With iOS 9, Apple launched two neat little features — Wifi Assist and Wifi Calling. There has been some confusion as to what these two are. So we decided to write a post briefly explaining the difference between the two.
Wifi Assist
Wifi Assist is a technology built by Apple into the iPhone that lets you have the best net browsing experience by automatically switching between wifi and cellular networks. According to Apple —
With iOS 9 and later, you can use Wi-Fi Assist to automatically switch to cellular when you have poor a Wi-Fi connection.
The phone essentially tracks the network speed/connectivity of your wifi continuously, and if there’s a drop in the signal strength, it will switch automatically to data/cellular in order to keep your browsing experience glitch free.
Wifi Assist is enabled by default in iOS 9 or later. To disable it, here’s what you gotta do:
“Go to Settings > Cellular. Then scroll down and tap the slider for Wi-Fi Assist.”
Wifi Calling
Wifi Calling is a technology that allows you to make voice calls over the wifi when you have a poor network connection, say, for example, in the basement office perhaps!
“With Wi-Fi Calling, you can place a phone call if you have a Wi-Fi connection in an area with little or no cellular coverage.”
Think of it as a VoIP service, only built by Apple specifically for the iPhone. So obviously, it works better than most third-party apps out there.
Note: Wifi Calling isn’t available in India yet, therefore we are not going into details of it. However, if you want to read more, you can refer the detailed Apple Support Page on the topic.