How do I prevent Personal Hotspot from automatically activating whenever a device decides to connect to my phone.

On my iPhone6, even when I have "Personal Hotspot" deactivated other devices (MacBook & iPod) can still see the personal hotspot listed in their Wi-Fi settings. If they then select to join the hotspot, my phone automatically activates "Personal Hotspot". This seems like a serious security hole.


Is there a way to stop the phone from automatically activating personal hotspot?


Additionally, the user of the MacBook or iPod is never prompted to enter the hotspot password. What's the point of the password then?

Posted on Jan 16, 2015 9:15 AM

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Posted on Oct 5, 2017 3:30 PM

NikD wrote:


Yes, that was my point. When I turn off personal hotspot on my phone I don't want the other devices, which are sharing my apple id, to be able to turn it back on.

That is your issue in a nutshell. Apple IDs are personal. They are not meant to be shared by different people. If you share your Apple ID all sorts of bad things can happen. This is one of the least of them. Get your kids their own Apple IDs, and link then to yours using Family Sharing. See: Family Sharing - Apple Support

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 5, 2017 3:30 PM in response to NikD

NikD wrote:


Yes, that was my point. When I turn off personal hotspot on my phone I don't want the other devices, which are sharing my apple id, to be able to turn it back on.

That is your issue in a nutshell. Apple IDs are personal. They are not meant to be shared by different people. If you share your Apple ID all sorts of bad things can happen. This is one of the least of them. Get your kids their own Apple IDs, and link then to yours using Family Sharing. See: Family Sharing - Apple Support

Apr 8, 2017 1:54 PM in response to Jazz Man

Jazz Man wrote:



While I realize that she could either turn off wifi or turn off bluetooth to disable the Instant Hotspot activation, this really doesn't seem like a natural solution. An on/off switch for Instant Hotspot activation seems like a better solution.

Which solution may or may not be better doesn't help you deal with the problem you have now. You can certainly submit your feedback to Apple requesting them offer the option you would like.


http://www.apple.com/feedback


But, until they do, your wife will need to learn how to use her devices they way the work now. I've trained lots of people who got themselves labeled "not tech savvy" how to use iPhones. Once people stop thinking of it as something they're not good at, most of them learn it pretty quickly.


Best of luck.

Jan 26, 2017 1:12 PM in response to LACAllen

The problem here is that Settings > Cellular > Personal Hotspot is turned OFF, not on.

That's the whole point of this thread.


I have a PC connected via Ethernet cable to the internet. When I plug in my iPhone to charge it, my iPhone's hotspot automatically turns from "off" to "on" and my computer automatically disconnects from the hard line, and begins using the iPhone's hotspot as its data connection.


This is not a feature.

Mar 3, 2017 4:14 PM in response to Ellfozz

Apple IDs have moved on from being a sharable resource. With the release of the various Continuity features, an Apple ID (when used for iCloud) is now, more than ever, like a phone number. Not designed to be or easily shared.


Instant Hotspot in particular is a convenience for a user who has multiple devices. Not for a family or group of individuals.


You've been informed by Apple of the risks.


User uploaded file



It allows other people, whom you generally trust, to abuse your LTE data plan while you are under the clear understanding that you have explicitly prevented them from doing so.


This statement puzzles me. How can you sort of trust someone?


And then, after they abuse that trust, (your words, not mine) continue to trust them? Fool me once, shame on you...


And you have not at all explicitly prevented them from doing so. If you change your Apple ID password and force them to get their own, your LTE data plan sharing issue solves itself. That's explicitly preventing them. Asking them nicely doesn't appear to be working for you.


You have Family Sharing available to allow the sharing of most iTunes purchases. You can even refuse to play that game by sharing an Apple ID for only iTunes purposes, but not iCloud. This also solves your Continuity issues.


Multiple solutions.


No fingers in my ears. No head in the sand.


End of story.

Aug 14, 2017 9:53 PM in response to Mama1123

The only thing I don't understand is, if my kids all have their own Apple ID,

Are you sure they are using their own Apple IDs for iCloud? Instant Hotspot should only be available in the following conditions.

User uploaded file


Use Continuity to connect your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch - Apple Support


It is not a security problem at all. The assumption is the user owns both devices... the device providing the cellular data and the device using it via Instant Hotspot.


Feedback for Apple goes here >>> http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Oct 5, 2017 3:45 PM in response to erikalloyd25

Having different Apple IDs on my personal iPhone & iPad is something I haven't explored


If the iPad and iPhone both belong to you, why is it an issue?



Ultimately OFF means OFF not "maybe off".


Not for iCloud Continuity features. This is fully documented. This is not a secret or a conspiracy. This is expected behaviour. It is working as designed.

User uploaded file

Use Continuity to connect your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch - Apple Support

Jan 3, 2017 5:24 PM in response to Richard Patterson3

This is not a security flaw. The feature automatically connects devices on the same Apple ID. Other devices will not be able to access your instant hotspot without having the password to your personal hotspot or being connected with the same Apple ID.


With Instant Hotspot, the Personal Hotspot on your iPhone or iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular) can provide Internet access to a Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch without requiring you to enter the password on those devices.


Source: Use Continuity to connect your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch - Apple Support

Oct 13, 2017 3:40 AM in response to Chip_OLata

I'm amazed at the tone of the replies here. Millions of people let their kids share their own Apple IDs.


Therefore, those millions of people will face the the reality of their actions. If you share an Apple ID, this is the expected and designed behaviour of doing that.


No tone. Reality.


Nobody is passing judgement on your choices. We are simply explaining the consequences of them and offering you the only path for voicing your concerns.


If you do not like this expected behaviour, either stop sharing or provide feedback to the only party who can change this expected behaviour. Apple.


Feedback for Apple goes here >>> http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Jan 29, 2017 6:39 AM in response to FerrousJack

I have the same complaint. We share IDs because we have young children. So I don't' want them to have their own IDs. I walk into the house and their connection moves off of the wifi in the house, and on to my phone. If my phone isn't connected to the wifi in the house, they start accessing the web over my LTE connection, running up my wireless phone data usage.


It's insane. For my dime, nothing should ever be "automatic" unless I decide it should be automatic.

Feb 28, 2017 1:40 PM in response to internetfileroom

I completely agree, this way I cannot control my data usage and the maximum time my children watch Youtube. My router blocks my children after two hours of Youtube each day. So far this works out fine, until they discover the personal Hotspot feature. I am sure it won't take long until they do... It gives me the same feeling as the misleading 'Wifi assistance' feature that used to be switched on as a standard. Apple may very well have an interest in people using a lot of mobile data.


Then it could be a bug, since there are two locations for switching the personal hotspot on; One is in the central settings area. In my opinion this should be for anyone that has the password, regardless if they have an Apple account or Apple device at all. And then there is the setting in the 'Mobile Network' folder, which should work for switching devices with the same Apple ID on or off. If Apple would fix this I think all of the above people would be happy.

Mar 3, 2017 3:49 PM in response to i4b

This is very clearly a security flaw. It allows other people, whom you generally trust, to abuse your LTE data plan while you are under the clear understanding that you have explicitly prevented them from doing so.


Mitigating this loophole by forcing families to create different Apple IDs, or by being religiously fanatical about turning off Bluetooth, or by forcing users to put their phones on airplane mode to prevent this from occurring is impractical and error prone.


Anybody who tries to argue that fact that this is not a security breach has their fingers in their ears and needs to remove them. Fix it Apple. Make this behavior optional, not mandatory. End of story.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

How do I prevent Personal Hotspot from automatically activating whenever a device decides to connect to my phone.

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