EU Mandate: How the iPhone Will Soon Share Wi-Fi Info – and Restrict the Watch
First details are emerging on how iPhones will share Wi-Fi access data in the future. It will likely get better for third-party devices, and worse for the Watch
(Image: Sebastian Trepesch / heise medien)
Apple is preparing new interfaces for iOS and iPadOS to implement the far-reaching interoperability requirements of the EU Commission. By the end of the year, the company, classified as a gatekeeper, must open up several convenience features to other manufacturers that were previously reserved for its own hardware. This will – at least within the EU – make it possible for the first time to conveniently share Wi-Fi access data already stored on the iPhone with a non-Apple device, such as a smartwatch, a bicycle computer, or smart glasses.
In Apple's developer documentation for the upcoming iOS version 26.2, the first traces can be found, including a new permission (entitlement) for apps to access a new Wi-Fi infrastructure framework. This is intended to allow an app to pass on Wi-Fi access data already stored by the user on an iPhone or iPad to an "accessory" – presumably hardware from another manufacturer. However, further details about the framework are still pending.
iOS must become more compatible
The interoperability requirements of the EU ultimately force Apple to offer central functions, which for example make the interaction between iPhone and Apple Watch particularly convenient, as an interface for third parties as well. The intervention goes deep: by the end of 2025, Apple must, for example, enable other hardware coupled with the iPhone to receive and respond to iOS notifications in their entirety.
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Third-party devices must also – with the user's consent – receive the Wi-Fi access data stored on the iPhone to simplify initial setup, as the EU Commission also stipulates. Apple has repeatedly warned in the past that opening up such functions poses a security and data protection problem and has tried to overturn the requirements – so far in vain.
Limited Wi-Fi information for the Apple Watch
In order not to have to release the complete history of Wi-Fi access data stored on the iPhone to third parties, Apple has apparently decided to restrict its own devices in the EU in precisely this function: From iOS 26.2 and watchOS 26.2, the iPhone no longer transmits the complete list of Wi-Fi access data to the Watch, but apparently only information about the current network, as 9to5Mac reports. The information presumably comes from an Apple briefing. There is still no public confirmation from the company.
Anyone out and about with just the Watch will likely have to type in the access data on the small watch display in other locations if a Wi-Fi connection is desired – even if the iPhone at home already knows the respective Wi-Fi.
When setting up third-party hardware such as Meta's Ray-Ban glasses, the iPhone shares the new Wi-Fi access data with the accessory as long as both are in close proximity, according to the report. However, the other manufacturer does not receive the Wi-Fi history, it is further stated. Apple emphasizes that it itself has no insight into the Wi-Fi access data: these are stored locally on iPhones and are to remain fully protected during synchronization via iCloud using end-to-end encryption.
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