[NewsPoster]

Apple has become the target of a class action complaint over the Wi-Fi Assist feature in iOS 9, with a demand from a couple to reimburse affected users. The lawsuit claims the function is using a lot of cellular data, potentially putting an iPhone or iPad user over their plan's allowance and costing them excess data fees, with the complaint claiming the issue has already cost consumers in excess of $5 million.

Wi-Fi Assist basically allows users to supplement their Wi-Fi connection with cellular, effectively allowing users to transfer between the connections almost seamlessly, and potentially providing a faster connection if the Wi-Fi speed is suboptimal. Apple enabled the function by default, prompting complaints from some users unhappy to have used some of their data unexpectedly, with Apple later updating its support pages to explain the function's purpose more clearly.

William Scott Phillips and Suzanne Schmidt Phillips filed in a US District Court in San Jose last Friday, reports Apple Insider, with the lateness of the explanation being an issue in the couple's eyes. The complaint claims Apple only added the explanation after the "flood of articles" about unintended cellular data usage were published, and that Apple should be the one who pays for user's unexpected overusage.

The corrective action "still downplays the possible data overcharges a user could incur," claims the suit. "Reasonable and average consumers use their iPhones for streaming of music, videos, and running various applications – all of which can use significant data. Defendant's corrective statement does not disclose any basis for its conclusion that an average consumer would not see much increase in cellular usage." Specifically, the complaint accuses Apple of violating California state laws relating to unfair competition and false advertising, and of negligent misrepresentation.

The attorney working on behalf of the couple, William Anderson, told Recode "It boils down to a decision by Apple to provide a product update without adequate warning about the result of that update, which resulted in numerous people who are extremely surprised and very frustrated by the size of their bill."

Apple has yet to comment on the suit.

[burger]

I love that the screenshot gives users the ability to turn off the feature.

[revco]

@burger: Their gripe is that it's on by default. I think you're told so when you update to iOS9 (don't know for sure, I'm still on iOS8) but I guess you're not totally aware of the ramifications of tapping OK.

[sibeale1]

Well, they could have just considered whatever the data charge they incurred (if indeed they really did) to be a cheap lesson about reading what they agree to. But instead, they'll enjoy their 15 minutes of fame and then disappear.

[panjandrum]

Devil's advocate here: Should *any* company, even Apple, turn a setting on as default which is so likely to result in additional cost to the consumer? Why not take the common-sense route and make the option OFF be default. Problem 100% solved and nobody gets upset. How come this was so hard for someone at Apple to understand? Thinking about the user first is not that much work...

[bjojade]

The lawsuit should be dropped, and a representative from Apple should be allowed to punch each of the plaintiffs and the lawyer that filed the suit one time directly in the throat.

[Flying Meat]

I have to agree that this being on by default is easily identifiable as problematic. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly a nice feature to have, but it should be off by default.

[Charles Martin]

panjandrum: I'm with you on this, but Wi-Fi assist *only* kicks in when Wi-Fi signal is marginal. This is barely anymore than what it already does -- when Wi-Fi drops off, it switches over to cellular automatically (and has done so for years) and vice versa -- if Wi-Fi is present, that is favored over cellular automatically.

Suffice to say I am REALLY skeptical that this will add much if any significant data usage to anyone's bill, barring people willfully trying to straddle the edge and make Wi-Fi Assist run all the time. I suspect this is more a case of "we were streaming movies in our car and didn't know we weren't on Wi-Fi anymore!"

[Stuke]

I disagree. It is true, probably Apple stated somewhere that the WiFi Assist is "on" by default after upgrading to iOS9. Did you read it? I'm afraid this one will bite Apple. I consider myself pretty up-to-date but admit I didn't see anywhere that WiFi Assist would be "on" by default and that I may incur additional carrier data consumption and/or charges. But, think of the mass public of iOS users...the vast majority didn't see it either. Unlike iTunes/App Store in-app purchases (which had its snafu as well), at least theirs layers of passwords now to (hopefully) protect the naive user. But, in this case, buried at the bottom of the Cellular Settings screen...it's pretty clear-cut that Apple didn't want you to "find" the switch easily either. Whether or not it adds to data charges remains to be discovered in the suit but I think Apple should own up and fix this quickly, and easily but not automatically setting it to "on."