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Exploiting the Wi-Fi Stack on Apple Devices

googleprojectzero.blogspot.com

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Re: Exploiting the Wi-Fi Stack on Apple Devices

#81

Post by mrsteveman1 »

killerpopiller wrote: post #80
giovannibajo1 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s safe to assume that most people turn off wifi when there is a wifi network that sucks and they want to switch to cellular. This is by far the most common reason, and it’s also what they think they accomplished. What they instead achieved up to iOS 10 was: * worse location data in maps * airdrop does not work * AirPlay might not work (doesn’t work across networks) * Handoff doesn’t work * phone call and s…

my main sorrow with the clearly misleading wifi-switch is to fall prey to those nasty mac-adress tracker in shops. the other reasons you list are minor issues, who needs constant update possibilities, phone call forwarding to your Mac, airplay and handoff on the way? yes, I also forgot switch off wifi and burned through my volume, but we shouldn’t dumb systems down. People need to understand cause and effect, especia…

> my main sorrow with the clearly misleading wifi-switch is to fall prey to those nasty mac-adress tracker in shops.

Aren't they randomized now?

Re: Exploiting the Wi-Fi Stack on Apple Devices

#82

Post by dmd »

KozmoNau7 wrote: post #50
giovannibajo1 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s safe to assume that most people turn off wifi when there is a wifi network that sucks and they want to switch to cellular. This is by far the most common reason, and it’s also what they think they accomplished. What they instead achieved up to iOS 10 was: * worse location data in maps * airdrop does not work * AirPlay might not work (doesn’t work across networks) * Handoff doesn’t work * phone call and s…

No, what pressing the wifi icon button on every single wifi-capable phone ever made until iOS 11 is to turn off wifi. Not just temporarily, but specifically until the user decides to turn it on again. This is how it was even before smartphones. Android keeps wifi location scanning and various other things running, even if you turn off wifi, so it actually accomplishes what people want: to turn off wifi networking unt…

But that's just not how human goals actually work. Nobody - except maybe a wireless radio engineer - wants to "turn off wifi". Nobody has that as their actual goal - turning off wifi is a way to accomplish some goal. That goal might be "make the internet work better (by using LTE instead)" or maybe "stop distracting me with notifications from the internet" or something else. But "turn off wifi" doesn't make sense as a goal in and of itself, and so Apple is trying to do something that better maps to what people want.

Now, whether they've done so correctly - both from the perspective of what actually happens, and how it is communicated to the user - that's certainly an issue and it's clear they haven't executed this well.

Re: Exploiting the Wi-Fi Stack on Apple Devices

#84

Post by Tepix »

KozmoNau7 wrote: post #75
Tepix wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people don't live in countries such as Kuwait where it is normal (and affordable) to watch 4k netflix streams via LTE.

Kuwait? I live in northern Europe, and I have 45GB on my perfectly ordinary ~$27 plan.

In Kuwait the typical mobile plan includes 1TB of traffic.

With 45GB you can watch a mere 10 hours of 4k TV per month.

Re: Exploiting the Wi-Fi Stack on Apple Devices

#85

Post by Tepix »

mikeash wrote: post #71
Tepix wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

@mikeash it takes a minimum of 4 or 5 taps and button presses.

On my 6+, the sequence is: press home button, tap Settings, Wi-Fi, Off. That's 3-4 depending on whether you count the home button. On a 6s or newer, with 3D touch, you can cut it down to 2-3: unlock, force touch on Settings and toggle WiFi from the menu that appears. (That might be 1-2, I forget whether you can force touch and drag to what you want to activate, or whether it has to be a separate tap.)

I didn't know about using force touch on the settings app. However when I tap on the wifi menu entry that appears, I still need yet another tap to disable wifi.

Anyway, here's my count: 1. use touch-id to unlock the phone 2. press home to get to first screen with the settings app (if you aren't already) 3. tap Wifi 4. turn it off

You then need to navigate back to where you were previously.

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