iOS save WiFi networks after wipe on iCloud keychain

[anon(5140585)]

I noticed something odd today after restoring my 5s to iOS 8.1 at work. I came home and it connected to my home wifi automatically.

I know someone will ask, so let's get it out of the way, I downloaded a fresh 8.1 through iTunes and SET UP AS NEW, not from a backup.

During setup at work, I connect to my work wifi and there I entered the password. I came home and my home wifi network was already connected and working.

Does iOS save these networks through iCloud? Anyone else notice this?

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

Nope. That shouldn't be happening.

 

[anon(5140585)]

That was my first thought! I have no explanation though. When I get home tonight, I am going to recreate the scenario and see what happens

 

[SnapThrow]

This startled me the first time it happen to me -- I think it was when I got my 5S and set it up as new and the same thing happen. If I remember correctly I asked the same question here and the consensus was that it is the "magic" of iCloud. Pretty cool if you ask me. This time with my 6 I set it up as new as well and the first thing I did was enter my iCloud credentials and it saved me a ton of time entering accounts and passwords.

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

If that is an iCloud feature then I guess it should be happening.

 

[anon(5140585)]

If we think it's a feature of iCloud, can anyone provide documentation? I did a quick search, returned nothing.

Any devs out there familiar with iCloud's saved data?

 

[anon(5140585)]

Well, I have done the exact same process as before and iOS again, connected automatically to my home wifi after a fresh install. Since I have 2 different SSIDs in my home, I selected the second one and was NOT prompted for a password and connection was successful.

I guess iOS must store wifi information in iCloud somewhere.

 

[anon(5140585)]

It appears it is stored within KeyChain, thought it was only used for Safari.

I wiped device and did NOT turn KeyChain ON, and I was prompted for wifi password.

I wiped again and turned KeyChain ON and I was not prompted for a password, wifi just connected.

I am not sure if I like the convenience factor of this.

 

[anon(5140585)]

"Forget This Network" confirms all:

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

Thanks for checking all that out for us. It's some good info to know.

 

[anon(5140585)]

You're welcome. It's good to know that KeyChain reaches beyond Safari, but I also wonder what else it saves. If only there was documentation about KeyChain specifically.