Why does my iPad connect to my iPhone personal hotspot even though I turned the hotspot off?

Question

Level 4

1,389 points

Why does my iPad connect to my iPhone personal hotspot even though I turned the hotspot off?

I just noticed this and think it's very strange, so thought I would ask here.

I have an iPhone 6 Plus and iPad Air, but running iOS 10.

I was checking my iPad wi-fi connection and noticed that "Doug's iPhone 6 Plus" appeared as a choice, even though I have Personal Hotspot turned off on my iPhone.

Out of curiosity I selected it and my iPhone's personal hotspot turned itself on and let my iPad connect.

That was really strange I thought.

Then I turned the personal hotspot off again and changed the password to see what would happen. I figured that at the minimum if my iPad managed to turn my hotspot on again automatically that at least I would be asked for the password on my iPad. But again it turned the hotspot on and automatically connected - without even asking for the new password.

I think it's weird that the personal hotspot should automatically get turned on like that. Why does that happen? If it's turned off shouldn't it be off?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013), i5, 512 GB SSD, 16 GB RAM

Posted on Oct 22, 2016 6:26 PM

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Answer 1

Doug Lerner2 Author

Level 4

1,389 points

Oct 22, 2016 7:03 PM in response to ADAMdotK

I'm not worried about that. I just confirmed that by looking at available wi-fi hotspots on other people's iPad in the same room. Still, it seems my iPad shouldn't be allowed to turn on my wi-fi hotspot.

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Answer 2

ADAMdotK

Level 3

551 points

Oct 22, 2016 7:04 PM in response to Doug Lerner2

It actually says that you need to do that to Set it up, not to use.

In that case I don't know if it's a bug or not but I can tell you this:

My mac can turn on the hotspot on my iPhone even when it's turned off.

When my wifi and Bluetooth are on on both devices the only thing I need to do is to find my iPhone in the list of available wifi networks on my mac. That's it. I always thought that's a cool feature, it never bugged me.

Honestly I don't know at this point if it's meant to work like that or not.

I found this in settings. have never read it before, actually. But I believe that the last sentence clears everything up.

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Answer 3

ADAMdotK

Level 3

551 points

Oct 22, 2016 6:30 PM in response to Doug Lerner2

It's called Instant Hotspot. I believe it works only for the devices sharing the same Apple ID.

For more info, go here Use Continuity to connect your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch - Apple Support and find Instant Hotspot.

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Answer 4

Doug Lerner2 Author

Level 4

1,389 points

Oct 22, 2016 6:44 PM in response to Demo

Looking at the info page (Use Continuity to connect your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch - Apple Support), it does say that the personal hotspot being on is a pre-condition for "instant hotspot." So something is wrong.

I just did a forced restart of my iPhone after making sure the personal hotspot settings are turned off.

However, after that "Doug's iPhone 6 Plus" still appears in my iPad's list of wi-fi and if I select it my iPhone's Personal Hotspot gets turned on and the iPad connects.

I really want to avoid "reset all settings" if at all possible. The last time I did that it took me two weeks until I found all the settings which needed to be set up again, and doing that didn't solve the problem at that time.

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Answer 5

Doug Lerner2 Author

Level 4

1,389 points

Oct 22, 2016 6:48 PM in response to ADAMdotK

But at

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

it says to use Instant Hotspot that a condition is:

"Your iPhone or iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular) has Personal Hotspot turned on in Settings > Cellular > Personal Hotspot."

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Answer 6

Doug Lerner2 Author

Level 4

1,389 points

Oct 22, 2016 6:33 PM in response to ADAMdotK

I hope there isn't any automatic connection though. It could gobble up data if my Mac connected automatically to the hotspot.

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Answer 7

Doug Lerner2 Author

Level 4

1,389 points

Oct 22, 2016 7:05 PM in response to ADAMdotK

I believe it does say the hotspot must be turned on to use. Before the list of conditions it says:

"It works when your devices are near each other and set up as follows:"

doug

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Answer 8

ADAMdotK

Level 3

551 points

Oct 22, 2016 6:45 PM in response to Demo

the personal hotspot and the Instant Hotspot work differently guys.

"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."

Your Mac/iPad/iPhone or iPod touch will not connect automatically with Instant Hotspot.

However, when you do want to connect you don't have to set up anything on the sharing device. Nor to turn the personal hotspot on. Just browse for available wifi networks on the device that needs the internet access and you will find all instant hotspots available. provided these devices use the same Apple ID.

As long as the device that you want to use as a hotspot has the wifi and Bluetooth turned on, you can use Instant Hotspot.

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Answer 9

Demo

Level 10

166,747 points

Oct 22, 2016 6:51 PM in response to Doug Lerner2

I Know that resetting all settings is PITA. Try turning off Bluetooth, then turn off Personal Hotspost and it should not turn back on by itself. I have used the Personal Hotspot in the past but never used Instant Hotspot.

@ADAMdotK

Yes, I realize that.

the personal hotspot and the Instant Hotspot work differently guys.

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Answer 10

Demo

Level 10

166,747 points

Oct 22, 2016 7:04 PM in response to ADAMdotK

ADAMdotK wrote:

It actually says that you need to do that to Set it up, not to use.

In that case I don't know if it's a bug or not but I can tell you this:

My mac can turn on the hotspot on my iPhone even when it's turned off.

No bug. After experimenting, I believe that you are correct. My point is that if you turn Bluetooth off, then you can't make the connection at all. If you need to use Bluetooth, then that's a different story.

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Answer 11

Doug Lerner2 Author

Level 4

1,389 points

Oct 23, 2016 6:00 PM in response to Demo

I just finished a longer-than-necessary AppleCare chat with a senior advisor about this. The bottom line is that they say this is normal and the support page is written poorly and they said they would clarify it.

In the section on "Set Up Instant Hotspot" where it says the personal hotspot must be on they are now saying that all that means is that the personal hotspot must have been turned on at least once and used before.

Yes, I know that sounds strange. But that's what they told me.

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Answer 12

KiltedTim

Level 10

225,774 points

Oct 22, 2016 6:29 PM in response to Doug Lerner2

It's worked that way since iOS 9 and El-Capitan were released. It's part of Continuity. As far as I know, it will not automatically connect. The connection must be manually initiated.

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Answer 13

Doug Lerner2 Author

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1,389 points

Oct 22, 2016 6:33 PM in response to KiltedTim

It connects if selected.

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Answer 14

Demo

Level 10

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Oct 22, 2016 6:43 PM in response to Doug Lerner2

Content removed. My information was incorrect. I almost never use Bluetooth, but once I turned it on all both devices, it connected automatically when Personal Hotspot was turned on by me.

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Answer 15

ADAMdotK

Level 3

551 points

Oct 22, 2016 6:49 PM in response to Doug Lerner2

The Instant Hotspot can only be initiated from the device sharing the same Apple ID as your iPhone. So no worries that a stranger can turn your hotspot on.

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