You know how it is: You just want to check out that viral video or post that really cool photo and then the Wi-Fi connection decides to mess with you. Everything is going so slowly that you are tempted to just continue on 4G or 5G. And as if everything didn't take long enough, you now have to go to settings or the control panel to switch from Wi-Fi to 4G. With Wi-Fi Assist on your iPad or iPhone , that is a thing of the past. As soon as Wi-Fi Assist notices that your Wi-Fi connection is weak, it automatically switches to 4G (or 5G if you have an iPhone with 5G ).
Benefits of Wi-Fi Assist
Of course, you can sometimes experience a slow network on the road or poor coverage in certain places at home. If your iPhone or iPad is constantly searching for and connecting to a Wi-Fi network, your iPhone battery will drain very quickly . In the event of a weak connection, the Wi-Fi assistant automatically switches to 4G and thus saves battery .
With the Wi-Fi assistant, you can continue with what you are doing without interruption. Your favorite series will no longer freeze all the time and you will no longer have to pause it to let it load, because the Wi-Fi assistant automatically switches to 4G. You can continue binge watching.
Disadvantages of Wi-Fi Assist
While Wi-Fi Assist can be a very useful feature on the iPad and iPhone, it also has its drawbacks. For example, Apple does not specify exactly when the assistance comes into action. And that brings us to perhaps the biggest drawback of Wi-Fi Assist: Data usage. Your data bundle can quickly go up unnoticed when it switches to 4G and you don't notice it. For example, if you have weak Wi-Fi in the bedroom, you can be on 4G all night without realizing it. And then your bundle will be empty in no time.
Fortunately, this will not be too bad for most users. The assistance does not work with all apps and will not be activated while roaming. Apps are therefore not refreshed in the background and downloads only take place if you have consciously chosen to download content on your data. You can also indicate on your device which apps may use your 4G bundle and which may not. You can do this via Settings > Mobile Network under the heading Mobile data . You can then choose, for example, not to give apps such as Facebook or streaming apps permission to use 4G, so that they only work with a Wi-Fi connection. Your data bundle is then not unnoticed emptied if your Wi-Fi connection drops.
Turn on Wi-Fi Assist
Would you like to use Wi-Fi assistance on your device? Or do you want to check if it has already been set up? Here's how:
- Go to Settings
- Go to Mobile Network
- At the bottom is Wi-Fi Assistance
- Check if the switch is on or turn it on if you want
Turn off Wi-Fi Assist
Would you like to use Wi-Fi assistance on your device? Or do you want to check if it has already been set up? Here's how:
- Go to Settings
- Go to Mobile Network
- At the bottom is Wi-Fi Assistance
- Check if the switch is on or turn it on if you want
