Whenever your iPhone comes across an unknown Wi-Fi network, it shows a prompt asking you whether or not you would like to join the network. Now, if you think that the network is insecure or doesn’t need to be connected, you can choose to decline the request.
However, in certain scenarios, your iPhone connects to a network on its own to ensure your browsing or instant messaging doesn’t come to a halt. Called “Managed Networks”, they are mostly offered for free by well-known and trusted Wi-Fi providers such as Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Since these networks are reliable and secure, the iPhone is set to auto-join them.
While there is no doubt that this automatic behavior is pretty helpful and aimed at improving the user experience, some of you might want to completely turn off Wi-Fi auto-join for public and carrier networks on your iPhone. If that’s what you are after, read on…
Completely Turn OFF iPhone Wi-Fi Auto-Join for Managed Networks
No matter how cool a particular feature is, it can’t claim to fascinate everyone. Fortunately, there is mostly an option to manage such features.
- To get started, launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
- In the Settings menu, choose Wi-Fi to proceed.
- Now, tap on the Edit button in the top right corner of the screen.
- Next, scroll down to the Managed Networks section and then tap on the info button right next to a network.
- Finally, turn off the switch next to Auto-Join and you are good to go!
How to Manage Known Wi-Fi Networks on Your iPhone
For greater control, you can dive into the Wi-Fi network settings and tweak everything in line with your preference.
- To begin with, head over to the Settings app on your iPhone -> Wi-Fi -> tap on Edit in the top right corner of the user interface.
- You should see the list of all the known networks at the top. If you no longer want to keep any network, tap on the “Minus” icon to the left of a specific network and hit the Delete button to confirm the action.
- In order to dive into the details, tap on the circled “i” on the right of a particular network.
- Next, you can disable the auto-join option to prevent your iPhone from joining a network.
- For enhanced security, I would recommend you turn on the Private WiFi Address. It’s designed to reduce tracking of your iOS device across different Wi-Fi networks.
- Now, fine-tune all the Wi-Fi settings to your liking and that’s about it!
To find out more about how managing Wi-Fi networks works on iOS, check out this video:
Read more: How to Reduce Latency in Games on Windows 11
