Wi-Fi

Portal for iOS: wireless file transfers from your computer to iPhone made easy

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 26, 2015

Portal, an Android app that launched earlier this summer, is now available on your iPhone free of charge in the App Store.

Created by a company called Pushbullet which makes a namesake cross-platform notification mirroring utility, Portal for iPhone uses QR codes and takes advantage of peer-to-peer connectivity to transfer very large files and folders between your devices in a snap.

With Portal, you can transfer files from your computer to an iOS device via a simple interface that can be accessed through any web browser. The app lets you transfer as many files as you’d like and imposes no file size limits.

Here's a quick review of Portal based on my brief hands-on time with the app.

Apple posts OS X Yosemite 10.10.4 with Wi-Fi fixes, Mail and Photos improvements and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 30, 2015

In addition to the new iOS 8.4 software update with a redesigned Music app, Beats 1 radio and Apple Music for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, Apple also released the free OS X Yosemite 10.10.4 software update for Macs.

In addition to various other big fixes, enhancements and nice-to-haves, this release of OS X Yosemite gets rid of the dreaded “discoveryd” network process which was responsible for a range of network issues, marking the return of the old but way more reliable “mDNSResponder” process.

How to make Apple Watch play nice with your iPhone on a 5Ghz Wi-Fi network

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated August 8, 2019

Although not quite new, we reported this morning that Apple Watch can't connect to a 5Ghz Wi-Fi network. It's not a bug or anything. It's just a limitation of the current hardware found in Apple Watch. For those users that are not aware of this limitation, it can cause problems when believing that because you are on a known Wi-Fi network, Apple Watch and iPhone should still be able to connect even if they're out of Bluetooth range.

There is just no way to make your Apple Watch connect to a 5Ghz Wi-Fi network, but there are ways to work around that limitation. I've actually been helping people with that specific issue for a few days now, and because I've seen misinformation going around, I thought it would be best to just get things cleared up and explain how you can have both your iPhone and Apple Watch play nice with each other, even if your iPhone is connected to a 5Ghz network.

Apple Watch doesn’t work with 5Ghz Wi-Fi networks

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 22, 2015

In addition to Bluetooth, the Apple Watch also relies on Wi-Fi to communicate with its paired iPhone. In fact, the device can provide a number of useful features over Wi-Fi when iPhone isn't in Bluetooth range such as Messages, Siri and more.

It also automatically connects to known Wi-Fi networks that your iPhone, while connected to the Apple Watch over Bluetooth, has connected to before.

However, the Apple Watch won't connect to a 5GHz Wi-Fi network, even if its paired iPhone has previously connected to it, as first noted by French blog iGen.fr.

Seven cool things Apple Watch can do without its paired iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 25, 2016

Designed as a versatile companion to the iPhone, the Apple Watch uses the GPS and Wi-Fi in your iPhone to give you the full experience. That's why the very first step before you can start using the Watch is pairing it to an iPhone in iOS's Apple Watch application.

But even though the wearable device wasn't conceived as a standalone product, it can still do a few tricks on its own, without having a paired iPhone in range. Here are seven different things the Apple Watch can do without being tethered to an iPhone.

WhatsApp for iPhone rolling out VoIP calling, gains iOS 8 share extension and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 31, 2023

Following months of promises and multiple delays, Facebook-owned WhatsApp, which commands more than 800 million active users worldwide, on Tuesday started rolling a voice calling feature in its iPhone application.

WhatsApp Calling is a staggered release and will be rolling out “slowly over the next several weeks,” the company said, meaning it may not be available for you immediately.

In addition to calling other people for free over Wi-Fi networks, regardless of where they may live, the app has gained other enhancements, too, starting with a much welcomed app extension on iPhones running iOS 8. Sadly enough, this update hasn't brought out support for iOS 8's Interactive Notifications.

Apple Watch can tap into known Wi-Fi hotspots when your iPhone’s at home

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 9, 2015

From the onset, Apple's been telling us its Watch uses Wi-Fi (along with GPS) in your iPhone, but omitted that the gizmo can also take advantage of known Wi-Fi hotspots for limited functions when the paired iPhone isn't nearby or connected to the cellular network.

This nifty little feature lets the device be used standalone for the basic stuff like sending and receiving messages, drawings and taps. Just to be sure here, it still requires an iPhone to send and receive phone calls, run third-party apps and for much of its functionality, really.

The revelation was published as a side-note in Apple Watch reviews by both The Wall Street Journal and Yahoo Tech yesterday.

Apple Watch doesn’t need Bluetooth if connected iPhone is on same Wi-Fi network

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 10, 2015

The Apple Watch will provide users with the full experience even if an iPhone it's paired with is outside Bluetooth range, as long as both the wearable device and the smartphone are connected through Wi-Fi. Tim Cook made a passing note of it during yesterday's “Spring Forward” media event.

Nonetheless, it's a pretty big deal and here's why.

Ericsson intensifies legal pressure on Apple over patents, seeks iPhone sales ban

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 27, 2015

Following a $533 million loss in a lawsuit a small Texas-based company leveled against it over patent violation, Apple is now facing new legal challenges.

Friday, the Swedish telecommunications giant has unloaded legal barrage against the iPhone maker.

The move follows Apple's refusal to re-sign a global licensing contract with Ericsson in mid-January. Bloomberg noted that Apple had been paying royalties for Ericsson's patents related to mobile technologies, but the global license agreement expired last month and hasn't been renewed since.

FCC to hotels: blocking Wi-Fi hotspots is illegal!

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 28, 2015

Many of us have been there. You just checked in to a nice hotel and went right to your room. After taking a shower, you pull out your Mac to connect to a personal Wi-Fi hotspot in the hope of getting some work done. But alas, it won't work. Slowly but surely, a sinking feeling sets in that you're being forced to use the hotel's exorbitantly priced Wi-Fi.

The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to put an end to the practice and on Tuesday issued a public enforcement advisory warning hotel chains and other commercial establishments that intentionally blocking or interfering with Wi-Fi hotspots is illegal.

Second Yosemite update looms: Wi-Fi fixes, iCloud Drive in Time Machine and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 26, 2015

Despite all the talk of a problematic decline in software quality, Apple is feeling your pain and isn't standing still.

Currently in testing, a second update to OS X Yosemite is due later this week. First of all, Mac OS X 10.10.2 apparently squashes that annoying bug which manifests itself annoyingly as intermittent Wi-Fi issues.

Another one resolves a bug preventing your Mac from reconnecting to a Wi-Fi network after waking from sleep, causing you to manually disable and re-enable Wi-Fi, which gets old fast.

Next, iCloud Drive should be now accessible directly in Time Machine, including the ability to track changes to files and documents.

Moreover, 10.10.2 prevents the so-called ‘Thunderstrike’ hardware exploit which targets Macs equipped with high-bandwidth Thunderbolt ports and also includes other important fixes.

WiFried: a new tweak to fix iOS 8’s Wi-Fi performance issues

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Developer Mario Ciabarra, best known for his work on big Intelliborn tweaks like MyWi and My3G, is back with a brand new tweak that claims to do some great things for people experiencing Wi-Fi issues on iOS 8. WiFried is the name of his new tweak, and its purpose is to fix the persistent Wi-Fi issues that occur for a lot of iOS 8 users. That sounds good and all, but the question is, will it work?