I haven't received my watch yet, but I'm interested to find out if there is a setting to switch off wifi on the device itself. I'm not talking about the "airplane mode". This setting would be similar to the iPhone's toggle button in Settings - Wi-Fi. I prefer the watch not to scan for known wifi signals all the time, so this setting would allow me to keep the Bluetooth connection live but have wifi switched off on the phone and the watch, when out and about.
The watch actually does connect on its own even when the Iphone is switched off.
It will only do so if your Iphone has established these wifi connections in the past and if there are no logins or passwords to re enter.
Like some others said the functionalities of the Apple watch are more limited but still, kind of nice for regular use in the house or the office with your preferred wifi network.
A nice aspect for me is that for regular use, I can turn off the bluetooth on the Iphone because it drains the battery pretty fast and not worry about charging it before the end of the day, while still using my watch in a nice way.
Here are 2 good links regarding the subject anyway :
Here's what Apple says about WiFi:
Apple Watch uses Bluetooth® wireless technology to connect to its paired iPhone and uses the iPhone for many wireless functions. Apple Watch can’t configure new Wi-Fi networks on its own, but it can connect to Wi-Fi networks you’ve set up on the paired iPhone.
If your Apple Watch and iPhone are on the same network but aren’t connected by Bluetooth, you can also do the following on Apple Watch without iPhone:
- Send and receive messages using iMessage
- Send and receive Digital Touch messages
- Use Siri
If you turn off your phone, your watch will probably just assume that the phone has gone out of Bluetooth range and will start searching for it on available known WiFi networks that have previously been set up.
Theere is no such setting.
The watch doesn't scan for wifi - it picks on whatever wifi your iPhone is connected to. If it can connect to the same network as the phone, it will. If it can't, it'll use Bluetooth.
Thanks for the reply nick101!
I read a couple of articles stating that the watch can connect to known wifi hotspots even when the paired iPhone is switched off. Here's a link: http://www.macrumors.com/2015/04/09/apple-watch-limited-functions-iphone/.
Assuming that these articles are correct, how would the watch connect to wifi if it doesn't broadcast/scan for these wifi networks?
That's a good question. The test is to see whether the watch will connect to wifi with the phone switched off - and the answer is no - just tested it. Watch and phone were wifi-ing nicely, switched off phone, connection to wifi disappears (and I'm right on top of the wifi router).
So the watch can *only* connect if the phone can connect - so I infer that the watch doesn't search itself, but depends on the phone to find a working connection and then uses that one.
Hope that makes sense
NIck,
Your test raises a couple of questions.
1. If you have a wifi connection to the watch and walk away from your phone (out of blutooth range), do you still have wifi? If not, what is the purpose of the wifi watch connection?
2. Test the following: establish wifi to the watch, leave the phone within wifi range and walk out of range of both bluetooth and wifi. At what point do you lose the wifi connection? After leaving wifi range, walk back into wifi range but still out of bluetooth range. Did the watch re-establish wifi connection? Try making a call or sending a text while still within wifi range but out of bluetooth range. Did that reestablish the wifi? What happens when you walk back within bluetooth range?
Answers -
1. Yes, you still have wifi *to the phone*. I tested this by turning off Bluetooth on the phone. Without Bluetooth, you have limited features - iMessage, Digital Touch and Siri. I think that the watch is using its wifi connection to the phone (i.e. not connecting to the wifi router)
2. The connection was re-established - but note what I said above - you can't do anything network-driven but iMessage, Digital Touch and Siri over wifi. Obviously stuff internal to the watch is fine.
Well, I wish I could join the "community testing bench" with my watch, but I'm probably still a few weeks away from receiving it...😟.
I find the web strangely quiet in discussing the connectivity of the watch; it's a major technical feature, with important consequences for those even remotely preoccupied with the security and privacy of mobile devices, such as myself.
From your tests nick101, I guess the watch is indeed scanning continuously for wifi, even if it connects to the iPhone-created wifi hotspot.
Hmmm... that's disappointing. I'll update this discussion thread if I hear something new from the big WWW.
Yes, my Watch is still on Wifi with the phone switched off but only for the limited features - Siri, Digital Touch and iMessage which is what I expected to happen. It also shows in my list of devices connected to my router - it does not show up when the phone is switched on.
You might be right - it would be nice to have a definitive answer to this - we're all trying to infer an answer from sketchy data.
Switch off Apple watch wifi
