[mikeash]

Because people would turn off WiFi from Control Center and then forget about it, resulting in expensive cellular overages. (This cost me about $30, for example.)

I think the pertinent question is: why didn't they make the change more clear?

[Cyph0n]

On Android 7.0, the cellular icon in the status bar makes it very clear when you are not on WiFi. The icon serves as a reminder for me since I usually switch off WiFi in the morning and re-enable it at home. I don't recall ever forgetting cellular on.

Regardless, I think Apple could have come up with a more user-friendly solution. This just looks like a lazy hack to be honest.

[nardi]

It would have taken you 10 seconds to Google and find out that iOS also has an icon in the status bar that shows you whether you’re on Wi-Fi or cellular.

[Cyph0n]

Why thank you! I would truly be lost without your wisdom.

Unfortunately, that still doesn't explain Apple's decision to make it harder to switch off WiFi. Do iPhone users simply not notice the status bar?

[TheSpiceIsLife]

I'm not defending nor evangelising Apples current solution.

I'm lead to believe it's not iPhone users specifically, but people in general.

I've worked in IT, but qualified as a tradesmen nearly a decade before, and I occasionally forget to turn wifi back on when I get home. I currently work for a large steel fabrication company. One of the project managers here doesn't even use email.

It's way too easy for the average person to forget to turn wifi on and blow all your mobile data / get slogged with overage.

In a similar fashion, it's not hard to see and feel when a / the tyres on your car need a bit of air, but we mandate tyre pressure monitoring systems.

We are, for good or bad, reluctant to regulate software system. So, I guess, as always, if we think of a better design we should probably make a demo or promote it, maybe iOS / Android will pick it up along the way.

[rospaya]

In 5 years we're gonna wonder how we got to the point where you can't easily turn off wifi, slowly dumbing down devices for all of us for the sake of your project manager and the like.

[mikeash]

You can still easily turn off WiFi. It's two or three taps, depending on how you want to get to the setting and what you count as a "tap".

The problem isn't that Apple made it hard to turn off WiFi, it's that they changed one of the controls without making it clear that it had changed.

[Tepix]

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

[Cyph0n]

A better way would be to: (1) use either GPS or cell towers to specify some sort of geographical area (with user input of course), and then (2) allow the user to specify what happens to WiFi/3G when entering and/or exiting that area.

Llama on Android has been doing this for years, but the UX was a mess in my opinion. Apple could streamline the setup process, throw in some "amazing"s and "revolutionary"s, mix that with Touch/FaceID, and voila, you have a viable solution.

[TheSpiceIsLife]

It does sadden me there aren't a bunch more advanced options a level or two below the standard options on iPhones.

I didn't down vote you by the way.

[williamscales]

Android does the same thing, more or less, now. For quite a while Wi-Fi has not been truly off unless you access a buried setting—it's scanning for access points for location data. Now in the latest release the Wi-Fi will turn itself back on after having been turned off once you're near a known access point. I never really had an issue with this, as you say it is not that hard to notice the icon in the status bar, but I will admit it is a nice touch. Granted, I have already signed my soul over to Google so I have little to care about.

[mikeash]

Most users notice very little, ever.

[walterbell]

If you want to avoid cellular charges, shouldn't you be turning off cellular?

[mikeash]

The problematic scenario goes like this:

1. You're in a coffee shop. The WiFi sucks today. You turn off WiFi so you can use your cellular connection instead.

2. Many hours later, you go home, having forgotten about #1.

3. You binge-watch the entirety of Doctor Who streaming on your phone, not realizing the phone is still using cellular.

4. Large bill from your provider.

[hdra]

I want to see the problem solved, but this feels like the wrong solution.

Reminds me of the time where I couldn't trust what the UI says about the audio of my desktop computer running Linux circa 2005

[williamscales]

Many apps will prompt before doing a large download over data. Spotify has separate settings for mobile data and Wi-Fi streaming quality. One could imagine a video app would prompt before streaming on mobile data. I'm pretty sure this is the solution—perhaps the Android or iPhone media framework itself could implement something that would warn people if app developers are often forgetting to add this feature?

[KozmoNau7]

Android even goes too far here. "Download waiting for wifi", for a 20MB download. I use more data than that simply by opening certain apps!

[js2]

You can disallow cellular data on a per-app basis on iOS, so you could for example disable it for just Netflix.

[mikeash]

I think they're close to a good solution but not quite there. A tri-state button, where it's on/on-but-disconnected/off might have done it, or at least some indicator that "off" doesn't mean off.

[Steko]

The correct solution is "always turn on wi-fi when I get home". The phone knows when this happens, you can set reminders around it.

[planb]

No, it does not if the Wifi Chipset is disabled, because it uses wifi for location services (GPS would use way too much battery). That's exactly the problem: The wifi chipset is used for much more than just connecting to the internet.

[mschuster91]

You can also use the GSM Cell ID for this purpose. Once the user marks his/her home, grab the IDs of the surrounding cell towers and use these as trigger.

[pgeorgi]

It's exactly what my phone does (Nexus 5X with Android 8), likely by listening to wifi passively ("which SSIDs are around?")

[moogleii]

Didn't iOS 10 or whichever add cellular assist to WiFi? I know some people raged about it, but I find it useful for the scenario you just mentioned.

[mikeash]

It did, but I'm not sure how well it really works. In my own experience, I still see lots of networking failures if I'm far enough from my house for the network to be dodgy but not so far that it disconnects, or if I connect to crappy public WiFi.

[KozmoNau7]

5. Realize you should have gotten a subscription with an adequate data plan.

6. Get said subscription.

7. Stop worrying.

[mikeash]

I'm not aware of any option in this country (edit: the US) that will handle massive use of streaming video. All of the plans without overage charges have a soft limit where they start throttling you.

In any case, I'm not going to pay a bunch of extra money every month just in case I forget about the WiFi.

[Tepix]

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

[KozmoNau7]

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

[Tepix]

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

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

[mercer]

Isn't another reason that some of iOS features (hand-off? airdrop?) rely on WiFi or Bluetooth?

[mikeash]

That seems likely. If you turn off WiFi or Bluetooth and forget to turn it back on, it can be quite confusing as to why some functions suddenly stopped working.

[deftturtle]

Apple thinks for its users in all the wrong ways.

[givinguflac]

Several people in my family have had overage issues by forgetting about WiFi being off. They are certainly not technically inclined.

[KozmoNau7]

Get them a subscription with an adequate data plan, then?