iOS 11 Makes it Easy to Share Your Wi-Fi Password With Nearby Friends - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iOS 11 Makes it Easy to Share Your Wi-Fi Password With Nearby Friends

by

With the developer beta of iOS 11 out in the wild, new features of the operating system have been coming to light throughout the week, including an unobtrusive volume indicator and new AirPods controls. In iOS 11, users will also be able to easily join a Wi-Fi network thanks to a new password sharing process between trusted devices, which should reduce the hassle of joining new networks.

The feature allows one iOS device with knowledge of a Wi-Fi network's password to grant access to a separate iOS device that still needs the password in question. 9to5Mac detailed an example where an iPad was already on a Wi-Fi network, while an iPhone still required the Wi-Fi password to connect.

All devices must be running iOS 11, and it appears that macOS High Sierra will support the feature as well.

ios 11 wifi on iphone sharing

Images via 9to5Mac

After navigating to Settings > Wi-Fi and choosing the right network, the iPhone user is greeted with the traditional password screen (seen above), but on iOS 11 when the iPhone is brought near the iPad, a card on the iPad notifies its user that the iPhone wants to join the network (seen below).

The iPad user can then tap and send their password to the iPhone, which recognizes the password, fills out the information, and connect to the Wi-Fi. As Apple notes, the iOS device or Mac with knowledge of the network's password must be unlocked for the transfer process to work.

ios 11 ipad wifi
There are plenty more iOS 11 tidbits to discover in the wake of the official unveiling this week at WWDC, so be sure to check out the MacRumors iOS 11 roundup to find out everything we know about the newest version of iOS.

Related Forum: iOS 11

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple's Next Era Begins September 1

Thursday May 7, 2026 10:36 am PDT by
Apple recently announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down as CEO later this year, after 15 years of leading the company. Effective September 1, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus will become the company's next CEO, while Cook will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. In his new role, Apple said Cook will assist with "certain aspects" of the company,...
Read Full Article
Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in September With These 10 New Features

Saturday May 9, 2026 6:03 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not launching until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component will be moved under the...
Read Full Article
Apple Watch Series 10 Jet Black Touch ID

Apple Watch Series 12 and watchOS 27: What to Expect Later This Year

Friday May 8, 2026 2:07 pm PDT by
While not too much has been reported about the next Apple Watch models, there are a few rumors about potential design changes and watchOS 27 features. Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 models are expected to be released in September, and we have outlined some of the key rumored hardware and software changes below. A new Apple Watch SE is not expected this year, as that model was...
Read Full Article • 59 comments

Top Rated Comments

A
almonde
117 months ago
What about corporate situations where we don't want our end users having or knowing the password? Is there any way as an IT administrator to disable this for our network?
Corporate wifi should be using radius type authentication not PSK.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
R
Rigby
117 months ago
If someone wants access to your network, you don’t have to tell them the password. You can ask for their device and type the password in yourself. Then they have access to the network but don’t know your password. This seems to bypass that bit of security as now anyone with access to your network could theoretically grant access to additional people.
This is not secure at all. For example, if the person has activated iCloud Keychain, the Wifi password may be synced to a Mac where it can simply be viewed in Keychain Access.
That said, if you’re that concerned with securing your network, either properly vet those you grant access to, use a different authenticion method, guest network, etc.
Yup.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
joshwenke Avatar
joshwenke
117 months ago
What about corporate situations where we don't want our end users having or knowing the password? Is there any way as an IT administrator to disable this for our network?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
P
plexdk
117 months ago
After everyone realizes they will lose all their 32 bit free & other games, they will realize that IOS 11 is as Steve Jobs once said, "A Bag of Hurt."
Just like when steve removed support for legacy 16 bit Mac apps... Or when microsoft removed win 3.1 app support.. you can't support old software forever :P
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fall Under Cerulean Kites Avatar
Fall Under Cerulean Kites
117 months ago
How would that be any different than verbally telling someone the password? They could then verbally tell someone else...
If someone wants access to your network, you don’t have to tell them the password. You can ask for their device and type the password in yourself. Then they have access to the network but don’t know your password. This seems to bypass that bit of security as now anyone with access to your network could theoretically grant access to additional people.

That said, if you’re that concerned with securing your network, either properly vet those you grant access to, use a different authenticion method, guest network, etc.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kaibelf Avatar
Kaibelf
117 months ago
After everyone realizes they will lose all their 32 bit free & other games, they will realize that IOS 11 is as Steve Jobs once said, "A Bag of Hurt."
Yeah, I checked and out of the many dozens of apps on my phone, ONE of them wasn't ready to go, and I hadn't used that app in many many months. I think somehow society will live on.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments