Apple may be sneaking in new Wi-Fi upgrades with iOS 26
These updates should make it easier to hop on public Wi-Fi and open up AirDrop-like features beyond Apple’s walled garden.
Just weeks after showing off a slew of iOS 26 features at WWDC25, Apple seems to be adding even more features it didn’t announce on stage, and some of them seem surprisingly useful.
The first is Captive Assist, spotted by MacRumors in the iOS 26 developer beta. If you’ve ever connected to Wi-Fi in a hotel, airport, or coffee shop, you know the drill is to fill out a form before you’re let in. Captive Assist aims to cut that friction by syncing your sign-in across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, so once you’ve logged in on one, the others just connect. It’s not live yet, but it’s expected to roll out when iOS 26 officially launches later this year.
The second upgrade is support for Wi-Fi Aware, a device-to-device communication protocol that’s been around on Android for a while. It lets apps connect to nearby devices directly without needing router or internet—essentially unlocking AirDrop-style features for third-party apps. That means faster file sharing, screen mirroring, or even local media streaming without needing Apple’s native tools.
Apple had to enable this for users in the European Union as part of the Digital Markets Act, but it appears to be rolling the feature out globally. The framework is already available to developers and works on iPhone 12 and newer, plus recent iPads.
While these updates weren’t front and center during WWDC25, they join a growing list of features tucked into iOS 26’s beta builds, like satellite-powered weather updates, easier custom ringtones, a more flexible text selection tool in Messages, and even a digital passport in Apple Wallet for U.S. travelers.
iOS 26 is still in testing, but these subtle changes suggest Apple’s starting to loosen its grip (albeit slightly) and is laying the groundwork for more seamless and open connectivity between devices. Whether that’s driven by convenience or meeting global regulatory pressure, it’s still a shift worth watching.
Kelechi Edeh
