Switching To 3G when Screen Locks

[Jeremy]

Okay, left my phone off for a good while not streaming anything, turned it on and never saw the 3G logo at all. Always WiFi from the moment the screen is on. That's all I know.

 

[mjsavage]

Once I turn the phone off it fixes itself and stays on wifi afte going to sleep. I have had my 4s since release and just noticed it the last couple of weeks.

 

[|-KGB-|CaptHowdy]

mine does this also, when i turn it off for a bit it will say 3g then connect before i have unlocked my screen. I know this is a slight issue b/c i was at a place with public wifi that you have to accept their policies before you can get on the web. well when my phone was streaming or on it stayed connected. when i turned it off i would have to resubmit the acknowledgement for their policies. a minor glitch i have just dealt with

 

[Just_Me_D]

I wasn't aware that was an issue, I assumed it was normal...[snipped]

Ditto. I thought it was normal, too. It doesn't hinder my use, whether via 3G or WiFi, and the reconnect is like a fraction of a second. As for as I'm concerned, it's a non-issue.


Just Me, D

 

[ThePinkChameleon]

Ditto. I thought it was normal, too. It doesn't hinder my use, whether via 3G or WiFi, and the reconnect is like a fraction of a second. As for as I'm concerned, it's a non-issue.


Just Me, D

same here. i was under the impression that its the way its suppose to work. Mine also re-connects in a second or less, so its a non issue here as well, and as far as one of our 4S's only having the 2gig data plan, it has not been affected as far as data use either because of this 'flickering' with the wifi/3G.

So it is what it is at this point

 

[Massie]

Just to add to all this...TiPb once reported on the iPod Touch's persistent Wi-Fi connection, but at the time noted that it wasn't clear if it also applied to the iPhone: http://www.imore.com/2010/06/14/ios-4-feature-ipod-touch-wifi-stays-connected-asleep-iphone/

There's also a Cydia app specifically to keep your connection going when your phone goes into standby: Cydia Search | Package | net.ispazio.keepawake (though it's possible this is now obsolete).

For what it's worth, my iPhone 4 does show the 3G symbol for a second when I wake it from sleep on my home wifi network. But most interesting to me is this:

Persistent WiFi Clarification - iPhone Dev SDK Forum

which seems to indicate that the wifi persistence may be tied to whether or not the device is plugged in or running on battery. Test it out, folks!

 

[freddmc]

So where do you see the wifi or 3g symbols?

Thanks

Fred

 

[Massie]

So where do you see the wifi or 3g symbols?

Same place they've always been, right in the status bar:

3G:

WiFi:

 

[freddmc]

Thanks


Fred.

 

[AgentHeracles]

I just want to say that this is happening to me. I see the 3G symbol and then a few (maybe less) seconds later the wifi symbol shows up. I know that I am downloading because apps that need wifi download. Maybe it is just a visual bug that will be fixed with 5.1.

 

[ThePinkChameleon]

For what it's worth, my iPhone 4 does show the 3G symbol for a second when I wake it from sleep on my home wifi network. But most interesting to me is this:

Persistent WiFi Clarification - iPhone Dev SDK Forum

which seems to indicate that the wifi persistence may be tied to whether or not the device is plugged in or running on battery. Test it out, folks!

Tyvm Massie !! This article link you posted from iPhone Dev SDK clarified this perfectly. Although the list did not include the 4S (it only went as high as the 3GS) the results are exact for the 4S. I tried it this morning. When i was plugged in to charge--my 4S was consistent with a wifi connection regardless of how long it was in sleep mode waking up, yesterday when i didn't plug in to charge & ran off battery, i would get the 1 second 'flicker' of the 3G to wifi to connect.

 

[sting7k]

I'll just chime in that my iPhone 4 behaves the same way. Shows 3G while locked/sleeping. When I unlock it the wifi symbol comes back after maybe 1 second.

I thought they put the dormant wifi back in with iOS 5? Not totally disconnected but some kind of low power or dormant mode to save battery.

Edit - Just plugged it in while locked; as soon as I plugged it in the wifi symbol appears.

 

[sofryj]

From what I am hearing, it sound like this isn't really causing anyone a problem. I haven't heard a single person claim it is leading to inflated data consumption. This is interesting though. It's probably little software designs like this that are the reason that my iPhone has significantly better battery life that the Androids I had before it.

 

[jalba3]

To the OP

iOS5 has this behavior as default. Unlike Android, Wi-Fi Sleep policy is not a choice. I began a thread in January but no one ever responded. Here is my experience:

"As typical iOS behavior, when the screen is off, WiFi is off. When I slide to unlock, the 3G symbol is on the status bar, and changes to WiFi when I unlock the phone.

Recently I enabled iTunes WiFi sync and have noticed that whether I am at my home router, or in a public one(school) the WiFi is always on. Regardless if iTunes is open or closed, or if the phone's screen is off for some good time(~20-45 mins), the WiFi symbol is always on and connected. I've noticed a slight dent in battery life and wanted to know if you guys also notice this?

Side note - On Android there is the option, and "always on" gave better battery life. However, I think the contrapositive is not true in iOS. Your thoughts?"