Well, iOS is apparently supposed to allow for turning it off.

But that doesn't actually work. Saying that as an iPhone user who keeps turning Bluetooth off in the Settings app, but it doesn't stick. It's always on again a day or so later (the next time I check).

So either iOS is buggy in this regards, or it's not actually possible to turn Bluetooth off permanently. :(

In addition, even if you go into the settings app and turn off wifi (which is supposed to be an actual disabling, unlike toggling the wifi in the quick access menu, which is automatically undone after a certain amount of time), it will be turned on again the next time the device reboots.

I just tested this on my iPhone, and kibwen’s claim is false. The wifi remained disabled after a reboot.

Are you able to leave it off for a few days and see if it magically turns back on without you touching it?

No, I don't have a spare phone.

And I just tested it on my phone, and my claim is true. iPhone 15, latest OS version. Happens every single time.

Verified my wife’s phone behaves identically to mine. WiFi turned off via settings stays off after a reboot.

This would be strange behaviour in countries where mobile data is unmetered and people primarily use their phone as their wifi.

Shortcuts.app -> Automation -> Personal -> At time of day -> Turn {WiFi,Bluetooth} off

It's not buggy, it's covering for the 90% of people out there that forget they turn it off and then helplessly wonder why things are not working.

Off means OFF. Just because some illiterates (definitely nowhere near 90% of the population) can’t tap an icon I shouldn’t be forced to set up an ios shortcut to _actually_ turn wifi or bt off.

The fact that I can’t then add the shortcut to the control center is just insult to injury. The shortcuts widgets don’t cut it.

While I’m ranting, the fact that a simple shortcut that uses system default apps (Recognize music and then opens Notes to paste the title and artist) requires me to enter a passcode to run – with the Allow Running When Locked setting on – makes me doubt settings in iOS mean anything.

It's not about tapping an icon, it's about the understanding that turning things off has non-obvious consequences on other bits of features, an understanding that can only be reached by getting down technical rabbit holes.

e.g (just one example) turning WiFi completely off degrades the ability to geofence, one's automations may be delayed or non-functional and one would be bewildered as to why. Turning WiFi off one day, forgetting about it, then having apparently unrelated things not work the next day is hard to diagnose.

There's a next-day trigger for sure for the WiFi disconnect+no-auto-reconnect ("disable WiFi" in the support page†) but I must admit that I don't know what's the exact trigger - if any - for the master WiFi switch in Settings.app ("turn WiFi off" in the support page†) to be turned back on. Next day? After a software update (e.g an automated nightly one)? Exiting hotspot mode? As you suggested, a bug? Nothing and it's people forgetting they have turned it back on "temporarily"? The support page† doesn't say anything about it.

Should one desire to enforce WiFi off as a policy, the shortcut can act as a safety net around all these cases, the tool is available to help automatically enforce the policy, and I don't think it's helpful to sit and hold one's breath til one turns blue because it shouldn't do what it's doing, refusing the opportunity to get control back.

I agree that Shortcuts is awfully limited, sometimes inexplicably so. I mean, picking up a random wallpaper from a Photo album every X hours should be entirely doable, yet there's just no way to do it.

† https://support.apple.com/en-us/102412

EDIT: I have tried the hotspot thing.

    - set iOS WiFi off
    - request hotspot connection from another device
    - iOS WiFi turns on
    - if no known AP is in range
      - iOS WiFi turns on
      - hotspot connection succeeds
      - upon hotspot disconnect iOS WiFI stays on (BUG #1: should restore WiFi off)
    - if a known AP is in range
      - iOS WiFi turns on
      - iOS WiFi connects to AP (BUG #2.a: should not connect to AP)
      - hotspot connection fails (BUG #2.b: caused by #2.a?)
      - WiFi stays on, connected to AP (NOT BUG: consequence of #2.a)
      - (optional) re-request hotspot connection
        - iOS WiFi disconnects from AP
        - hotspot connection succeeds
        - upon hotspot disconnect iOS WiFI stays on (NOT BUG: consequence of #2.a, which caused WiFi state == on at second hotspot-request-time)
        - iOS WiFi eventually joins AP

This may happen unattended if the requesting device has "auto-join hotspot" enabled.

Bear in mind that just magically turning things back on also has non-obvious consequences as well.

Especially if you're relying on something to be in the state you (literally) configured it to be in, and it turns out the software makers "know better than you". :/

Oh, it's definitely buggy. But that idea of a workaround is reasonable, thanks. :)

No idea about Apple OSes but to avoid data collection and save battery I turn WiFi off when I leave home and Bluetooth is on only inside my car. That should prevent any problem.

Shortcuts.app -> Automation -> Personal automation on a geofence

That said:

- data collection ranges from minimised to eliminated by features like MAC randomisation

- battery impact of WiFi + BT on but disconnected is a rounding error