Other Other devices can turn on my iPHone's hotspot?

[Schmactor]

So even if I have "Personal Hotspot" turned off on my iPhone, it still appears as available on my Macbook Pro and it can connect to my iPhone which automatically turns the hotspot on and the wifi off on my phone.

Is this because they are on the same Apple ID? Is there a way to stop this? I mean, even if they are signed into the same Apple ID, if I want my hotspot deactivated it should stay deactivated. Another device, even my own, should not be able to turn it on. I even changed the password and my Macbook Pro still connected automatically. I didn't realize my Macbook Pro was on my iPhone hotspot and not on the regular wifi network for a while which burns a ton of data.

 

[DaveOP]

This is iCloud/AppleID related. I believe the devices have to be in range of each other, I don't think you can just turn it on halfway around the globe. It seems to use Bluetooth for the connection, at least in my experience. Forcing it to not work is another question, hopefully someone chimes in.

 

[off_piste]

Doesn't seem to be a big deal. It doesn't turn it on automatically as you actually have to select it. and it only works with your Apple ID. Quite the convenience for things like wifi iPads.

 

[Shirasaki]

I often need to activate PH while plug my phone into my MacBook Air. Theoretically, my data should quickly run out as USB connection is always available when PH is enabled, but no. Wifi is still used and my phone does not become super hot. Also, my data is not just gone from my plan.

Therefore, there is no need to worry about this, as you do need to activate it on your computer manually.

PH= personal hotspot.

 

[Apple_Robert]

If you are worried that other peopler's Apple devices will automatically connect to yours, you can put your fears aside. As stated, only your Apple devices (Mac, iPhone, iPad) will connect to each other as previously outlined. The connection has a unique password that others cannot see or use, unless you were to change the password and give the password to friends etc.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Only my Macbook Air or my iPad can turn on my iPhone's hotspot. But only because my Macbook Air and iPad are using my Apple ID. Otherwise, this wouldn't happen.

Saves TONS of time and is really convenient! Just wish my Chromebook could do this .

 

[sonicspectrum]

Only my Macbook Air or my iPad can turn on my iPhone's hotspot. But only because my Macbook Air and iPad are using my Apple ID. Otherwise, this wouldn't happen.

Saves TONS of time and is really convenient! Just wish my Chromebook could do this .

LOL. So I too loved this feature until today, my wifi went down at the office at the exact time I synched a new dropbox folder share from a co-worker. 4gb of data, automatically synched on my computer using my hotspot before my carrier notified me I was at 90% of my monthly data usage... not sure I like this feature anymore.

 

[BigMcGuire]

LOL. So I too loved this feature until today, my wifi went down at the office at the exact time I synched a new dropbox folder share from a co-worker. 4gb of data, automatically synched on my computer using my hotspot before my carrier notified me I was at 90% of my monthly data usage... not sure I like this feature anymore.

Yeah it can definitely be a negative - I once hooked my phone up to my Windows laptop and iTunes decided it would download all my movies over my iPhone. Minutes later I was wondering why my phone was so hot. "CRAP!" Especially on a high speed LTE connection. Would be nice if the OS was smart enough to say: "This is a mobile hotspot, only do the minimal!"

 

[Shirasaki]

Yeah it can definitely be a negative - I once hooked my phone up to my Windows laptop and iTunes decided it would download all my movies over my iPhone. Minutes later I was wondering why my phone was so hot. "CRAP!" Especially on a high speed LTE connection. Would be nice if the OS was smart enough to say: "This is a mobile hotspot, only do the minimal!"

The problem is, except (or even not) macOS, they will not realize “this is a connection from a phone with a ****ing plan”, and still treat it as normal WiFi or wired connection. Windows 10 can set a connection as metered connection and thus stops some system-based downloads from happening. But it cannot set my iPhone hotspot as metered connection anyway. Fortunately I can easily manage the download on my Windows 10, including windows update.

 

[jav6454]

They will assuming they are all connected via your own iCloud account.

 

[SoYoung]

When you activate hotspot via your ipad, does the hotsport will be turned off again automatically on your iphone when we are done with the hotspot on the ipad ?