How to Turn Off Wi-Fi Auto Wake up Feature in Android Pie
If you’ve updated to Android 9 Pie, you may have noticed that your smartphone now automatically turns on your Wi-Fi connection – if you’ve turned it off – when you’re near a familiar network with a strong signal. This feature, which debuted in Android Oreo, is now enabled by default in Android Pie.
On the one hand, it is convenient: it makes it much easier to reconnect to a wireless network that you were previously logged into, such as your home network or Wi-Fi at your favorite coffee shop, after you turn off Wi-Fi. to extend battery life while you’re on the go.
However, not all users may want to activate this feature by default. If you want full manual control, for example, when your smartphone tries to connect to Wi-Fi; or, if you are tired of your smartphone turning on Wi-Fi every time you drive past Starbucks or other open networks that you have previously connected to.
With that in mind, here’s what you need to know about the new feature and how to make sure it’s enabled or disabled, depending on your preference.
What is “Turn on Wi-Fi automatically?”
Although this feature was first available on Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones after the Android 8.0 Oreo update, Android 9 Pie offers it on all devices that support this latest version of the OS.
This “wake on Wi-Fi” function works by using your smartphone to search for nearby networks with a strong signal even when Wi-Fi is turned off. If it detects anything that you have previously connected to (and saved on your device), your smartphone will automatically turn on Wi-Fi and connect to the network.
This feature is useful for preventing unnecessary data usage. For example, let’s say you come home and forget to turn on Wi-Fi on your phone and reconnect to your home network before you start streaming music. If you haven’t turned on Automatically turn on Wi-Fi, you will end up using your data until you manually connect to your home network.
Of course, some may find this feature unnecessary or even annoying, especially if you find that your phone is connecting to the signals you are passing by at unwanted times. Unfortunately, disabling this feature takes a little more effort than simply disabling Wi-Fi from the notification drop-down menu, but it’s an easy solution if you know where to look.
Enabling and disabling Wakeup from Android Pie
Whether you’re trying to turn this feature on or off, here’s how to find it on your device:
- Open the Settings app on your device.
- Look for the “Network and Internet” option in the large list of sections. Tap this to open another submenu, then tap “Wi-Fi” to open the wireless settings:
- Tap Wi-Fi Settings, located below the list of available networks, and then turn off Automatically turn on Wi-Fi to turn off this feature.
If this is your first time to enable this feature, you will also need to make sure Wi-Fi Scanning is enabled on your device. To test this, return to the initial settings screen and tap the Security & Location section. Then click on Location.
- Then tap on the “Advanced” option, then on the “Scan” option, and then make sure “Wi-Fi Scan” is turned on.