Apple is facing a $5 million lawsuit alleging the iPhone’s “Wi-Fi Assist” feature caused cellular data overage fees for numerous users, NBC News reported.
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The amusing part is that Apple has a penchant for including features in updates and products that breach on certain boundaries without users knowing about it and Apple has paid quite a lot for it, but still doesn’t budge. WiFi Assist, when enabled, switches between WiFi and cellular data when it detects that iPhone’s WiFi signal might be weak or too slow.
The lawsuit filed against Apple states that Apple has violated California’s Unfair Competition Law, the False Advertising Law, in addition to accusations of misrepresentation. They are also seeking class-action certification and claim that other customers have been “harmed” by this feature, claiming that Apple did not specifically spell out how exactly WiFi Assist works.
Apple Insider was the first to report the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, on behalf of a Florida couple, William Scott Phillips and Suzanne Schmidt Phillips. No response has come from Apple’s side though.
Depending on your data plan, that could incur a few unwanted and unexpected charges.
Once users update to iOS 9, Wi-Fi Assist is turned on by default.
“Reasonable and average consumers use their iPhones for streaming of music, videos, and running various applications – all of which can use significant data”, reads the suit. While it has an advantegeous goal in delivering a smooth internet connection when Wi-Fi networks are not up to their optimal speeds, Wi-Fi Assist will automatically switch to the iPhone’s cellular data to stabilize or improve the data speeds.
The complaint asserts that Apple did not properly explain Wi-Fi Assist on its website until only after a “flood of articles” were written about unintended cellular data use.
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The couple claims that Apple hasn’t done enough to warn users that the feature does consume a lot of cellular data and more over it is being accused of downplaying the data overheads a consumer may incur.
