Roger Fingas
Two small but critical additions to the new iOS 9 betas released on Thursday include "Wi-Fi Assist," a feature built to prevent iPhones from latching onto poor Wi-Fi connections, and Wi-Fi calling for AT&T network customers.
Despite its name, the new "Wi-Fi Assist" option can be found under the "Cellular" menu in the iOS Settings app. Turning it on will force a device to switch to a 3G or 4G connection when a Wi-Fi signal falls under an unspecified quality level.
Currently an iPhone will often attempt to connect to a known Wi-Fi hotspot even when it's barely within range, even if the connection is too weak to effectively transmit data. Until iOS 9 beta, the only viable solution in such circumstances has been to disable an iPhone's Wi-Fi radio.
Accordingly, Apple has also made it clearer when Wi-Fi is being turned off. The icon now turns "inactive" gray before one of the symbols for cellular data appears.
On a related note, the latest iOS 9 beta also enables Wi-Fi calling for AT&T subscribers. Offloading incoming and outgoing calls to a local wireless network offers a more reliable connection, enhanced audio quality and better battery performance. Apple first activated Wi-Fi calling features for T-Mobile's network with an early iOS 8 beta last year.
Apple released two new iOS 9 betas earlier today, including a third public beta and a fifth developer seed. Both are effectively identical, but the company is slower to issue public betas in order to avoid causing too much aggravation with bugs or poor performance.
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34 Comments
[quote name="Ashley" url="/t/187523/latest-ios-9-betas-automatically-detects-switches-away-from-weak-wi-fi-signals-adds-at-t-wi-fi-calling#post_2757639"]Wasn't this an iOS 6 beta feature that was removed a few years ago?[/quote]Are you talking about where your Verizon iPhone could switch over to cellular data while still connected to a wifi network? If so Apple treated that as a bug and patched it away. At least back then users didn't like it eating into their data plan.
I don't have this feature after updating. Is it a country specific feature? I'm in the UK
While the latest beta may now include the switch to activate WiFi calling for AT&T customers, that does NOT mean that AT&T is on board with that. I just tried to activate it in the DFW area and it came back that WiFi Calling was NOT yet available in my area. As AT&T tends to roll out their better technology here in the DFW area sooner than later, I was a bit surprised.
[quote name="Ashley" url="/t/187523/latest-ios-9-betas-automatically-detects-switches-away-from-weak-wi-fi-signals-adds-at-t-wi-fi-calling#post_2757648"][URL=http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/08/09/apples_wi_fi_plus_cellular_option_in_ios_6_to_keep_apps_syncing_when_wifi_networks_choke]http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/08/09/apples_wi_fi_plus_cellular_option_in_ios_6_to_keep_apps_syncing_when_wifi_networks_choke[/URL] [/quote] Thanks! Good memory..
Despite its name, the new "Wi-Fi Assist" option can be found under the "Cellular" menu in the iOS Settings app.
Today: "Wi-Fi Assist."
Future: "Cellular Network Assist."
I'd gladly pay Apple a (small) monthly premium for an auto-network-switching feature.
Where I live, AT&T data connectivity is notoriously weak. Verizon seems fine.
If only my 2016 iPhone 7 could switch to whichever network has the best voice / data wherever I am...