wifi assist - sneaky buggers

[gsmornot]

Most unlimited data plans don't apply to roaming.

That's where the problem arises. You think you are using the hotel WiFi when potentially you're not.

I was thinking more local where I'm not roaming but going in and out of areas with WiFi coverage. My broadband provider offers hot spot service around town that is good at times and poor at others. Prior to this feature, my phone would stay with the poor WiFi until I turned WiFi off. Later, back on my own WiFi I would find myself using mobile data because I forgot to turn it on again. So, now, I can have a better experience but I do have to be aware of the potential to use more data. You have a good point about roaming.

I should add too, when I'm consuming media that requires more data like Netflix or You Tube, I'm doing it with my WiFi only iPad connected to a Wifi service. If the service drops off or becomes poor my iPad stops working. My phone is reserved for quick use like looking things up on the go or GPS or email, things that do not require a lot of data generally. Maybe this would be a bigger issue for me if I consumed more of my media with my iPhone versus my iPad that only uses WiFi.

 

[Pagemakers]

Roaming is the problem. Imagine watching a film on wifi only to discover you now have a £900 data bill.

 

[richwoodrocket]

Roaming is the problem. Imagine watching a film on wifi only to discover you now have a £900 data bill.

Turn Cellular Data off then...Or maybe just turn cellular assist off...
This feature hasnt been working for me. I havent really noticed any differences in speed that things load on slow wifi or spotty coverage.

 

[Pagemakers]

I've turned wifi assist off. I need data on. I need roaming on

My point being this is a MASSIVE change that is on by default and potentially nobody knows about.

 

[vexorg]

I don't think there is a significant affect.

For you, that's not going to be the case everyone

 

[philipk]

I've turned wifi assist off. I need data on. I need roaming on

My point being this is a MASSIVE change that is on by default and potentially nobody knows about.

Two points
It is ALWAYS important to read what you are updating. Apple is clear about this new feature.

Second, for me it is a godsend. I turn my alarm off and turn on inside lights with my iPhone when I am in the garage. It picks up a Wi-Fi signal but is two weak to work. So in the past I had to manually turn off Wi-Fi or use a different method to turn off alarm and turn on lights.

Now it works wonderfully! I have not noticed any difference in data usage and I was on the beta track so I have over a month of usage.

Disclosure, I do not use any public WiFi sites. I just use my home, work, friends, and relatives WiFi (with permission). Thus WiFi assist doesn't cut in often.

I stopped using public WiFi because in my area it is usually two slow and over crowded. So I had to manually go to cellular always. Plus the security issue.

 

[C DM]

It sounds like we are talking about theoretical possibilities of potential problems a feature like this could create, but don't have anything specific showing that it is actually the case.

Yes there are people with some higher data usage (which sometimes happens for some people after a new iOS update and especially if they set up a new device or an existing one as new), but it doesn't seem that there's anything specific actually connecting that potential higher data usage to this particular feature (aside from that it simply sounds like it could result in that).

 

[bushido]

it just made front page coverage in the news over here. friends keep texting me "there is this secret new toggle in ios that consumes a lot of data. pls turn it off asap!"

 

[C DM]

it just made front page coverage in the news over here. friends keep texting me "there is this secret new toggle in ios that consumes a lot of data. pls turn it off asap!"

On the other hand, there's this: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/30/ignore-the-haters-wi-fi-assist-is-ios-9

 

[philipk]

On the other hand, there's this: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/30/ignore-the-haters-wi-fi-assist-is-ios-9

Thanks for sharing the article.

As I said above, this feature is a godsend to me. Therefore, I agree it is the best new feature in IOS 9.

 

[cynics]

Have you noticed this new feature at the bottom of settings/mobile data.

What a dangerous thing apple have added. It's on by default and they have not told us about it.

So with this on, you're on holiday abroad and on the hotel wifi. If the wifi signal becomes weak it will use your cellular data and your bill could be horrendous.

They can't tell us about it. Telling us about it is admitting the archaic way they were doing it before. Plus it would get thrown in their faces that this isn't anything new and everyone else has already been doing it. Just like other things they improve without mentioning like amount of RAM or something.

Again if this was such a dangerous problem it would have been pointed out when the competition started using it.

I'm willing to bet that most people here didn't even know this was a feature used by the competition. Hence the reason so many are confused by it.

My suggestion is to just turn it off. Let click bait media articles explode on Facebook. Let Apple take the heat for adding a feature everyone else has already been using for years. And in a month no one will ever talk about it again. Well until it's a praised feature that people swear Apple invented.

 

[zhenya]

I'm not at all convinced that it's this feature alone that is causing the extra data usage. With iCloud and other cloud services now prevalent among a growing proportion of users, I think that what is instead happening is that you upgraded your phone to iOS9 which forces a re-sync of a lot of your cloud data. Much of which occurs slowly in the background, and switches to cellular as necessary. This happens to me every time I set up a new phone and have to restore my settings.

Most unlimited data plans don't apply to roaming.

That's where the problem arises. You think you are using the hotel wifi when potentially you're not.

That's true - but most hotel wifi also logs you out frequently which would have the same effect. If I'm worried about roaming charges, I manually turn off cellular roaming in settings and only turn it on when I'm explicitly using it.

 

[vexorg]

It is ALWAYS important to read what you are updating. Apple is clear about this new feature.

Ha Ha haaa, that is so funny, no one reads the small print short of the apple geeks. The phone nags to update, so most people update it. It's like all updates, most simply assume it makes it better and fixes bugs.

In fact I notice the new update message cannot be dismissed properly you only have "install now" or "remind me later" (which now pops up daily!)

 

[C DM]

Ha Ha haaa, that is so funny, no one reads the small print short of the apple geeks. The phone nags to update, so most people update it. It's like all updates, most simply assume it makes it better and fixes bugs.

In fact I notice the new update message cannot be dismissed properly you only have "install now" or "remind me later" (which now pops up daily!)

I believe if you remove the download you shouldn't be getting the install/remind pop-ups.

 

[wlossw]

release notes of 9.02 mentions something about fixing cellular data usage...

 

[philipk]

release notes of 9.02 mentions something about fixing cellular data usage...

Unrelated. It has to do with turning cellular data on or off by apps. Some may not know there has been a great feature for several iOS generations that enables you to restrict which apps use cellular data.

 

[wlossw]

Unrelated. It has to do with turning cellular data on or off by apps. Some may not know there has been a great feature for several iOS generations that enables you to restrict which apps use cellular data.

maybe this data usage issue that required fixing was the true cause of our data usage spikes?

 

[sunking101]

Thanks for sharing the article.

As I said above, this feature is a godsend to me. Therefore, I agree it is the best new feature in IOS 9.

"Godsend"? First world problems.

 

[Jimmy James]

Thanks OP. Very useful heads up.