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iOS 11's Misleading "Off-Ish" Setting for Radios Is Bad for User Security

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Re: iOS 11's Misleading "Off-Ish" Setting for Radios Is Bad for User Security

#141
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the record that's how I do it too. Saves lots of battery and I'm not actively using the phone that frequently.

Are you actually sure it affects battery life that much? I'm a bit dubious about this - in fact, turning off WiFi would actually harm battery life, surely, compared to LTE?

If by LTE you mean mobile data, I have that off too as I don't have a data plan. I can say the battery definitely runs down a lot faster with WiFi on but I don't have specific hard stats to back that up.

Re: iOS 11's Misleading "Off-Ish" Setting for Radios Is Bad for User Security

#142
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It IS communicated. If you just pull up control center and tap the button is says “Disconnected from ‘WiFiNetwork’”. If you expand the panel with 3D Touch or a long press under the WiFi icon it either says WiFiName or Not Connected. On the other hand the cellular radio says Off if you toggle it. This isn’t completely hidden. The information is there. And I agree with the other posters that this is a far better settin…

So all these years when Apple showed basically the same visual cues triggered by the same action they were miscommunications to us? You can’t have it both ways. Apple either miscommunicated this ever since Control center was added till today or they are miscommunication pang today. I would lean in the direction of miscommunicating today because Apple has spent years teaching its customers that this behavior means X a…

I believe when they changed the behaviour from turning off WiFi to disconnecting from WiFi, they added the text "Disconnected from networkname". But I don't entirely disagree they should communicate the change better

Re: iOS 11's Misleading "Off-Ish" Setting for Radios Is Bad for User Security

#143
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. It’s not. I want to turn it off. The fact that this is front-page on HN means something.

It means that the minority of techies that read HN found it interesting. There’s nothing to suggest any conclusion broader than that.

Exactly. The average iPhone user is oblivious to the change.

Re: iOS 11's Misleading "Off-Ish" Setting for Radios Is Bad for User Security

#144
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm resigned to the fact that any workflow I have will break with the next update. And if it's a web application, it will break with the next refresh (I'm looking at you, Google Maps!). It's the CADT model [1] writ large. [1] https://www.jwz.org/doc/cadt.html

Dude. That redirects to a picture of a scrotum in a cup, if you arrive with an HN referer header. I'm guessing you got pranked, lol.

No, I forgot JWZ did that. Sigh.

Re: iOS 11's Misleading "Off-Ish" Setting for Radios Is Bad for User Security

#145
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It IS communicated. If you just pull up control center and tap the button is says “Disconnected from ‘WiFiNetwork’”. If you expand the panel with 3D Touch or a long press under the WiFi icon it either says WiFiName or Not Connected. On the other hand the cellular radio says Off if you toggle it. This isn’t completely hidden. The information is there. And I agree with the other posters that this is a far better settin…

A hidden feature isn't communicated. I don't know why features are going to do something weird if I short click vs long click. There's simply no communication. Maybe some shadow (3D) effect on something which you can 3D touch would make a huge difference. (It's probably ugly, but the feature itself is ugly, so you'd expect the UI should reflect that.) A right click menu was considered a hidden feature by Apple in the…

It's more than a hidden feature though. Pressing the wifi button (where you would normally expect it to turn the radio off) literally brings up a text saying "Disconnected from {SSID}"

Re: iOS 11's Misleading "Off-Ish" Setting for Radios Is Bad for User Security

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> resolve the real loss of money experienced by everyday users who turn off WiFi The way I've run every smartphone I've owned is to turn off mobile data, WiFi, and Bluetooth and only turn them on as and when I need them. I prefer it to work that way. The way this works in iOS 11 is now inconsistent and confusing. I can turn mobile data on and off via Control Centre. But, while I can turn WiFi on in Control Centre, I…

> The way I've run every smartphone I've owned is to turn off mobile data, WiFi, and Bluetooth and only turn them on as and when I need them Okay, but you have to accept that this is a ridiculously small minority use case.

Can you show me the use case for turning it ack on at 5 in the morning every 24 hours even though you have not changed location? Until then you have nothing, in defense of something that shouldn't be defended. Would it kill you to say "yeah, Apple should make it more obvious" and move on? What's with the kool-aid?

Re: iOS 11's Misleading "Off-Ish" Setting for Radios Is Bad for User Security

#147
post #17

Yes, this was a big surprise in iOS 11. I can understand the appeal of making it work this way, but I wish it was implemented as a parallel set of options. Or at least make it configurable in settings of how it should work. I feel the same way about the "Do Not Disturb While Driving" feature. I like the feature a lot, and I've been using it, but I wish it was a parallel feature as well. My "Do Not Disturb" patterns a…

I wish the “Do Not Disturb While Driving” would re-enable itself after the car starts moving again. I lie and tell it I’m not driving all the time at a light to select the next podcast.

Yeah this is a bit of a weird feature. I understand it’s a kind of mental barrier to prevent you using your phone while driving, but it’s weird you can’t keep it on and still use your phone - especially when you aren’t moving as you say.

Re: iOS 11's Misleading "Off-Ish" Setting for Radios Is Bad for User Security

#148
post #6

> In an attempt to keep you connected to Apple devices and services, iOS 11 compromises users' security. No. It is in an attempt to resolve the real loss of money experienced by everyday users who turn off WiFi when it’s flakey and then forget to turn it back on, costing them cash on their cellular data plan. (And the very real frustration when things don’t work they expect to work, and they don’t know why.) Meanwhil…

Question: Is there some reason the phone can't have some mode where it automatically determines which of mobile data or WiFi is providing the better connection at the moment, rather than having to manually toggle WiFi on and off as using the internet becomes frustrating?

Re: iOS 11's Misleading "Off-Ish" Setting for Radios Is Bad for User Security

#150
post #7

my airpods disconnect when i turn bluetooth off from control center. very weird that’s not an exception...

They're bluetooth devices. I'm not sure what your expectation is?

I would expect BT devices to be turned off. BUT Apple’s rationale for faux turning off in control center is so they can maintain Apple services, so I would expect EarPods to stay on under their new ridiculous regime of “Off means On”.
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