<story><title>Tell HN: iOS lets carriers add WiFi networks that you can’t stop from joining</title><text>Well this was a major surprise so I figured I’d share it here to get some eyeballs on it.&lt;p&gt;Essentially, the latest iOS (16.4 at post time) allows your cellular carrier (via eSIM) to add “managed networks” to your device.&lt;p&gt;These networks cannot be removed, they cannot have “automatically join” disabled, and they have equal priority with your real, personal networks.&lt;p&gt;So guess what happens when your neighbors get a wifi&amp;#x2F;modem combo that blasts a free hotspot SSID? Not only does it pollute the already crowded 2.4ghz band, your iPhone will often prefer this connection over your real &amp;#x2F;local wifi (despite said wifi being at 1 bar).&lt;p&gt;As of post-time, there is no way to remove these networks short of completely disabling cell service&amp;#x2F;removing the eSIM and resetting all network settings.&lt;p&gt;You can see this for yourself by going to WiFi&amp;#x2F;“edit” and scrolling down.&lt;p&gt;Edit: to clarify, I can disable “auto join”, but in 4-5 minutes all of my devices have auto-join turned back on. I’m guessing it re-syncs with the carrier profile. Also, this does not seem to be eSIM or SIM related it can happen on both.</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>s3p</author><text>This is insane. I have never heard of these and after checking I also have them on my iDevice. Tmobile should explain what wingman is and why it&amp;#x27;s on IOS devices.</text></item><item><author>wpm</author><text>T-Mobile&amp;#x27;s you absolutely can disable, but I would have never ever thought to look there until I read this.&lt;p&gt;I switched off Auto-join on both &amp;quot;t-mobile&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;TMobileWingman&amp;quot;, but I couldn&amp;#x27;t hit the &amp;quot;Done&amp;quot; text-but-its-really-a-button in the upper right until I made some change to the normal known networks list, so I deleted a couple that I didn&amp;#x27;t remember or recognize. YMMV.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s gross either way. No way, no way in hell this is something that should be shadow dropped onto my phone.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ajmurmann</author><text>I don&amp;#x27;t understand why Apple allows carriers to do this. Apple id a well-respected brand by most of their customers while carriers are seen as an evil you cannot do without.</text></comment>
<story><title>Tell HN: iOS lets carriers add WiFi networks that you can’t stop from joining</title><text>Well this was a major surprise so I figured I’d share it here to get some eyeballs on it.&lt;p&gt;Essentially, the latest iOS (16.4 at post time) allows your cellular carrier (via eSIM) to add “managed networks” to your device.&lt;p&gt;These networks cannot be removed, they cannot have “automatically join” disabled, and they have equal priority with your real, personal networks.&lt;p&gt;So guess what happens when your neighbors get a wifi&amp;#x2F;modem combo that blasts a free hotspot SSID? Not only does it pollute the already crowded 2.4ghz band, your iPhone will often prefer this connection over your real &amp;#x2F;local wifi (despite said wifi being at 1 bar).&lt;p&gt;As of post-time, there is no way to remove these networks short of completely disabling cell service&amp;#x2F;removing the eSIM and resetting all network settings.&lt;p&gt;You can see this for yourself by going to WiFi&amp;#x2F;“edit” and scrolling down.&lt;p&gt;Edit: to clarify, I can disable “auto join”, but in 4-5 minutes all of my devices have auto-join turned back on. I’m guessing it re-syncs with the carrier profile. Also, this does not seem to be eSIM or SIM related it can happen on both.</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>s3p</author><text>This is insane. I have never heard of these and after checking I also have them on my iDevice. Tmobile should explain what wingman is and why it&amp;#x27;s on IOS devices.</text></item><item><author>wpm</author><text>T-Mobile&amp;#x27;s you absolutely can disable, but I would have never ever thought to look there until I read this.&lt;p&gt;I switched off Auto-join on both &amp;quot;t-mobile&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;TMobileWingman&amp;quot;, but I couldn&amp;#x27;t hit the &amp;quot;Done&amp;quot; text-but-its-really-a-button in the upper right until I made some change to the normal known networks list, so I deleted a couple that I didn&amp;#x27;t remember or recognize. YMMV.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s gross either way. No way, no way in hell this is something that should be shadow dropped onto my phone.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>judge2020</author><text>Probably to force more traffic onto wifi to keep people off of their network whenever possible.</text></comment>