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Radon87000

macrumors 604
Original poster
Nov 29, 2013
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On iOS 10 I could disconnect my Watch and phone by turning off Bluetooth. On iOS 11 I just noticed the Watch remains connected even though Bluetooth is off. Is this a bug in iOS 11 where the OS isn't really turning off Bluetooth?
 
On iOS 10 I could disconnect my Watch and phone by turning off Bluetooth. On iOS 11 I just noticed the Watch remains connected even though Bluetooth is off. Is this a bug in iOS 11 where the OS isn't really turning off Bluetooth?

The toggles on the control centre now behave differently in that they disconnect current connections but do not turn WiFi/Bluetooth off.

When you press the Bluetooth toggle the watch disconnects then will probably reconnect after a few seconds because they like to stay connected.

To turn Bluetooth fully off you must now go to the settings app.

Hope this helps!
 
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I recall reading that the Apple Watch and the airpods are exempt from bluetooth disconnection, since the user expects them to function properly all the time, regardless of other, often more temporary, devices.
 
WTF? If I want BT or WiFi off, I don't want to have to go to the settings app to do so. The control center is supposed to give you quick access to these functions.
 
I guess too many people turned them off believing they would make major battery savings, forgot to enable them and did not understand why their surfing/headphones/whatnot didn't work.
 
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I guess my question to you, is why do you feel the need to turn these technologies off? Recent WiFi and BT chips don't drain your battery.
I agree. I feel like I am in the minority in that I like these changes. I never turned BT off because of my watch, so no big deal there.

I have, however, forgot to re-enable Wi-Fi on occasion which results in using my data plan unnecessarily. Shouldn't be a problem now. It's especially handy when the phone wants to connect to a garbage wifi network and I would prefer to stay on cellular data...now I don't need to turn off wifi entirely so no need to remember to turn it back on.
 
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I guess my question to you, is why do you feel the need to turn these technologies off? Recent WiFi and BT chips don't drain your battery.

It's not about the battery. It's about conflict and security. An example is two phones, two vehicles with BT capable head units. BT ranges have increased. There have been times when my wife and I are close to each other, driving down the road where I've had to turn my BT off so it would disconnect from the vehicle she was driving (mine was the primary for the one she was driving). It was the easiest thing to do while driving.

The other concern relates to security. BT isn't necessarily the most secure thing out there. There are times when I just want it off when I know I'm not going to use it. Almost the same thing for WiFi. When I don't want to use a nearby WiFi signal, I need to be able to turn off WiFi and not worry about it. For instance, at work I may not want what I'm looking at on my phone to go through the work network. Because it's a known network it will connect automatically if WiFi is on.
 
driving down the road where I've had to turn my BT off so it would disconnect from the vehicle she was driving (mine was the primary for the one she was driving). It was the easiest thing to do while driving.
It still is. The bluetooth icon in the control centre will do exactly what you want it to, with the advantage that it'll connect to the next device you need it to without you having to remember to turn it back on again.

If you want to turn bluetooth or wifi on/off, just 3D press on settings and you're right there. Or ask Siri.

As for your scenario about connecting (or not) to your work wifi, turn off auto-join (new iOS11 feature) for that network.
 
I believe the toggles now disconnect from current connections (bar AWatch and AirPods) and do not reconnect to the same SSID/Bluetooth device until the range has been left and re-entered. (Does that make sense?)

I’ve read this somewhere but cannot provide a source! Will just have to have a play and see.
 
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