to fade, the show would pause and take time to restart. I assumed wi-fi assist would kick in when the wi-fi signal would start to go down but that doesn't happen. Even while parked at work, well out of range of the last hot spot I passed today, the phone was still trying to run the show off of the wi-fi and didn't switch to LTE. Am I wrong that wi-fi assist was supposed to help keep the show playing in this kind of situation?

 

[lordofthereef]

I don't think it's quite as instant as people expect. When I would do this in android phones, which have had this feature since before android was touchscreen (ok probably not but it's been a long time lol) it also stutters in the way you mention.

I think iOS still tries to prioritize wifi, and when it struggles on wifi it will just dump it. It's not ideal for what you're doing (steaming shows while hopping back and forth) because as it starts to struggle you're already noticing stuttering. It is, however, ideal for not forcing wifi users to stay connected to that hotspot that barely has a viable connection. iOS will just sunk that connection in favor of your cellular broadband.