Stop using the Control Center on your iPhone to disable Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

Apple Control Center was available at The best iPhones It’s been a decade now, but a recent demo at a hacker conference shed light on what the feature actually does.

As I mentioned Android AuthorityAt this year’s Def Con, security researcher Jae Bochs created the $70 device, which he then used to send personalized alerts to conferencegoers with iPhones. The device is used bluetooth le Services, which allow Apple smartphones to communicate with each other, to display pop-up messages on any iPhone within range.

These messages asked the attendees to connect their AppleID or share a password with someone nearby Camelaccording Techcrunch. As you can imagine, this caused quite a bit of commotion at the conference. Nudge Security by Jaime Blasco, et al X took (formerly Twitter) to warn others about alerts.

These alerts weren’t malicious or the work of actual hackers – instead they were part of a research project designed to remind iPhone users to turn off bluetooth when not in use. Unfortunately, though, turning off Bluetooth from the Control Center on your iPhone doesn’t actually disable it. The same applies to Wi-Fi.

How Control Center really works on your iPhone

Just like with the quick settings in the The best Android phonesControl Center gives you access to toggles for various settings, from Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to volume and screen brightness controls. You can access the Control Center by swiping down from the top right corner of your iPhone.

This is a quick and easy way to disable Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and I’m sure many iPhone users have been doing this for years. However, when you toggle on Control Center, you’re just telling your iPhone to disconnect any devices that use these connection options.

Although the file Bluetooth headphones or Internet distributor It is no longer connected to your iPhone, and the phone’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi services are still running in the background. To completely disable it, you actually need to open the iPhone Settings app and turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi that way. This definitely wastes time but it is the only way to turn off any of the settings.

While Boch’s experience certainly helped raise awareness of this issue, Apple clearly states in a support document That you need to go to Settings instead of Control Center to disable Bluetooth or Wi-Fi on your iPhone. The problem here is that most people won’t delve into something like this and just assume that the keys on the top of their iPhone do exactly what they sound like they do.

There are two other easier ways to turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on your iPhone. The first involves opening Control Center and then long-pressing any of the icons. From here, you need to long-press again when you are taken to the quick menu and this will take you directly to the Settings app. Similarly, you can also create shortcuts to your home screen to quickly turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. However, you will also need separate shortcuts to get it working again.

Why you should turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

(Image credit: Robert Cullen/Shutterstock)

There are two very important reasons why you should turn off both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when you are not using them on your iPhone.

The first and most obvious reason is to preserve your phone’s battery life. Enabling Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in the background drains the battery albeit slowly. If you are interested in other ways to make your iPhone last longer, here they are 12 tips to save your iPhone battery life.

The second and most important reason for disabling Bluetooth and Wi-Fi is hackers. Although iPhone users don’t have to worry about malicious apps like Android users, enabling Bluetooth and Wi-Fi provides hackers with an entry point into your iPhone. Usage risks Public Wi-Fi Well known and with Wi-Fi enabled, your smartphone will try to connect to nearby wireless networks. As for bluetooth, there are a lot of Bluetooth disadvantages Which can be exploited by hackers in their attacks.

Control Center can be very handy, but if you want to make sure Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are really turned off on your iPhone or even on one The best iPadsYou’ll want to take the extra time to head to your device’s Settings menu instead.