iOS Shortcut to disable cellular data when wifi is lost

[macstatic]

Sometimes, when using Wifi, the connection is lost and cellular data takes over. This is very unfortunate when for instance watching streaming video etc. which we wouldn't do with cellular (because of costs/limitations).
So... is there some way (perhaps with an iOS Shortcut) I could prevent this from happening (i.e. with a lost Wifi connection this would result in no data connection at all, not moving over to cellular), or in some way prevent videos or other large files to stream over a cellular connection?

 

[adrianlondon]

You want cellular data OFF when you have no WiFi. And when you do have WiFi, cellular data won't be used anyway, so why not just turn it off?

Or go into Mobile Data (I guess that's called cellular data on your phone?) in Settings and turn off whichever app you use to stream from using mobile/cellular data.

 

[macstatic]

You want cellular data OFF when you have no WiFi. And when you do have WiFi, cellular data won't be used anyway, so why not just turn it off?

Because some social media apps (Snapchat etc.) are used throughout the day with cellular data for sending messages, but with Wifi available it can also show videos. But of course, that would be much easier if there was wifi access throughout the day.

Turning cellular data off manually can of course be done, but with all the menu-diving and clicking here and there it's usually forgotten by a child, so I'm looking into a simpler way.

Or go into Mobile Data (I guess that's called cellular data on your phone?) in Settings and turn off whichever app you use to stream from using mobile/cellular data.

It's called mobile data here in Norway as well (but since this forum appears to be mostly US-orientated I refer to it as "cellular data").
Yes, that's very useful, and I know that some apps have a setting where it prevents video downloads via cellular, but I haven't found this in Snapchat.
So as "one click" alternative I was thinking that a Shortcut would solve this easier than going to the various settings manually.

 

[karlcrazyman]

Yes, it is possible to prevent your iPhone from automatically switching to cellular data when your WiFi connection is lost.

You can do this by going to Settings > Cellular and scrolling down to the bottom of the screen. There, you will find an option called "Wi-Fi Assist". By default, this option is enabled, which means that your iPhone will automatically switch to cellular data when the WiFi connection is weak or lost.

To disable this feature, simply toggle off the Wi-Fi Assist option. This will prevent your iPhone from automatically switching to cellular data when your WiFi connection is lost.

As for preventing videos or other large files from streaming over a cellular connection, you can go to Settings > Cellular and scroll down to the list of apps that are using cellular data. From there, you can toggle off the apps that you don't want to use cellular data. This will ensure that these apps can only use WiFi for streaming videos or downloading large files.

Alternatively, you can use an iOS Shortcut to automate the process of turning off cellular data when your WiFi connection is lost. There are many shortcuts available on the App Store that can help you with this. You can search for them by using keywords like "disable cellular data" or "turn off cellular data".

 

[macstatic]

Excellent advice! Thank you