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What Does “Disconnecting Nearby Wi-Fi Until Tomorrow” Mean? The Truth!

    David Lynch
  • 6 years ago
    • Categories: Wireless

You just saw a pop-up on your iPhone that says “Disconnecting Nearby Wi-Fi Until Tomorrow” and you don’t know what it means. This new message started popping up after Apple released iOS 11.2. In this article, I’ll explain why your iPhone has disconnected from nearby Wi-Fi networks until tomorrow and show you what you can do to reconnect to Wi-Fi.

Why Is My iPhone Disconnecting Nearby Wi-Fi Until Tomorrow?

Your iPhone is disconnecting nearby Wi-Fi until tomorrow because you tapped the Wi-Fi button in Control Center. The main purpose of this pop-up is to clarify that tapping the Wi-Fi button in Control Center doesn’t completely turn off Wi-Fi — it only disconnects you from nearby networks.

After tapping the Wi-Fi icon in Control Center, the “Disconnecting Nearby Wi-Fi Until Tomorrow” pop-up will appear on the screen and the Wi-Fi button will turn white and gray.

An Important Note About This Pop-up

The “Disconnecting Nearby Wi-Fi Until Tomorrow” pop-up only appears after the first time you tap on the Wi-Fi button in Control Center. Afterwards, you’ll only see a small prompt at the top of Control Center when you tap on the Wi-Fi button.

How To Reconnect To Wi-Fi

If you saw this pop-up and want to reconnect your iPhone to nearby Wi-Fi without having to wait until tomorrow, there are a few things you can do:

  1. Tap the Wi-Fi button in Control Center again. You’ll know your iPhone is connecting to nearby Wi-Fi networks again when the button is blue.
  2. Restart your iPhone. After turning your iPhone off and back on, it will start connecting to nearby Wi-Fi networks again.
  3. Go to Settings -> Wi-Fi on your iPhone and tap on the Wi-Fi network you want to connect to.

What Are The Benefits Of Disconnecting From Nearby Wi-Fi?

So you’re probably wondering to yourself, “What’s the point of this feature? Why would I want to leave Wi-Fi on, but disconnect from nearby Wi-Fi networks?”

By disconnecting from nearby Wi-Fi networks while leaving Wi-Fi on, you can still use AirDrop, Personal Hotspot, and have access to some location-based features.

This feature is also useful if the Wi-Fi network at work or your favorite restaurant isn’t that reliable. You can disconnect from nearby Wi-Fi networks while you’re out, then reconnect when you get back home. By not searching or trying to connect to poor Wi-Fi networks all day, you may even save a little iPhone battery life!

Disconnecting Nearby Wi-Fi Explained!

You now know exactly what the “Disconnecting Nearby Wi-Fi Until Tomorrow” alert on your iPhone means! I encourage you to share this article on social media to help your family and friends understand what this pop-up really means. If you have any other questions about your iPhone, leave them in the comments section below!

Thanks for reading,
David L.

View Comments (33)

  • It’s obvious why they did this is so they can keep track of you better. When you disconnect from Wi-Fi, you lose features like AirDrop and other things that Apple is using to collect your information. Not to say disconnecting Wi-Fi will actually save you from being tracked. However, it does cause inaccuracies in the information they are trying to gather about you and Apple just can’t have that.

    • I agree, I really hate Apple now, the privacy is a lie, no way to delete data without deleting account, my next phone will be android with Lineage, Apple are disgusting liars

  • I checked Google Maps but it is also not working. I read that it will work for location-based features, so then why it is not working for Google Maps?

  • I have problems with my iPhone 12 pro max, when my phone locks, it will automatically disconnect from WIFI and I tried all possible ways written in internet but none of them worked. could you plz help if u know what shall I do

    • Hi Zee, that's a very interesting problem! If you haven't already, I'd first recommend trying to reset your iPhone's network settings. To do that, head to Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings. If the problem persists after that, I would assume that the issue has to do with your Wi-Fi router, not your iPhone. If the issue was coming from your iPhone, your Wi-Fi connection would most likely cut out at a much less predictable rate than it seems to be.

      I'd suggest trying to reset your Wi-Fi router to its factory defaults. To learn how to do this, type into Google "how to reset" and the name of your router. Some routers also have a reset button on the back, so you may want to check there as well. I hope this helps!

    • Yes go to settings in wifi not connected go to icon on wifi turn off auto join then exit & turn off wifi. Hope this helps.

  • Big Brother loves you.. just do what he says... similar to wifi assist...let me decide how to use my own (?) phone please... last Apple product I will ever use... next they will take control of the toilet, and won't let it flush till the odor becomes too offensive... just to help out of course..FU Apple/Timmy

  • Okay, isn't the *primiary* purpose of this "feature" to save battery? You make it sound like you may save battery as a side bonus... side bonus to what? What other reason is there to disconnect to nearby wifi? Makes no sense unless the primary objective is to save battery....

    Before IOS 11 pressing the wifi button in control center disabled wifi altogether which was GREAT! because it actually had a large impact on battery savings! This new feature seems like another muddled and poor attempt at trying to save battery without disabling wifi completely. But possibly better than the way it was before which was completely idiotic where all it did was disconnect you from the current wifi connection but left wifi on. We'll see if this current update has any improvement on battery, but I am doubtful.

  • After resetting my phone, turning wifi on, and trying to connect by entering the password on my phone, I noticed my macbook had a pop up message (where the wifi icon is) asking if I wanted to share the password with my phone. I clicked "share" and it worked! I hope that helps :)

  • I turn my wi-fi off via the Control Center every day when I get to work and I get that message (disconnecting until tomorrow) but then only a few hours later, it is trying to connect me to my work wi-fi again! I hate that they made it so hitting the wi-fi button in the Control Center doesn't reeeeeally turn it off so then when they debuted this feature, I thought it would help. Not so much!

  • I also waited for an hour on hold with Apple support until they finally hung up on me. When I called back and finally talked to someone they had no idea what I was talking about and couldnt help me.

  • None of the suggestions worked for me and the next day it still didnt fix and was telling me my network password was incorrect. I ended up unplugging the internet router for 10 seconds and plug it back in and that fixed it.

  • Gee golly, I thought I knew everything there is to know about this phone, afer all, I am an expert in electronic devices. Can anyone please explain to me how to update my phone, I just can't figure out how to get past all the settings no matter what I try to bing. Or maybe I should google instead. Emails and comments are welcome!!!

  • So I managed to get it to work. I went into my setting and clicked on my wifi to bring up the up IP address details and there was an option to renew lease clicked that renews the lease and WiFi was back on! Not sure if I was lucky or thats the way forward

  • I think, it is more to the new setting requirements for the AirDrop option in General Setting sections after the update of iOS.
    I just change it and manage to connect now. :-)

  • Not to mention that if you disconnect and forget to turn back on you wont be steaming all those videos eating up you data (for those of us that live in the dark ages and still do t have unlimited).

  • so that was musaeless. i too am getting the wrong password message... did anyone actually find a way to fix this thT ACTUALLY WORKS?

  • I had this happen to me on NYE and I spent an interminable amount of time on chat with Apple support. They had no idea what it was..(awesome) and to make matters worse each time I tried to reconnect to my wifi from 3 different Apple devices it told me my wifi password was wrong. It wasn't wrong as I was sitting in front of my modem looking at the password. I even shared the password with my device as another troubleshooting attempt. Nothing would get my wifi to work until mysteriously the next day when they all reconnected. Not being able to play music through Sonos on NYE was extremely inconvenient.

  • Thanks for the explanation, David. However, this is a ludicous and unwelcome uncomplication from Apple. I know of no one who bemoaned the lack of this feature in the past and it is already driving me nuts!

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David Lynch: David Lynch is an expert on cell phones, cell phone plans, and other tech. After using a flip phone into his early 20s, he learned the ropes about iPhones and Androids from a former Apple employee. Today, his articles and videos are read and viewed by millions, and he has been cited by major publications including Reader's Digest, Wired, CMSWire, Consumers Advocate, and more.