How to automatically turn off WiFi at night iPhone

With the iOS7 and onwards, your iPhone might automatically connect to WiFi networks. This can be a bit annoying, especially if you want to keep your WiFi off to save battery. 

Fortunately, there is a way you can prevent your WiFi from automatically connecting.

In this post, we’ll discuss a few things you do to prevent your WiFi from automatically turning on. We’ll also briefly discuss the new Control Center feature that Apple introduced.

If you’re curious to know more, then keep reading.

Table of Contents

• Why is My WiFi Turning On Automatically?
• How to Stop WiFi From Automatically Turning On iPhone?
  • Forget WiFi Network
  • Enable WiFi Assist
• Can I Use Airplane Mode to Turn Off WiFi? 
• Conclusion

Why is My WiFi Turning On Automatically?

So, why exactly does your iPhone WiFi turn on automatically? 

For devices with iOS7 and onwards, Apple added a feature called the Control Center. This is a quick access menu that allows you to toggle on and off various services such as WiFi, Bluetooth, Flight Mode, etc.

If you turn off your WiFi from the Control Center, it will only disconnect you from your network connection for a day. It’s not the same as turning off the WiFi feature on your phone. So, after 5 AM local time, your iPhone will automatically connect to the WiFi network.

When you disconnect your WiFi to use your mobile data, this doesn’t turn off the WiFi feature on your phone completely. 

If you use Control Center to turn off your WiFi, you’ll also see a message that says “Disconnecting Nearby WiFi Until Tomorrow.”

How to Stop WiFi From Automatically Turning On iPhone?

If you want to turn off WiFi entirely and don’t want it to turn on by itself, then you’ll have to go to Settings to turn it off. Unless you turn it on again manually, the WiFi won’t reconnect.

Here’s how to turn off WiFi on iPhone:

• Begin by opening Settings on your iPhone
• Next, open WiFi.
• Then, toggle the slider off besides WiFi.

You can also prevent your phone from connecting to a specific network by disabling the auto-join.

• Start by going into Settings on your iPhone.
• Go to WiFi.
• Look for your network connection name.
• Besides the name, you’ll see a small ‘i’, tap on it.
• A new window will open, toggle off the slider besides Auto-Join.

This will prevent your WiFi network from connecting automatically with your iPhone. You’ll have to tap on it to communicate with the network manually.

Forget WiFi Network

If you want to stop your iPhone from connecting to a specific network permanently, it best to go into settings and forget the network.

Here are a few simple steps to help you through the process:

• Start by opening Settings.
• Then go to WiFi.
• Find the name of the network that you want to forget.
• Next, tap on the ‘i’ beside the network name.
• Tap on ‘Forget This Network.’
• A pop-up will appear, asking you to reconfirm. Tap on ‘Forget.’

Do keep in mind that you are removing the saved password and information for the specific network by forgetting a network connection. If you wish to reconnect to this network, you will have to enter the password again.

Enable WiFi Assist

If you want to turn off your WiFi because of weak connections, then there is something else that you can try out. Rather than manually turning off your WiFi every time and then switching to mobile data, you can enable WiFi Assist.

This feature allows your phone to automatically switch to mobile data when your WiFi network is weak.

To enable WiFi Assist, follow these steps:

• Go to Settings on your iPhone.
• Then find and select Mobile Data.
• Toggle on the slider besides WiFi Assist.

This way, you don’t have to change your WiFi settings manually. This feature will allow you to enjoy a solid and stable internet connection.

Can I Use Airplane Mode to Turn Off WiFi? 

You can use Airplane Mode to turn off your WiFi if you wish. However, we do not recommend using it as an option.

When you enable Airplane Mode, it automatically disables other connectivity features along with your WiFi, such as Bluetooth, GPS, and cellular data services. 

As this limits your activity, it’s better to use some of the methods mentioned above if you wish to disable your WiFi.

Conclusion

With the growing use of the internet nowadays, it’s essential to understand how to enable and disable the internet on your device. 

In this post, we discussed various ways to disable access to WiFi on your iPhone. We also discussed reasons as to why the iPhone automatically connects to WiFi.

Apple added Control Center in iOS as part of a new quick menu in iOS 7. On your Apple iPhone or iPad, you can swipe up from any screen and toggle various services on/off. One such service is the Wi-Fi. While Control Center makes it quick and easy to manage Wi-Fi and other connectivity options on your iPhone, most people don’t fully grasp how it works. That’s one reason why users are left wondering how their iOS Wi-Fi is turning on automatically.

You may have turned off Wi-Fi to use cellular data or save battery juice while you’re away from a known network. Realizing that toggling off the Wi-Fi didn’t actually turn it off can be baffling how your battery drained gradually and how come the Wi-Fi network got turned on automatically.

Let’s understand it in more detail.

How Control Center Works

The Control Center was designed as an easy-access menu where you can toggle a bunch of services like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and torch on and off from anywhere on the screen. Turning off the Wi-Fi from the Control Center will only disconnect your smartphone from the connected Wi-Fi network/router for roughly a day. It will not turn off the Wi-Fi service itself, and after 24 hours, the iPhone or iPad will connect to that Wi-Fi network automatically.

Your iPhone will disconnect from the Wi-Fi router or hotspot and instead use mobile data temporarily. The Wi-Fi is still on. You can check that from the Settings. Turn off Wi-Fi and open Settings > Wi-Fi to check.

You should notice the message ‘Disconnecting Nearby Wi-Fi Until Tomorrow’ when you use the Control Center to turn it off. That is why your iPhone reconnects to the saved Wi-Fi network even though you have turned it off, or should I say disconnected it.

In short, turning off Wi-Fi from Control Center will disconnect it temporarily or for 24 hours only. If you want to shut it off entirely, head to Settings > Wi-Fi to turn it off entirely. Otherwise, if your mobile data connection is intermittent, then the iPhone might fall back to the Wi-Fi network.

Why Doesn’t Control Center Turn off Wi-Fi Completely

A lot of thought seemed to have gone behind this reasoning. Wi-Fi is used for more activities than just connecting to the internet and surfing the wild web. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are necessary for using options such as AirDrop, AirPlay, Apple Watch, Mobile Hotspot, and other such connected services. Turning off the Wi-Fi will disrupt one of those services. That’s why toggling off the option from Control Center to disconnect Wi-Fi temporarily and not entirely makes sense.

Turn Wi-Fi Off Properly

Use the Settings if you want to turn off the Wi-Fi for good. That will stop iOS from turning Wi-Fi on automatically later. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi and toggle the option off. As discussed in the above point, other features that depend on the Wi-Fi will stop working too.

Note: Wi-Fi will turn on and connect to the saved Wi-Fi network automatically if you reboot your iPhone. That is irrespective of which method you use to toggle off the Wi-Fi.

Auto-Join Is Disabled Until

When you use Control Center to disconnect Wi-Fi, it will not auto-join the network again until:

• It’s 5 AM where you live (local time)
• You reboot the iPhone
• You move to a new location
• You connect to a Wi-Fi network from Settings
• You turn on Wi-Fi from Control Center

Now you know why your iPhone connects to the Wi-Fi network automatically in the morning even when you turned it off at night. You should toggle it, not disconnect it.

What Happens to Wi-Fi in Airplane Mode

I don’t recommend using the Airplane mode to turn off Wi-Fi. That will also turn off all other network connectivity options like Cellular services, GPS, Bluetooth, and mobile data.

Forget Wi-Fi Network

One way to keep the Wi-Fi on and still make sure your iPhone doesn’t automatically reconnect with the Wi-Fi network is by using the ‘forget network’ option.

Step 1: Open Settings > Wi-Fi and select the Wi-Fi network name that you are connected to presently. It can be your home or office router, for example.

Step 2: Tap on Forget This Network option and confirm when asked.

Note that you will need to enter the Wi-Fi password again to join the network. Make sure you have it. Even better is when you disable Auto-Join and enable Low Data Mode options in the same menu. That way, you won’t have to forget the network and hence re-enter the password. Just disable Wi-Fi from the Control Center and toggle off Auto-Join. Your iPhone won’t connect to the selected Wi-Fi automatically again. When you do connect manually by re-enabling Auto-Join, it will consume low data.

Using Wi-Fi Assist

Wi-Fi Assist will force the phone to use cellular data in case Wi-Fi is working slow or not working at all. A lot of users turn off Wi-Fi from the Control Center instead and then wonder how their Wi-Fi connected automatically again.

Go to Mobile Data under Settings and scroll to the bottom of the screen to find the Wi-Fi Assist option. Enable it to enjoy uninterrupted internet even when Wi-Fi is acting weird. No need to launch the Control Center and mess with Wi-Fi settings over and over again.

Connecting the World

The Control Center acts as a window to most commonly used and essential features. It is suitable to turn on and off services from any screen on the iPhone. The Wi-Fi option is one of them. Considering how widely Wi-Fi is used these days, toggling it off only disconnects the Wi-Fi momentarily instead of disabling it. Now, you know why iOS keeps connecting to the Wi-Fi network repeatedly.

Next up: Not sure who else is using your home’s Wi-Fi services? Is it your neighbor? Click on the link below to learn of three tools to find just that.

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