Lawsuit filed against Apple over iOS 9 ‘Wi-Fi Assist’ feature

They accuse Apple of violating California’s Unfair Competition Law, the state’s False Advertising Law, and negligent misrepresentation, charging that they and the class were mislead about cellular data usage. Apple is facing a $5m lawsuit over a feature in the new version of iOS which uses mobile data when Wi-Fi connectivity is weak.

On its website, Apple wrote that the feature might cause users to eat up more cellular data when there’s a poor Wi-Fi connection, but added that “for most users, this should only be a small percentage higher than previous usage”.

William and Suzanne Phillips said that they had exceeded their mobile plan’s data allowance, but did not specify by how much or what overage fees they paid.

“Defendant’s above corrective action, however, still downplays the possible data overcharges a user could incur”. Since most consumers are limited to a particular amount of data each month, this feature could result in your carrier charging you extra for the additional data used over your allotted amount. Apple further assured users that the feature will only work on apps running in the foreground and that it’s not created to work with all third-party apps, especially ones that stream audio or video.

The class action lawsuit centres on the software’s WiFi Assist feature, which uses 4G to bolster your WiFi connection when signal bars are hard to come by.

The lawsuit files damages worth more than $5 million, according to reports, and was filed in the district court of San Jose. There has been complaints from many other users who complained of spending unexpectedly on cellular data, as they did not know how the feature worked and had no idea that it was on by default. Wi-Fi assist is available on devices running iOS 9 or later, although the feature is not supported on the iPhone 4s, iPad 2, the 3rd-generation iPad and the 1st-generation iPad mini. The company has declined to provide any comment regarding the allegations. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and you will see the toggle for “Wi-Fi Assist”. But a few users have complained that the feature increases data usage to the point where they’re being charged data overages.