The all-new Control Center is one of my favorite iOS 11 features. It is finally great to get the ability to add more toggles and remove the ones you didn’t use frequently from the Control Center.
The new Control Center takes some getting used to, and I think Apple needs to improve the way we can select Bluetooth devices. Another major change that Apple has made is in the behavior of the how the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles work in the Control Center, which seems to be confusing a lot of users who were complaining that turning off the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles wasn’t disabling them completely.
Initially, we thought that it was a bug but Apple has clarified that it is expected behavior. If you disable the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth toggle in Control Center, the iOS device will immediately disconnect from Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth accessories, but they will continue to be available for what Apple calls important features such as AirDrop, AirPlay, Apple Pencil, Apple Watch, Continuity features like Handoff and Instant Hotpot and Location Services.
Understanding Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles in Control Center with iOS 11:
So how do you identify if the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles have been completely turned off. The good news is it is easy to figure out if the toggles are disabled visually. There are three different states:
- On or Connected
- Disconnected
- Off
Status: On/Connected – When Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are enabled, the icons are blue in color as seen below.
Status: Off – When Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are disabled from the Settings app, the color of the icons change from blue to grey, and they gain another indicator. A diagonal line through the icons to confirm that they are completely disabled as seen below.
I hope this makes it a little easier to understand the behavior of the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles in the Control Center in iOS 11.
How to Turn-Off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in iOS 11 But Continue to use AirPlay, Apple Watch, Apple Pencil
STEP 1: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open Control Center.
STEP 2: Tap on the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth toggle.
The color of the icons will change from blue to grey and your iPhone or iPad will disconnect from any network in the case of Wi-Fi, and disconnect from any Bluetooth accessory it’s connected to, except for Apple Watch, Instant Hotspot, Apple Pencil, and Continuity features, like Handoff.
How to Completely Turn-Off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in iOS 11
If you really want to completely turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in iOS 11, follow these steps.
STEP 1: Launch the Settings app.
STEP 2: Tap Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
STEP 3: Tap on the On/Off toggle to disable them.
What do you think about this change in iOS 11? Have you got used to it or do you still find it confusing? Let me know in the comments below.
