When the newest version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 11, was released this week, many users were shocked to see a new control center with almost an entire screen of toggles. While many of these are simple on and off switches, the same cannot be said about the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles. Confusingly, these two buttons do not turn entirely off their respective features, contrary to what they did in the previous version.
Both the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth switches were already preset in the old control center prior to the iOS 11. Then, the user simply taps the toggles to turn the wireless or Bluetooth radios on or off.
However, with the iOS 11's new control center, tapping the switches only disconnects the iPhone or iPad from an active Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection, but does not turn off the radios at all.
If a user turns off the switches from the control center, then goes into the settings app, he or she will find that the wireless and Bluetooth features of the device are still turned on. Users will have to go to the settings screen to turn the features off.
It may sound confusing or may not make sense, but the behavior is exactly what Apple intended. In the company's documentation, it said, "In iOS 11 and later, when you toggle the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth buttons in Control Center, your device will immediately disconnect from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth accessories. Both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth will continue to be available."
Apple says this was designed so that users will still be able to use features like AirPlay, AirDrop, Apple Watch, Apple Pencil, Instant Hotspot, and Location Services.
Also of note is the fact that if the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are disabled in the Control Center, they will automatically be enabled when the user restarts the device or when it is 5 a.m. local time. Apple did not provide a reason for this behavior.
