News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by ronnier on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @08:44PM (#15299667)
> Especially now that iOS 11's wifi-off button in the control center no longer actually disables the radio

I still can’t belive this decision. I keep my Bluetooth and Wi-Fi off as much as possible and it’s now difficult to to as a result of this change is ios11. Really bothers me.

Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by MBCook on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @09:26PM (#15299871)
I really don’t understand why people keep those two off. If you’re not using them they use very little battery at this point; it’s not like it was 10 years ago.

Since Apple keeps detailed usage statistics (from the people who opt in) my guess is they know how common such a behavior is and it’s obviously low enough they don’t think this change is a problem.

I agree with some of the other comments I’ve seen that this probably accomplishes what the user is trying to do (ignoring a Wi-Fi network that’s temporarily behaving poorly) and possibly protecting them (forgetting to turn it back on it running up a huge cell bill). I know I’ve heard complaints from people who accidentally did that a number of times.

Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by kalleboo on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @10:51PM (#15300253)
I keep it off because as I ride a train it's connecting to every station wifi and losing it just as quick, completely breaking connectivity.
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by IBM on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @11:33PM (#15300401)
Turn off "ask to join" and it will only connect to known networks.
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by kalleboo on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @11:43PM (#15300437)
The station wifi is known though, so when I have a long wait for a train at a station I'm not burning data on YouTube
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by swinglock on Thursday September 21, 2017 @01:12AM (#15300751)
You can set the known network not to connect automatically. But you can only access that setting when you are in range.
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by kalleboo on Thursday September 21, 2017 @01:46AM (#15300859)
I didn't know about that setting, thanks for the tip. Will definitely come in handy.
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by ronnier on Thursday September 21, 2017 @12:31AM (#15300610)
I keep it off because of exploits posted in this article.
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by lathiat on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @10:41PM (#15300208)
I can.. it makes those buttons much more useful for the common case. e.g. this wifi network isn't working, disconnect.. and not forget to reconnect later. I did that often.

And also being hassled about location services not working, etc.

You can still actually disable both through the settings up, just not with the quick access.

Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by sigjuice on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @09:03PM (#15299770)
Apple's explanation of why they did this. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208086
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by macintux on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @11:59PM (#15300499)
Thanks, their description is interesting. It’s not quite as bad as I thought.
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by kevinchen on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @09:53PM (#15299990)
This is a bad take. If your threat model has you concerned about people who follow you around and exploit your Wi-Fi firmware, you probably shouldn't ever have Wi-Fi on -- or maybe you shouldn't be using a smartphone.

For everyone else, the new behavior allows users to disconnect from bad Wi-Fi in Control Center while improving their battery life in case they forget to turn Wi-Fi back on.

Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by dpkonofa on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @11:16PM (#15300349)
Is it really that difficult to use? C'mon... Just force touch it instead of regular touching and you get the same control as before.
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by eklavya on Thursday September 21, 2017 @04:54AM (#15301645)
Am I missing something? Force touch doesn't do anything except show a bigger control with all the radio settings. There is no option to disable wifi, you still have to go to the settings.
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by 0x0 on Thursday September 21, 2017 @04:31AM (#15301523)
Lots of devices don't support force touch, for example all iPads, and iPhone 5s, 6 and 6plus.
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by nickhalfasleep on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @09:39PM (#15299931)
Faraday cage cases are going to be popular next season.
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by Razengan on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @09:18PM (#15299840)
Just go into Settings and disable it as usual.
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by copperx on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @09:59PM (#15300017)
Or just place it in Airplane Mode and enable Wifi or Bluetooth selectively. At least that's what I do in iOS 10. I hope it's still possible in 11.
Re:Apple: Heap Overflow in AppleBCMWLANCore Driver by KGIII on Thursday September 21, 2017 @01:43AM (#15300848)
Doesn't airplane mode disconnect the cellular radio?