Apple may have tried to make things a little easier with its iOS 11 Control Center, but not everything was designed keeping the end user in mind. The new iOS 11 introduces a new "off-ish" behavior for Bluetooth and WiFi connections. For those of our readers who may be wondering why WiFi and Bluetooth stays on when they have turned them off in the Control Center, the toggles from the Control Center "disconnect" them from existing connections, but don't completely turn them off.
Both the WiFi and Bluetooth will continue to be available, so user can stay connected to Apple services, including AirDrop, Apple Watch, Apple Pencil, and other similar products and features. An obvious security disaster considering how attackers are trying to infect products using WiFi and Bluetooth, the move has drawn criticism from both the public and security experts.
How to make sure you are actually turning off iOS 11 Bluetooth & WiFi
While we are hoping Apple sends a "fix" to this issue, until that happens here is how to make sure you are actually turning Bluetooth and WiFi off.
1. Get Siri to do the work for you
Right now, this is the most straight forward and simple way to get both the WiFi and Bluetooth turned off without having to go through the pain of opening up Settings. Just fire up Siri and ask it to "switch off Bluetooth" or "turn off WiFi."
Since Siri turns these toggles off directly from the Settings app and not the Control Center, the connectivity actually turns off and not just "off-ish."
2. The obvious: go to Settings
If you are not a Siri lover, you can manually head over to Settings to turn Bluetooth and WiFi off.
- Go to Settings > Wi-Fi > toggle it off.
- Go to Settings > Bluetooth > toggle it off.
3. Use AirPlane Mode
For those who have become so used to having these toggles right in the Control Center that they can't just imagine going through Settings, we hear you. You can also choose to enable AirPlane Mode that does indeed disable WiFi and Bluetooth completely.
- Swipe up the Control Center.
- Tap on Airplane mode.
- If you don't want to be disconnected from all services, tap on Bluetooth or Wi-Fi that you want to switch back on.
It would be easier to just swipe the Control Center up and turn off these connections from there, however, until Apple "reintroduces" this behavior, we will have to rely on these workarounds to make sure these connections don't take a toll on the battery life or open our devices to malware attacks.
