setting up a geofence in iOS 10

[DukeOfURL]

I've never used a geofence before, but I know what they are. I don't know how to set one up, but I'd like to set it so that my wifi automatically turns off when I'm away from my home, and then automatically turns on, if already off, and connects to my wireless specifically (by name if possible), since all my other neighbors have wireless also, and my phone for some reason tries to connect to theirs sometimes.

I've searched hi and low for a tutorial on this, and just can't find one that's not 5 years old.

thanks!

 

[scifan57]

There’s no public API for developers to use in creating such an app. Have you tried using Siri to turn the WiFi on and off? When leaving or arriving home. For example, you could ask Siri to turn on WiFi when you arrive home and it should turn on when your iphone arrives at home.

 

[DukeOfURL]

I'm not a developer, just a civillian. Am I posting on the wrong area?

 

[scifan57]

I'm not a developer, just a civillian. Am I posting on the wrong area?

I was saying that you won’t find an app to do what you want because it would need private API’s, which aren’t allowed. In regards to the WiFi signals from your neighbours, you could set up your WiFi to forget those networks, then they shouldn’t try to connect.

 

[carolineM]

You can also turn off "Ask to join networks" in Settings.

 

[DukeOfURL]

Hmm, darn. I was hoping to automate as much as I could. Well, I'd like to set up a geofence anyhow to see just what it can do. Is there a tutorial for that?

 

[bear7962]

My iPhone does this automatically.
Turn off the Ask to Join the Network toggle.
Then it should stop trying to hook up to any network it has never been logged into. As soon as I get within about 250 ft of my front door, my iPhone "finds" my wifi. When I leave the house, it disconnects. It never tries to hook up to a network I haven't logged into because the Ask to Join is off. If I go visit a friend whose wifi I have used, it connects to their wifi automatically, unless I tell it to Forget the Network. This is how the iPhone works.

 

[zstairlessone]

I think the OP wants to automatically turn the wifi off and on at the geo-fence line, not just disconnect and connect to the home wifi. Turning off "Ask to join networks" will keep the phone from trying to connect with the wrong network and forgetting any of the previously connected neighbor's wifi information will, after turning off the "Ask to join...", prevent the phone from trying to connect with those.

The geo-fence is a different (beast of an) issue though. I haven't tried it myself but Siri may be able to turn the wifi on and off, if so using "Hey Siri" to turn it on and off may be convenient enough as the phone will connect to known networks automatically when in range and if all the neighbors' networks are forgotten your wifi will connect as soon as wifi is on and on range.

 

[bear7962]

I think the OP wants to automatically turn the wifi off and on at the geo-fence line, not just disconnect and connect to the home wifi. Turning off "Ask to join networks" will keep the phone from trying to connect with the wrong network and forgetting any of the previously connected neighbor's wifi information will, after turning off the "Ask to join...", prevent the phone from trying to connect with those.

The geo-fence is a different (beast of an) issue though. I haven't tried it myself but Siri may be able to turn the wifi on and off, if so using "Hey Siri" to turn it on and off may be convenient enough as the phone will connect to known networks automatically when in range and if all the neighbors' networks are forgotten your wifi will connect as soon as wifi is on and on range.

I thought the initial statement of the OP request wanted to use geofence because that was the only way the OP could imagine resolving his wifi circumstances and my response spoke to that. By following my instructions his iPhone stops trying to connect to neighbors wifi networks and connects and disconnects to his own network, automatically, when he is close enough or at home. Ito an easy fix and is how the iPhone works. But if the OP really wants to do this by geofence, I believe he can. It's just more complicated. You can ask Siri to control Airplane Mode, Do Not Disturb, WiFi, Bluetooth, Rotation Lock, screen brightness, and volume. You can also ask Siri to launch any app you have installed. So, to do this using a geofence, I think the OP would need to enable the services of IFTT and I found an article that can explain that to him. How to Create Geographic Event Triggers with Your Smartphone and IFTTT
Hope he finds this helpful.