iOS7 Changed Wi-Fi Behavior

[farfel]

The recently released Apple iOS7 changes the device's Wi-Fi behavior.

It requires the device to contact an Apple website in order to use Wi-Fi at all, unless the user knows the steps to get around this feature. One such site is captive.apple.com, another is airport.us, but there are as many as 200 others according to reports.

Before, the device could contact one site: http://www.apple.com/library/test/success.html, or just /library/test/success.html on the LAN, and it would allow the user full use of the Safari browser even if just pulling down local content not on the Internet.

Now with iOS7, if you connect to Wi-FI, but not actually on the Internet, your device will not get success.html from whatever site it picked. You are frozen out of Safari and shown a handicapped Log-In browser instead.

Unless - you follow these steps:

Tap "Cancel"

Tap "Use Without Internet" IF it appears. It seems that this option doesn't always show up.

You will be sent to Settings, but you have to back out of that, stay connected to Wi-Fi and go back to your browser.

Now you can use your local Wi-Fi without Internet.

The above is as I understand it as of this point. I hope that a solution can be found.

[Foxtrot]

Another reason not to buy an iPhone...

Well that sucks.

[Sebkinne]

My guess is it is using multiple sites and not just one. I'm sure we'll soon have a full list of these and can continue using our old method. Otherwise, there ARE workarounds.

[Skipper]

So iOS 7 is now forcing you to connect to their servers when you get on wifi? seems a little convenient since you might be sending them your fingerprints D:

Anyone else have this suspicion?

[Exesploit]

So iOS 7 is now forcing you to connect to their servers when you get on wifi? seems a little convenient since you might be sending them your fingerprints D:

Anyone else have this suspicion?

No, It's not sending them to apple.. Its sending them straight to the NSA.

[barry99705]

Pretty sure they've been doing this for a while now. That's how you get the "looks like you need to log in" message or whatever the hell it is when you connect to a wifi with a captive portal.

[farfel]

Pretty sure they've been doing this for a while now.

Yes and No.

Pre-iOS7 devices had captive portal detection, but the procedure changed in 7.

Now, devices attempt to randomly contact one of the new Apple sites such as www.itools.info, www.ibook.info, captive.apple.com and others.

Although what the devices get from these sites is success.html, what they request is a long, unpredictable path and file. Here's an example:

/XveE8i5pkCz32/rKuhShYhLzQcv/vBKZv396kB3JB/8y1GR9IApZQnt.html

Edited September 30, 2013 by farfel

[Foxtrot]

But seriously, This whole thing is suckish and suspicious at the same time.