Turning Off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in iOS 11's Control Center Doesn't Actually Turn Off Wi-Fi or Bluetooth (vice.com) 226
An anonymous reader shares a Motherboard report: Turning off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when you're not using them on your smartphone has long been standard, common sense, advice. Unfortunately, with the iPhone's new operating system iOS 11 - which was released to the general public yesterday - turning them off is not as easy as it used to be. Now, when you toggle Bluetooth and Wi-Fi off from the iPhone's Control Center -- the somewhat confusing menu that appears when you swipe up from the bottom of the phone -- it actually doesn't completely turn them off. While that might sound like a bug, that's actually what Apple intended in the new operating system. But security researchers warn that users might not realize this and, as a consequence, could leave Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on without noticing. Numerous Slashdot readers have complained about this "feature" this week.
Very Brave (Score:5, Funny)
It was very brave and forward thinking of Apple to not allow you to turn off Wifi.
Re: Very Brave (Score:5, Informative)
Re: Very Brave (Score:5, Insightful)
But man...after Steve passed away, it does seem to be going downhill there. The UI is just not as intuitive anymore. Gaffs of things not working, like the watch LTE problems on release, and stuff like this.
I had hoped the folks he'd had following him had had some of the intuition he'd displayed on how things should be (some losers, but mostly good IMHO) and work that make products easy and fun to use for he user, and have them be intuitive.....but alas, that does not seem to be the case and we see blunder after blunder and design and UI flaw after flaw.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem is that they replaced an engineer with a pointy haired boss with an MBA. Tim Cook knows how to do is squeeze people for more cash, exploiting their captive user base until people throw their hands up in the air and walk away.
It's ironic, Microsoft is trying so hard to be like Apple, but Apple is trying very hard to be like Oracle.
Good post (Score:2)
I award you some imaginary mod points on this one.
Hell here's an imaginary grant don't spend it all in one dream.
Re: (Score:2)
The problem is that they replaced an engineer with a pointy haired boss with an MBA.
It sounds like you called Jobs an "engineer" -- but he most decidedly was not that, so I assume you were referring to Wozniak.
And I agree.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, I'm one of those nerds. Although my problem with the shift wasn't that they became less interesting (although they certainly did). It's that they actively spurned the hobbyist community that helped make them a serious company.
Facts (Score:5, Informative)
The problem is that they replaced an engineer with a pointy haired boss with an MBA.
The only thing factually correct in that sentence is that Tim Cook does have a MBA degree and there is no evidence that constitutes a problem for Apple. Steve Jobs was not an engineer and did not have an engineering degree (or any other degree for that matter). Tim Cook IS an engineer and does have an engineering degree from Auburn University.
Tim Cook knows how to do is squeeze people for more cash, exploiting their captive user base until people throw their hands up in the air and walk away.
There is no evidence that Apple customers are walking away in any meaningful numbers.
It's ironic, Microsoft is trying so hard to be like Apple, but Apple is trying very hard to be like Oracle.
If you think that then I don't think you've actually dealt with Oracle. The experience of working with Apple is NOTHING like the experience of working with Oracle.
Re:Facts (Score:4, Insightful)
The only thing factually correct in that sentence is that Tim Cook does have a MBA degree and there is no evidence that constitutes a problem for Apple. Steve Jobs was not an engineer and did not have an engineering degree (or any other degree for that matter). Tim Cook IS an engineer and does have an engineering degree from Auburn University.
I have great difficulty believing that, considering that there has been virtually zero innovation since Jobs died. Unless you count "making products less useful and more expensive" as innovation. Seriously, only an abject idiot would leave out HDMI on a modern laptop, for example. And have you used the keyboard on the most recent MBPs? It's the single worst keyboard I have ever used in my life.
There is no evidence that Apple customers are walking away in any meaningful numbers.
Really? Then mind explaining why their laptop sales figures are tanking? I myself have been using Apple for over a decade. My "current" MBP is a 2011 because every version after that has been worse than the last. Nothing is upgradable on it anymore, and even the stuff that's built into it is crap. I already mentioned the god-awful keyboard. A whopping TWO USB-C ports, or 4 if you wanna splurge, and nothing else. Wanna connect to a meeting room TV? Nope. A projector? Nope. Someone wants to give you a file on a USB key? Nope.
It's like they took the top 10 use cases for a laptop in the business world, gave a good belly laugh and said, "Fuck'em all."
If you think that then I don't think you've actually dealt with Oracle. The experience of working with Apple is NOTHING like the experience of working with Oracle.
I didn't say they were Oracle. I said they were trying to be like Oracle. That takes time, but they're doing it. Have you bought a USB-C power supply from Apple? They don't even provide a USB-C cable in the box. You literally have to buy the cord separately. So you're now paying $125 for a power supply instead of $100.
And never mind the whole donglegate thing where you literally need to buy dongles if you wanna so much as scratch your nose.
Apple has taken nickle and diming people to amazing new heights, while *at the same time* jacking up their prices of their products across the board. You cannot possibly tell me that that is anything other than customer hostile.
It's literally a battle of what you hate less now. Everyone I know who is an apple user is only using apple products because they hate Microsoft's bullshit more than they hate Apple's bullshit. That's not a particularly good long term strategy. It means that should Microsoft ever mistakenly pull their head out of their ass and make a product that doesn't suck, Apple is going to be in serious trouble. Google is slowly gaining ground on both of them with their chromebooks, and that's going to accelerate as they get more useful and people realize they arn't dependent on the encumbents anymore.
Re: (Score:2)
I have great difficulty believing that, considering that there has been virtually zero innovation since Jobs died.
I don't see how that relates to the issue of whether or not Jobs was an engineer.
Re: Facts (Score:2)
And have you used the keyboard on the most recent MBPs? It's the single worst keyboard I have ever used in my life.
Said the person that it too young to have ever tried to type on a Commodore PET, Atari 400, Sinclair ZX81, or IBM PCjr.
Re: (Score:2)
And have you used the keyboard on the most recent MBPs? It's the single worst keyboard I have ever used in my life.
Said the person that it too young to have ever tried to type on a Commodore PET, Atari 400, Sinclair ZX81, or IBM PCjr.
Those examples are all from the distant past (and I'd like to add, Hewlett-Packard Datascope). I think the point is that technology is supposed to be getting better, not worse.
Re: (Score:2)
Try googling it then. It's a matter of record.
P.S. Denying actual, verifiable & objective facts gets modded insightful?
Re: (Score:2)
Stop it with that meaningless statement. Do you want Apple to invent the transistor every quarter, or something? What would constitute an innovation from your perspective?? The Wheel? After that, it's just a collection of slightly differently useful round things!!
Come on. Name on thing, in the last fifty years, that you would consider an "innovation", and I'll show you why it's actually just an iteration.
Re: (Score:2)
Tim Cook is an industrial engineer. Great COO material. He can manage the supply chain and make sure the product is manufacturable. But he just does not have the product vision to be a CEO in a leading edge technical company.
Re: (Score:2)
Given the bubble valuations in the stock market that is pretty much part for the course. The thing is the Apple is coasting on its success. How many successful new products can you remember Apple turning out ever since Jobs died? Right. I mean Apple also grew quite a lot in the first couple of years when Sculley was CEO but it was rotting from the inside.
Re: (Score:2)
Having those qualities does not make you an engineer.
You put your finger on what Jobs really was: an industrial designer. Even he would never have claimed to be an engineer.
Re: Very Brave (Score:2)
Cook is a master at logistics. When it comes to optimizing the supply line, I can think of none better.
I'll leave it up to you to decide if that makes for a good CEO.
Re: (Score:2)
It's the marketing myth. So many people believe that Steve Jobs personally build the iPhone from scratch, designed the Apple I and II and Macintosh, etc. It's as if they think that all those Apple employees were only there to make the buildings feel less empty.
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah but he was a pretty good designer and had a sense for technology.
Re: (Score:2)
I submitt to you. The iPhone 4, the G4 cube, etc
Apple has always hd these gaffs. I personal wonder if the iPhone X and the G4 cube suffer the same fate. Loved by some hated by many and anniversary products are usually pretty crappy.
Re: Very Brave (Score:5, Insightful)
MacPro, the dwindling mini, the 'touch bar', dongles, port starvation, thin, thin, thin!!!
Oh, and iTunes.
I win!
Re: (Score:3)
Beats. Apple Music. Final Cut X, 'Minimalist' interfaces. Disappearing headphone jacks.
Disappearing contrast.
Oh, and iTunes.
Re: (Score:2)
I agree with you on all, with the exception of FCPX.
It takes a little getting used to the different editing paradigm, but I actually like it.
Once you get used to it, you can fly through edits....but it is different than the old track based Premier style approach.
Not saying either is better, just different. Both have advantages and disadvantages.
FCPX on newer Macs is damned fast too.....
Re: Very Brave (Score:5, Insightful)
https://youtu.be/ZBma82g3Uag [youtu.be]
Apple has become exactly what Jobs originally did not like.
Re: (Score:2)
Bring him back! Oh right. :(
Re: Very Brave (Score:2)
Huh... Do you know where you are?
I'll help you out. You are at Slashdot. Slashdot is many things, but one of the things Slashdot does best is teach people - assuming you're receptive to it. Slashdot can be pretty abrasive, but is often correct in many areas.
One are where it's often correct is security best-practices. If you've read Slashdot for any length of time, you'd have picked up on some of them.
One of the easiest ones to pick up is that automatically connecting to unknown networks is fucking stupid. D
Re: Very Brave (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Another decision to impede security in the name of convenience. People act like Microsoft only does this.
And those complaining about insecure features act like the other 99% of consumers actually give a shit about privacy or security.
They don't.
Re: (Score:2)
They all CARE...as long as it doesn't interfere with then doing the various inane things people MUST DO ZOMG CAPTURE THAT FOR SNAPCHAT WHERE IS MY EMOJI FACE AND QUICK HIT THE AUTOFIX MY FACE AND MAKE ME PRETTY BUTTON
Oh...you have your pictures encrypted because you send noodz to your SO all the time and don't want your spouse to know? well...yeah. that needs a password.
Re: (Score:2)
You folks are insane.
If you don't want this shit then just turn the phone OFF!
Not so long ago if I wanted to call yo Mama I had to find a phone and put my dime in. 99.999% of calls can wait. And she can't call me back to take out the garbage!
I wanna call someone I take out the phone, turn it on and call 'em.
I see I've got missed calls - if I wanna call 'em back I do - later.
Take back your life and TURN IT OFF.
So peaceful.
Mac
Re: Very Brave (Score:2)
It was either here or HN, but someone earlier today said that making phone calls while driving is a necessity. Yup. We need to be able to make phone calls while driving, at least according to them.
I didn't have the energy to respond to them.
courage (Score:4, Funny)
Courage in the wake of wifi [nist.gov] stack vunerabilities.
Courage that they won't have a bluetooth stack vulnerability like android. [nist.gov]
Courage is what it takes, courage...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I think you might have missed the point of the parent here... parent's argument is that these things are insecure, thus having the ability to turn them off completely makes you safer.... to leave these features always turned on would be to pretend you are immune to the vulnerabilities. Perhaps the sarcasm confused you?
Re: (Score:2)
No computer in the world is secure. And yet here you are, still carrying one around in your pocket while you poke fun at a company that makes them, pretending like you're immune to the vulnerabilities.
Why do you assume I carry one of those attention deficit creation machines around in my pocket? (not saying that I don't)
Do you also assume I don't also poke fun at my company which also makes chips that go into pocket computing devices?
FWIW, I don't pretend that I'm not immune to risk, just like I don't pretend to have courage when I take calculated risks so I ridicule those that claim courage...
Courage is showing strength of will in the face of suffering or sacrifice. Taking a calculated tactic when bei
Product Opportunity (Score:2)
A Tin Foil hat for your iPhone.
No, seriously. At night you don't want to be disturbed anyway. So a case that is completely opaque to the electromagnetic spectrum.
Re:Product Opportunity (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Faraday cages for iPhones make wonderful housewarming and birthday gifts IMHO.
Re: (Score:2)
Avoiding ads = BAD! (Score:2)
It was very brave and forward thinking of Apple to not allow you to turn off Wifi.
We don't want the kiddies skipping ads in their games, amiright? ;)
And the point then? (Score:3, Interesting)
Besides cutting off access to those radios to apps, what would be the purpose of turning them off now if it doesn't really turn them off?
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
I live in an apartment block where there are many elderly and a few wheelchair-bound. We got a new elevator installed recently where the doors have been configured to take a noticeable long time to close unless you press the "close doors" button.
I suppose that all the manufacturer's elevators get the button on the stock control panel but that not all are configured in ways that make it stand out.
Re: And the point then? (Score:2)
The 1990 ADA set that up. The door has to remain open long enough for those in chairs or using crutches. The button doesn't even exist in some modern elevators, just like the crosswalk buttons don't always have an effect. The lights are operated by computer. Pushing the button does nothing. In NYC, only 120 of them work and those are being disabled. Yes, they will keep the buttons there.
Close door button (Score:2)
do nothing. Eventually the door will close, but it takes a while. Now repeat experiment, but press the close door button. Door will close predictably sooner (time it if you like).
That used to be the case. But nowadays more and more lifts are produced with the button not even wired.
Re: (Score:2)
press the close door button. Door will close predictably sooner (time it if you like).
In some elevators, yes. In others, no.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Presumably, cutting off app access would save power, as the OS could tightly manage the connecting polling while "off". Even though the radios are still on, they could be automatically cycled down, and only brought back up periodically to poll for "important" stuff, saving power. Of course, Apple is the one decided what counts as "important".
Re: Neighbors helping neighbors (Score:2)
Girls can be hackers. Girls can code.
A couple of my best programmers were in possession of a functional vagina. Well, I assume they were functional, as both of them had children. I did not actually inspect them, not because I have morals but because they weren't attractive.
Re:And the point then? (Score:5, Interesting)
Besides cutting off access to those radios to apps, what would be the purpose of turning them off now if it doesn't really turn them off?
How about theft?
For a smartphone there may not be a reason, seeing you always carry it with you. But for clunkier items like tablets, an always-on transmitter of a radio signal is a godsend for thieves everywhere. Now they can use a simple scanner to locate items to steal.
In fact, this is the reason you should turn your transmitting devices off (not standby) when you leave them out of sight in your locked car. It prevents them from being stolen.
Re:And the point then? (Score:5, Funny)
Well, we could just remove the batt... oh wait.
Re: (Score:2)
Which doesn't answer the question, which was if 'turning off' the radio doesn't actually do that, what is the point of 'turning off' the radio.
Re: (Score:2)
Now they can use a simple scanner to locate items to steal
I'm not sure that your average thief is going to using a "scanner" to locate things to steal, to the extent that such things even exist. Seems extremely fanciful.
Re: (Score:2)
It apparently disconnects your phone/tablet from Bluetooth devices and wifi networks.
Of course having those toggles actually turn off the radios - like they did prior to iOS 11 - would also accomplish this.
Re:And the point then? (Score:5, Insightful)
You can turn off both radios in the settings app
Then why have this "false" radio-off setting? Why not turn them off the way users expect when they, for instance, toggle the radios off using the easy-to-find settings?
Also, FTFA:
...both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi will become active again when you toggle them off in the Control Center at 5 AM local time, according to Apple's documentation
What the hell is the point of THAT?!
Re: (Score:2)
...both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi will become active again when you toggle them off in the Control Center at 5 AM local time, according to Apple's documentation
What the hell is the point of THAT?!
In a post-Snowden, world, what the hell is the point of even asking THAT question...
Re: (Score:2)
Because Apple is becoming a slightly more attractively designed version of Microsoft, from an HCI perspective.
This is a classic dickish Microsoft UI move: take something that you've decided is too complicated for users, and slap a simple-to-operate facade over it. But simple-to-operate does not necessarily mean simple-to-get-the-result-you-want. So if the UI doesn't do what you need it to, you google the registry settings so you can directly manipulate the persistent data structures that govern the beha
Re: (Score:2)
Turning off wifi and bluetooth isn't complicated and phones have had the ability pretty much as long as they've had those features.
From TFA it sounds like apple is enabling a phone-home even if you disable the services. Yay?
Re: And the point then? (Score:2)
HCI? Now there's a term I haven't seen in a very long time. I think it's UX and UI now. Human-computer Interaction seems almost archaic. It's a great phrase but, as I said, I've not seen it in ages. I seldom see 'compute cycles' these days, either.
Re: (Score:3)
Because $CluelessUser doesn't understand that the stuff that Apple is trying to leave open (Airdrop and friends) is Bluetooth or Wifi. To the typical smartphone user, it's just magic. So when you shut off Bluetooth, you can't listen to music (oops, I just **knew** that headphone jack was there for a reason) or do other Neat Things.
The 5 AM bit is likely because even for users that understood enough to turn the radios 'off' forgot to turn them back on in the morning.
Can't have that.
Re: (Score:2)
Burying the takeaway (Score:3, Insightful)
The takeaway is that if you want to really and completely turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on iOS11 you can't do it from the Control Center anymore, you'll have to do it through the Settings app.
So the takeaway is that there is still a UI element that powers the radio off and the only thing changed is that a different UI element performs a disconnect rather than a power off. So a power-user that knows precisely which of the two she intends can pick the right one.
Calling it 'stupid' is a bit of an overreaction to what is basically a UI change to map a more-commonly-held button on what is perceived to the more-commonly-intended outcome. Maybe that attribution of intended outcome is wrong (as anyone that has tried to help less technical people, trying to figure out what someone is actually trying to do is a hell of a thing) but it seems at least reasonable to me that "get me off this shitty coffeeshop WiFi but do associate with my home WiFi when I get there" is a more common intent than "don't get on any network whatsoever until I remember to hit the button again".
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds like Apple is taking lessons from Microsoft - multiple control-panel-esque derivatives in many places with no clear definition of what is supposed to be where.
Re: (Score:2)
I haven't actually seen the Apple UI. I would hope there's a label telling you that the WiFI or Bluetooth button means "disconnect". When I go to turn these off, it's generally because (a) I'm on an airplane or (b) my battery is running low and I want to conserve power. In both cases, what I intended was to turn the radios off. Maybe I'm weird. When I do want to disconnect from the crummy coffee shop network, my Android phone has a different screen dedicated to picking which WiFi network I'm on (or which Bl
Re:Burying the takeaway (Score:5, Informative)
If you long-press on one of the buttons in the control center, it pops up a larger display that sort of details whats going on.
If you tap the wifi or bluetooth buttons to turn them off, the blue highlight turns gray and the text in the larger display will say "disconnected". If you turn them off in the settings app, the highlight turns gray and there's a line through the wifi/bluetooth logos and in the larger display it says "off".
The airplane mode button which is the first button in the control center, when pressed, turns everything off.
It's not obvious and I didn't really know that this is how it worked until I saw the Apple support doc. Knowing now how it works, I don't mind so much. It means on my iPad I can have Bluetooth on, but "disconnected" and still be able to use the pencil (rather then having to have BT fully on).
Re: (Score:3)
It means I can no longer simply tap off BT in the Control Center to stop draining the battery of my Apple Pencil since the motion of carrying it around with the iPad wakes it up and connects it, since there's no "off" button. Because why would it need one when it has motion sensors to know when it's being used or not
Re: (Score:2)
get me off this shitty coffeeshop WiFi but do associate with my home WiFi when I get there" is a more common intent than "don't get on any network whatsoever until I remember to hit the button again".
Then it should be a 'disconnect' button. Making it look like an 'off' button is stupid.
Re: (Score:2)
If you tap the wifi or bluetooth buttons to turn them off, the blue highlight turns gray and the text in the larger display will say "disconnected".
That sounds to me like a disconnect button.
Re: Burying the takeaway (Score:2)
It sounds to me like it's not disconnecting, regardless of what it says. If its by design, as they state, it's not a very good design. When I turn something off, I'd like it to be off and to remain off until such time as I turn it back on again.
Maybe that's just me? ;-)
I must have an archaic definition for off. Somewhere, I do have an iPhone but it's not used for anything other than I played with it a few times. Someone gave it to me because I'd done some nice things for them and they thought I'd like it. I
Re: (Score:3)
So a power-user that knows precisely which of the two she intends can pick the right one.
The annoying part is that one of the two is just a swipe away in the new control center, while the other is in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying âBeware of the Leopard.â
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe that's because the UI designers believe that the vast majority of users intended the former and not the latter and so they prioritized putting the frequent-intent button in a more convenient place and the infrequent-intent one further away. In fact, that's precisely the job of UI designers is to provide access to the most-used things closer without having massively overloaded UI [jensroesner.de], especially on a phone.
[ BTW, not knocking wget here. That GUI is intended for the kind of people that use wget, which are h
Re: (Score:2)
Calling it 'stupid' is a bit of an overreaction to what is basically a UI change to map a more-commonly-held button on what is perceived to the more-
commonly-intended outcome. Maybe that attribution of intended outcome is
If my phone behaved like that I sure as heck would be pissed and call it stupid.
A disconnect button is apparently too hard for Apple to implement or understand. On Android you long press the toggle buttons to manage existing WiFi/BT connections in more detail.
wrong (as anyone that has tried to help less technical people, trying to figure out what someone is actually trying to do is a hell of a thing) but it seems at least reasonable to me that "get me off this shitty coffeeshop WiFi but do associate with my home WiFi when I get there" is a more common intent than "don't get on any network whatsoever until I remember to hit the button again".
Really hard to justify UX designs requiring mind reading to work or changing behavior of UX elements everyone understands especially where said cases of mind reading behavior can't be modified by users.
"More common intent" is hogwash... most people tu
Re: (Score:2)
most people turn off the radios because they want to save non-removable battery life /quote.
Sure, but the question is whether they want it to go back to associating with known networks automatically later or whether the user should have to manually manage something the device can handle autonomously.
Because it seems like users want to turn it off to save battery during the day but also don't want to go home and then burn cellular data despite being in range of their own WiFi network because they forgot to
set it back.
Re: (Score:2)
So you simply press the "Airplane" button, which is the first one in the control center, and it turns off (off off) all the radios.
When...? (Score:5, Insightful)
Can we go back to the 'old' way, where I buy something, its mine, and I get to determine how I want it to work.
I know, I know, grumpy old man grumbling about progress....
Maybe just go back to the old dictionary... where "off" meant off, and progress meant something other than "up yours".
Re: (Score:2)
You can turn it off, it's there in a clear-as-day slider in Settings.
And the button doesn't say off. It's a blue button that turns gray and says "disconnected" when you've, uh, disconnected. And in my dictionary, disconnected does not redirect to "off".
Re: (Score:2)
This is why I refuse to update my iphone (Score:5, Informative)
my iphone 6+ will stay on 9.3.5 forever, or until the hardware dies... whichever comes first.
How do I stop the auto updates? It's impossible to stop the phone from downloading updates automatically, unless you jailbreak it... OR you block the following URLs on your wifi router:
appldnld.apple.com
mesu.apple.com
This will prevent your iDevice from auto downloading OS updates. Don't worry, you can still update your installed apps, it only blocks iOS updates.
Re: (Score:2)
OR you block the following URLs on your wifi router:
I can't speak to your circumstances... but I suspect most people's cellular phones leave the house occasionally - and probably connect to numerous other wifi networks.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:This is why I refuse to update my iphone (Score:4, Informative)
Yes, it can happen. Here is how it goes:
1. I go to Starbucks or a friend's house and my phone auto-downloads 2 GB worth of iOS updates on their wifi
2. iPhone displays a popup saying "iOS 11.0.5 has been downloaded." Two choices are given: UPDATE NOW, or LATER
3. I choose "LATER", then go into Settings - General - Storage & iCloud Usage - Manage Storage. There, it will display a list of everything that takes up space on my phone. The iOS 11 update will be at or near top of the list, being 2 GB in size.
4. I select the "iOS 11 update" and tap to delete it. Tap again to confirm delete.
5. Presto, my phone is still version 9.3.5 and the downloaded update is gone.
6. !profit!
Re: (Score:2)
By the way, when you choose "LATER" after it asks you to "Update now" or "Later", it doesn't mean the phone will prompt you again later. It means the phone will update itself automatically later, with no warning... most likely at midnight tonight after the phone's been sitting idle in the "off" state for over an hour.
So after clicking on "Later", you need to drill into Settings and delete the downloaded update... pronto. Wait too long and you're toast.
Re: (Score:3)
By avoiding updates, you carry around an exploitable phone
And by reflexively updating, you are exposing yourself to the whims and exploits of the software provider, so it's pretty much six of one, half dozen of the other.
This reminds me of something... (Score:5, Insightful)
"The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely." -- 1984
Re: (Score:2)
Shouldn't be a big surprise (Score:2)
After giving this some thought (Score:5, Insightful)
That said, they've broken the first law of UI design - DON'T CHANGE THE BEHAVIOR OF A BUTTON ONCE YOU'VE ESTABLISHED ITS USE. If anything it should be a tri-state button now - full on - apple services only - off. That would've clarified the intent to the user of the change AND alerted the user to its valid state.
Is it any wonder that many considered Steve Jobs an asshole when he would go off? He was probably going off on UI designers doing stuff like this. "DUDE - I PAY YOU A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR AND YOU'RE PUSHING THIS S$*@ ON ME?! WTF?!"
Re: (Score:2)
They're probably getting tons of customer support calls from naive users whining that they can't airdrop from their iPhone to their iPad because they turned off wifi on their iPhone...why my macbook doesn't show up on airdrop but the 15 people's iPhone in the office cubes around me do...
I hope you understand you've essentially shitcanned your former statement with the latter here...clearly users are too stupid to ever actually turn off wifi...
Re: (Score:3)
That depends on what you infer (or divine really) is the user's intended outcome from hitting the button.
I don't think the user intent (insofar as non-technical users have well-formed notions of intent, which is far from clear) when hitting the button is "I want to disabled WiFi connectivity but keep the ability to AirDrop".
Let's play a game, which is guess-what-the-user-actually-wants
(1) Disable all WiFi until I hit the button again, even after I get back at home so that I rack up cellular b
Re: (Score:2)
That depends on what you infer (or divine really) is the user's intended outcome from hitting the button.
I don't think the user intent (insofar as non-technical users have well-formed notions of intent, which is far from clear) when hitting the button is "I want to disabled WiFi connectivity but keep the ability to AirDrop".
Let's play a game, which is guess-what-the-user-actually-wants (1) Disable all WiFi until I hit the button again, even after I get back at home so that I rack up cellular bills (2) Disable all WiFi except for AirDrop and a bunch of other things I don't quite understand (3) Get me off $CURRENT_WIFI (e.g. coffeeshop, airport) but do reconnect to my home network when I get back there even if I forget to hit the button
I think there's a lot of reasons to believe that the user's intended outcome is (3) rather than (1) or (2). YMMV, and I agree this is something of an imprecise science.
FWIW, Android does this, too.
The way Android does it is that the "turn Wi-fi off" switch turns Wifi off. But, in Wifi preferences there's an additional switch for "Turn on Wi-fi automatically", with explanatory text "WiFi will turn back on near high-quality saved networks, like your home network". The screen with the on/off button also has text that says either "Wi-Fi turns back on automatically" or "Wi-Fi doesn't turn back on automatically", and when you turn Wi-Fi off and it's set to turn back on, you
It's a bug (Score:3)
While that might sound like a bug, that's actually what Apple intended in the new operating system.
It may be what Apple intended, but it still counts as a bug. Any time that the UI is actively misleading, that's a bug.
Re: (Score:2)
The problem is that they changed the functionality
Precisely. The misleading part is that they changed it without effectively communicating that it changed.
now you are bitter
Umm, no, I'm not remotely bitter. Nor am I upset, angry, or anything of the sort. You shouldn't assume that you know how other people feel unless they tell you.
My understanding... (Score:2)
Airplane Mode - same as before, turns off all radios - wifi, BT, cell.
The green cellular lollipop - not intuitively obvious to me that this was for cellular, but anyway it turns off the cellular radio entirely as one would expect.
Blue wifi icon - this is the one with the new functionality. It's a 'disconnect' button now, not a 'turn off' button. The use case, from what I can tell, is for people who want to not use wifi at a particula
Obligatory (Score:2)
Hey, Apple. You're programming it wrong.
Re: (Score:3)
But that sort of defeats the purpose because you're turning off ALL radios including the cellphone - so no texts or calls when, presumably, you're turning off the wifi/bluetooth for power saving/security reasons.
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds like a bug in either your device or LineageOS. You might want to submit a bug report about that.
I know that on my android phone, turning off the radios actually turns off the radios.
Re: (Score:2)
And here I thought that everyone went through the Settings app to begin with. I always have.
People tend to think that the way they do things is pretty much the same as the way most other people do things. This assumption is seductive, but often very incorrect.
Re: (Score:2)
Can you name a smartphone that doesn't meet that description? I think that any cell phone you can sell is legally required to enable tracking by official parties (ie., must have a GPS), and practically the cell phone towers would provide that information anyway. The part that isn't legally required is the non-removable battery, but that was invented by marketing, and ensures that phones will be replaced every few years. That it means the phone is an always-on tracker was a bonus that the governments appr
Re: Only LUDDITES use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. (Score:2)
They said ack because they used an analog version of TCP/IP.
I'm a little sorry for this post, but just a little.
Re: Why? (Score:2)
Even the first gen iPad got cut and paste. It even works between applications. You can cut a URL and paste it into your email client, apps, or another tab in Safari.
I know because I still have one. I still sometimes use it as a disposable device. If something happens to it, I don't much care. So, I use it in places I'd not willingly risk a newer device. Other than Safari crashing when sites are bloated, it's still very functional.
Why yes, yes I did just defend Apple.