Searching for cell signal is draining my battery I have weak cell signal at home but i have WiFi. So don’t need cellular at home. (I’m home 90% of the day) So why would Apple allow phone to use battery power to find a cell when I don’t need it How can I get an answer from Apple
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPhone 13, iOS 18
TRA43 wrote:
The purpose of my original question is to somehow get the attention of Apple to fix what I think is an unnecessary drain on phone battery when a usable WiFi signal is available. It appears that this issue has been around since 2016. Does anyone know how I can get this issue in front of the Apple team?
This is a user-to-user forum. Apple doesn't read here for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:
Note that, most of the time, iPhones do exactly what you want them to do, use WiFi preferentially when it's available. I don't know why yours is not. Do you have WiFi calling enabled? Have you tried some basic troubleshooting such as unplugging your router for a few minutes and plugging it back in? Or resetting your iPhone's network settings in Settings>Transfer or Reset iPhone>Reset>Reset Network Settings?
What is your WiFi signal strength like in the areas of your home where you spend the most time? Depending on the size of your house, the location of your router and the composition of your walls, there may be areas where it's not good. If that's the case, make sure that Settings>Cellular>WiFi Assist is turned off. In fact, maybe turn that off anyway.
TRA43 wrote:
The purpose of my original question is to somehow get the attention of Apple to fix what I think is an unnecessary drain on phone battery when a usable WiFi signal is available. It appears that this issue has been around since 2016. Does anyone know how I can get this issue in front of the Apple team?
This is a user-to-user forum. Apple doesn't read here for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:
Note that, most of the time, iPhones do exactly what you want them to do, use WiFi preferentially when it's available. I don't know why yours is not. Do you have WiFi calling enabled? Have you tried some basic troubleshooting such as unplugging your router for a few minutes and plugging it back in? Or resetting your iPhone's network settings in Settings>Transfer or Reset iPhone>Reset>Reset Network Settings?
What is your WiFi signal strength like in the areas of your home where you spend the most time? Depending on the size of your house, the location of your router and the composition of your walls, there may be areas where it's not good. If that's the case, make sure that Settings>Cellular>WiFi Assist is turned off. In fact, maybe turn that off anyway.
Your iPhone is a cellphone.
it is designed and meant to connect to a cellular network.
If you want it to stop looking for a cellular connection, put your phone into Airplane mode.
Turn WiFi and Bluetooth back on.
Sorry but that’s absurd. It’s supposed to be an “intelligent” device. The iPhone should be able to know that a WiFi signal can do the job of a cell when it’s present. I shouldn’t have to resort to Airplane mode
The purpose of my original question is to somehow get the attention of Apple to fix what I think is an unnecessary drain on phone battery when a usable WiFi signal is available. It appears that this issue has been around since 2016. Does anyone know how I can get this issue in front of the Apple team?
TRA43 wrote:
The purpose of my original question is to somehow get the attention of Apple to fix what I think is an unnecessary drain on phone battery when a usable WiFi signal is available. It appears that this issue has been around since 2016. Does anyone know how I can get this issue in front of the Apple team?
Any problem you have has been around since 2016, and probably since 2007 (the year the iPhone first appeared), or even longer. There are over 1 BILLION iPhones, so no matter what problem you have more than one user will have had it.
But it is not a general issue; it is a problem with your phone. When there is a general issue you will see thousands of posts about it over a very short period of time.
Lawrence,
It is not a problem with my phone. You point out that it is problem with 1 BILLION iPhones. In fact it is not a problem in that sense of the word. It is an issue that, if "fixed", could improve battery life for many iPhone users who work from an area with a weak cell signal but have a working WiFi network.
iPhone battery drain searching for weak cell signal
