Thanks to all who answered. Yes I gave up on the web site as no specific statement as such answered the question.
I'd hate to risk the unlimited. As I have mentioned before on AI on the topic, where the iPhones (we have a buddy account too) with AT&T unlimited really shines for us, is on a long road trip (as in driving from Florida to New England and back) and the iPhone can be running maps with Siri guiding all the way at no charge. I should add we do not use I95 ... for those wondering why we'd even bother with Maps. We once tested an iPad using cellular that was on a Verizon standard plan and it ate the months data allowance in no time being on Maps continuously.
Do you view maps with satellite view? Maps usually doesn't take up that much data with standard view. Neither does Siri. I went on a trip up to Quebec and paid for 120 MB data roaming. Maps barely used any of it. IIRC maybe 50 or 60 MB round trip. I had plenty to use the rest of the trip to check emails, Facebook, and texting.
I can't seem to get this working--I can explicitly turn on Personal Hotspot and see the iPhone as usual in the list of available networks on my Mac, but it doesn't show up as described in the article if I leave Personal Hotspot turned off. Are there other settings on either end that need adjusting to make this behavior occur? I believe I have a new enough Mac (mid-2012) to have the correct Bluetooth version, but not sure how to verify.
<span style="line-height:1.4em;">/mike </span>
You wrote, "but it doesn't show up as described in the article if I leave Personal Hotspot turned off. "
If you turn OFF your personal hotspot on your iDevice running iOS 8 then your Mac running Yosemite (or any other version of Mac OS X) won't be able to see it because you explicitly turned it off.
You wrote, "but it doesn't show up as described in the article if I leave Personal Hotspot turned off. "
If you turn OFF your personal hotspot on your iDevice running iOS 8 then your Mac running Yosemite (or any other version of Mac OS X) won't be able to see it because you explicitly turned it off.
But the implication in the article is that you don't need to explicitly turn it on anymore. Otherwise, what's the point of the feature--just avoiding the need to type a password? My Mac already remembers my password for a known network, so that's not helping me any. It's only a useful feature if I don't need to go manually turn on the hotspot on my phone, but instead it turns itself on when my Mac tells it to. I thought that's what the feature was.
Anyway, even if I turn on the hotspot manually, I don't get the functionality shown in the article--I just get the iPhone showing up in my network list like it always has, not in a special section all its own at the top, nor with a battery life indicator. So, something broken here.
But the implication in the article is that you don't need to explicitly turn it on anymore. Otherwise, what's the point of the feature--just avoiding the need to type a password? My Mac already remembers my password for a known network, so that's not helping me any. It's only a useful feature if I don't need to go manually turn on the hotspot on my phone, but instead it turns itself on when my Mac tells it to. I thought that's what the feature was.
Anyway, even if I turn on the hotspot manually, I don't get the functionality shown in the article--I just get the iPhone showing up in my network list like it always has, not in a special section all its own at the top, nor with a battery life indicator. So, something broken here.
/mike
As noted, between prolonged uses you had to turn if OFF and then turn it back ON again to get it to resend a signal that your Mac could see. Now you can simply leave it enabled and it will show up in your Mac's WiFi
Question ... Does invoking this with AT&T mean losing a grandfathered in limitless data plan? Or does AT&T simply charge extra? I can't see how they could differentiate so I am guessing it would. I know they refused to let us add an iPad to our limitless data plan.
I finally gave up my unlimited plan a month ago so that I could tether. It's been a good trade off.... but it was hard to convince myself after so many years :-)
You wrote, "but it doesn't show up as described in the article if I leave Personal Hotspot turned off. "
If you turn OFF your personal hotspot on your iDevice running iOS 8 then your Mac running Yosemite (or any other version of Mac OS X) won't be able to see it because you explicitly turned it off.
This is NOT true... and is completely against the idea here (I know... I use this feature all the time).
This works when you have Personal Hotspot turned OFF... indeed you don't need to explicitly turn it on ever again.
You need to make sure you are signed into the same iCloud account on both your phone and your compute/iPad... and that you have bluetooth on on both devices... and that you have Handoff turned on (Settings->General->Handoff).
If you have everything set up right then on your iPad or Computer your phone will show up in the Wifi menu... EVEN WITH PERSONAL HOTSPOT _OFF_. When you select to connect to your phone it is essentially telling your phone (over bluetooth) to turn on Personal Hotspot so you can connect to it. Then you use it. When you're finished using it your phone will automatically turn back OFF Personal Hotspot (ie - nothing for you to do).
The automatic turning off feature is pretty sophisticated. For instance, if I just put my iPad to sleep for a moment and then turn it back on it is still connected to my phone. If I put it in my bag for longer it will automatically disconnect and the phone will go back to having personal hotspot off. Further: If the Phone OR the iPad detects that you're in range of a _real_ preferred wifi it seems to disconnect the two as well. I haven't tested all disconnection scenarios yet... but I can tell you that I've never been surprised that my iPad is still connected to my iPhone when I thought it shouldn't be...
As noted, between prolonged uses you had to turn if OFF and then turn it back ON again to get it to resend a signal that your Mac could see. Now you can simply leave it enabled and it will show up in your Mac's WiFi
In reading other forums, I'm seeing that the way this is supposed to work is that your Mac is intended to turn the Hotspot feature on and off automatically for you when you want to connect/disconnect, so that you don't chew through your battery, make your phone heat up, etc. unnecessarily by leaving the hotspot on all the time. It only works for newer-ish Macs (you can use the system report under Bluetooth to see if yours is supported).
However, reports are that there are various issues, such as:
1. Even newer Macs sometimes do not exhibit this feature at all--it basically works just like it always did. Apple seems flummoxed as to why.
2. Sometimes you need to disable/re-enable bluetooth on the iPhone for it to work.
3. Sometimes it starts the Hotspot and connects correctly, but does not shut the Hotspot down automatically (as it should) when you disconnect.
So, to sum up:
This feature is actually really useful if it works right, because you don't have to turn the hotspot on or off on your phone--ever--if you want to use it from a Mac where you're using the same iCloud account. It just happens automatically when you try to connect or disconnect. However, it still seems buggy and is not working for everyone, even if configured right and using the right equipment. I fall into this category.
This is NOT true... and is completely against the idea here (I know... I use this feature all the time).
This works when you have Personal Hotspot turned OFF... indeed you don't need to explicitly turn it on ever again.
You need to make sure you are signed into the same iCloud account on both your phone and your compute/iPad... and that you have bluetooth on on both devices... and that you have Handoff turned on (Settings->General->Handoff).
If you have everything set up right then on your iPad or Computer your phone will show up in the Wifi menu... EVEN WITH PERSONAL HOTSPOT _OFF_. When you select to connect to your phone it is essentially telling your phone (over bluetooth) to turn on Personal Hotspot so you can connect to it. Then you use it. When you're finished using it your phone will automatically turn back OFF Personal Hotspot (ie - nothing for you to do).
The automatic turning off feature is pretty sophisticated. For instance, if I just put my iPad to sleep for a moment and then turn it back on it is still connected to my phone. If I put it in my bag for longer it will automatically disconnect and the phone will go back to having personal hotspot off. Further: If the Phone OR the iPad detects that you're in range of a _real_ preferred wifi it seems to disconnect the two as well. I haven't tested all disconnection scenarios yet... but I can tell you that I've never been surprised that my iPad is still connected to my iPhone when I thought it shouldn't be...
In reading other forums, I'm seeing that the way this is supposed to work is that your Mac is intended to turn the Hotspot feature on and off automatically for you when you want to connect/disconnect, so that you don't chew through your battery, make your phone heat up, etc. unnecessarily by leaving the hotspot on all the time. It only works for newer-ish Macs (you can use the system report under Bluetooth to see if yours is supported).
However, reports are that there are various issues, such as:
1. Even newer Macs sometimes do not exhibit this feature at all--it basically works just like it always did. Apple seems flummoxed as to why.
2. Sometimes you need to disable/re-enable bluetooth on the iPhone for it to work.
3. Sometimes it starts the Hotspot and connects correctly, but does not shut the Hotspot down automatically (as it should) when you disconnect.
So, to sum up:
This feature is actually really useful if it works right, because you don't have to turn the hotspot on or off on your phone--ever--if you want to use it from a Mac where you're using the same iCloud account. It just happens automatically when you try to connect or disconnect. However, it still seems buggy and is not working for everyone, even if configured right and using the right equipment. I fall into this category.
/mike
You are correct. I can turn off Personal Hotspot and it will still show up on my Mac as well as connect. I'm certain that was not the case when these were still in Beta, but that was Beta.
I've been using this between my iPad and iPhone since iOS 8 came out. It's a great feature for a commuter like me... I can just pull out my wifi iPad and leave my phone in my pocket. Much handier while sitting on the bus/train...
I have not tried this yet. So the iPhone and the computer have to be on the same Apple ID. That doesn't prevent your iPhone's hotspot SSID from being broadcast. It would be better if there was a way to not broadcast the SSID and use iCloud to discover the iPhone somehow. I don't want "My iPhone" being broadcast in the crowded train.
I have not tried this yet. So the iPhone and the computer have to be on the same Apple ID. That doesn't prevent your iPhone's hotspot SSID from being broadcast. It would be better if there was a way to not broadcast the SSID and use iCloud to discover the iPhone somehow. I don't want "My iPhone" being broadcast in the crowded train.
The iPhone's hotspot is _not_ broadcast when using this feature... at all.
When you're not using it Personal Hotspot is off... so no broadcasting.
When you are using it I just verified that no one else can see the Wifi network... it's essentially a totally private connection between my iPad and my iPhone...
I have been connecting my iMac to the internet through a personal hotspot on since my iPhone 4 on iOS 6.
Read the article.
The new part is that you can leave Personal Hotspot _off_ on your phone but you can have your iPad/Mac tell your phone to turn on Personal Hotspot when you want (ie you don't have to manually go turn Personal Hotspot on/off any more).
"...Users must also have a carrier plan with tethering enabled."
If Apple was able to bypass carrier SMS with iMessage, why can't they do the same with tethering?
Because Apple sends iMessages as internet data, rather than as an SMS signal? SMS messages are embedded in the carrier beacon signals, which are sent/received every few seconds betwee the cell phone and local tower, whether there is a message in the blip or not, and which is part of the overhead of running a cellular system, and which costs the carriers nothing extra, but which has become a major revenue stream for them. Whereas your data allotment is in an electronically different format, and which you pay for as part of your plan. So you in fact do pay for iMessages, it's just that the carrier can't distinguish between data that is an iMessage vs. that which is an email, etc. (encrypted packets). But you are paying for total data. And the iMessage is such a small amount of data that you don't notice it in your many megabytes of plan data.
Whereas tethering is just funneling more data into your phone's data allotment, and the carriers and phone manufacturers have negotiated an agreement for a "switch" that allows the carrier to disable the tethering/hotspot function of your phone unless you pay for it.
So, for SMS, they are sending your message in a fundamentally different way.
But with tethering, it's just the same data, which has no other way to be sent.
I don't know what's up with connecting my Retina MBP and my iPhone 5S. With 10.7-10.9, and iOS 5,6,7 [earlier iPhones as well], I could setup a bluetooth connection between my computer and the iPhone, then select 'Connect to Network' in the right menu item under the bluetooth icon in the menu bar, and my computer would connect to the phone with a valid internet connection in a few seconds.
Now, with Yosemite and iOS 8.1 [didn't actually try tethering with iOS 8.0], I can connect to my iPhone using either Bluetooth or WiFI, but either way, the computer only gets a link-local address, so no working internet connection on the computer.
I've tried deleting the iPhone setup, and then redo the connection via bluetooth, and haven't made any progress.
And wifi in general seems botched for me on Yosemite, as it doesn't seem to get a DHCP address from my router, but it works if I manually configure the TCP setup. And it seems the same for bluetooth, where it connects to the phone [and the phone indicates a tethering connection], but it doesn't get a TCP address so the connection doesn't actually work.
Comments
Thanks to all who answered. Yes I gave up on the web site as no specific statement as such answered the question.
I'd hate to risk the unlimited. As I have mentioned before on AI on the topic, where the iPhones (we have a buddy account too) with AT&T unlimited really shines for us, is on a long road trip (as in driving from Florida to New England and back) and the iPhone can be running maps with Siri guiding all the way at no charge. I should add we do not use I95 ... for those wondering why we'd even bother with Maps. We once tested an iPad using cellular that was on a Verizon standard plan and it ate the months data allowance in no time being on Maps continuously.
Do you view maps with satellite view? Maps usually doesn't take up that much data with standard view. Neither does Siri. I went on a trip up to Quebec and paid for 120 MB data roaming. Maps barely used any of it. IIRC maybe 50 or 60 MB round trip. I had plenty to use the rest of the trip to check emails, Facebook, and texting.
“You don’t take sides against the user base...”
You wrote, "but it doesn't show up as described in the article if I leave Personal Hotspot turned off. "
If you turn OFF your personal hotspot on your iDevice running iOS 8 then your Mac running Yosemite (or any other version of Mac OS X) won't be able to see it because you explicitly turned it off.
You wrote, "but it doesn't show up as described in the article if I leave Personal Hotspot turned off. "
If you turn OFF your personal hotspot on your iDevice running iOS 8 then your Mac running Yosemite (or any other version of Mac OS X) won't be able to see it because you explicitly turned it off.
But the implication in the article is that you don't need to explicitly turn it on anymore. Otherwise, what's the point of the feature--just avoiding the need to type a password? My Mac already remembers my password for a known network, so that's not helping me any. It's only a useful feature if I don't need to go manually turn on the hotspot on my phone, but instead it turns itself on when my Mac tells it to. I thought that's what the feature was.
Anyway, even if I turn on the hotspot manually, I don't get the functionality shown in the article--I just get the iPhone showing up in my network list like it always has, not in a special section all its own at the top, nor with a battery life indicator. So, something broken here.
/mike
As noted, between prolonged uses you had to turn if OFF and then turn it back ON again to get it to resend a signal that your Mac could see. Now you can simply leave it enabled and it will show up in your Mac's WiFi
Question ... Does invoking this with AT&T mean losing a grandfathered in limitless data plan? Or does AT&T simply charge extra? I can't see how they could differentiate so I am guessing it would. I know they refused to let us add an iPad to our limitless data plan.
I finally gave up my unlimited plan a month ago so that I could tether. It's been a good trade off.... but it was hard to convince myself after so many years :-)
You wrote, "but it doesn't show up as described in the article if I leave Personal Hotspot turned off. "
If you turn OFF your personal hotspot on your iDevice running iOS 8 then your Mac running Yosemite (or any other version of Mac OS X) won't be able to see it because you explicitly turned it off.
This is NOT true... and is completely against the idea here (I know... I use this feature all the time).
This works when you have Personal Hotspot turned OFF... indeed you don't need to explicitly turn it on ever again.
You need to make sure you are signed into the same iCloud account on both your phone and your compute/iPad... and that you have bluetooth on on both devices... and that you have Handoff turned on (Settings->General->Handoff).
If you have everything set up right then on your iPad or Computer your phone will show up in the Wifi menu... EVEN WITH PERSONAL HOTSPOT _OFF_. When you select to connect to your phone it is essentially telling your phone (over bluetooth) to turn on Personal Hotspot so you can connect to it. Then you use it. When you're finished using it your phone will automatically turn back OFF Personal Hotspot (ie - nothing for you to do).
The automatic turning off feature is pretty sophisticated. For instance, if I just put my iPad to sleep for a moment and then turn it back on it is still connected to my phone. If I put it in my bag for longer it will automatically disconnect and the phone will go back to having personal hotspot off. Further: If the Phone OR the iPad detects that you're in range of a _real_ preferred wifi it seems to disconnect the two as well. I haven't tested all disconnection scenarios yet... but I can tell you that I've never been surprised that my iPad is still connected to my iPhone when I thought it shouldn't be...
As noted, between prolonged uses you had to turn if OFF and then turn it back ON again to get it to resend a signal that your Mac could see. Now you can simply leave it enabled and it will show up in your Mac's WiFi
In reading other forums, I'm seeing that the way this is supposed to work is that your Mac is intended to turn the Hotspot feature on and off automatically for you when you want to connect/disconnect, so that you don't chew through your battery, make your phone heat up, etc. unnecessarily by leaving the hotspot on all the time. It only works for newer-ish Macs (you can use the system report under Bluetooth to see if yours is supported).
However, reports are that there are various issues, such as:
1. Even newer Macs sometimes do not exhibit this feature at all--it basically works just like it always did. Apple seems flummoxed as to why.
2. Sometimes you need to disable/re-enable bluetooth on the iPhone for it to work.
3. Sometimes it starts the Hotspot and connects correctly, but does not shut the Hotspot down automatically (as it should) when you disconnect.
So, to sum up:
This feature is actually really useful if it works right, because you don't have to turn the hotspot on or off on your phone--ever--if you want to use it from a Mac where you're using the same iCloud account. It just happens automatically when you try to connect or disconnect. However, it still seems buggy and is not working for everyone, even if configured right and using the right equipment. I fall into this category.
/mike
You are correct. I can turn off Personal Hotspot and it will still show up on my Mac as well as connect. I'm certain that was not the case when these were still in Beta, but that was Beta.
I've been using this between my iPad and iPhone since iOS 8 came out. It's a great feature for a commuter like me... I can just pull out my wifi iPad and leave my phone in my pocket. Much handier while sitting on the bus/train...
I have not tried this yet. So the iPhone and the computer have to be on the same Apple ID. That doesn't prevent your iPhone's hotspot SSID from being broadcast. It would be better if there was a way to not broadcast the SSID and use iCloud to discover the iPhone somehow. I don't want "My iPhone" being broadcast in the crowded train.
I'm confused. Is this new?
I have been connecting my iMac to the internet through a personal hotspot on since my iPhone 4 on iOS 6.
I have not tried this yet. So the iPhone and the computer have to be on the same Apple ID. That doesn't prevent your iPhone's hotspot SSID from being broadcast. It would be better if there was a way to not broadcast the SSID and use iCloud to discover the iPhone somehow. I don't want "My iPhone" being broadcast in the crowded train.
The iPhone's hotspot is _not_ broadcast when using this feature... at all.
When you're not using it Personal Hotspot is off... so no broadcasting.
When you are using it I just verified that no one else can see the Wifi network... it's essentially a totally private connection between my iPad and my iPhone...
I'm confused. Is this new?
I have been connecting my iMac to the internet through a personal hotspot on since my iPhone 4 on iOS 6.
Read the article.
The new part is that you can leave Personal Hotspot _off_ on your phone but you can have your iPad/Mac tell your phone to turn on Personal Hotspot when you want (ie you don't have to manually go turn Personal Hotspot on/off any more).
The iPhone's hotspot is _not_ broadcast when using this feature... at all.
Thanks for testing that. My iPad has cellular so it is not something I would need, but good to know.
If Apple was able to bypass carrier SMS with iMessage, why can't they do the same with tethering?
"...Users must also have a carrier plan with tethering enabled."
If Apple was able to bypass carrier SMS with iMessage, why can't they do the same with tethering?
There's no technical reason, it's just because the carriers want to extract the maximum out of every customer.
“You don’t take sides against the user base...”
Keep your friends close, but your iPhone closer...
(sorry - didn't mean to make he phone your enemy there...)
"...Users must also have a carrier plan with tethering enabled."
If Apple was able to bypass carrier SMS with iMessage, why can't they do the same with tethering?
Because Apple sends iMessages as internet data, rather than as an SMS signal? SMS messages are embedded in the carrier beacon signals, which are sent/received every few seconds betwee the cell phone and local tower, whether there is a message in the blip or not, and which is part of the overhead of running a cellular system, and which costs the carriers nothing extra, but which has become a major revenue stream for them. Whereas your data allotment is in an electronically different format, and which you pay for as part of your plan. So you in fact do pay for iMessages, it's just that the carrier can't distinguish between data that is an iMessage vs. that which is an email, etc. (encrypted packets). But you are paying for total data. And the iMessage is such a small amount of data that you don't notice it in your many megabytes of plan data.
Whereas tethering is just funneling more data into your phone's data allotment, and the carriers and phone manufacturers have negotiated an agreement for a "switch" that allows the carrier to disable the tethering/hotspot function of your phone unless you pay for it.
So, for SMS, they are sending your message in a fundamentally different way.
But with tethering, it's just the same data, which has no other way to be sent.
That's my understanding, anyway.
This is NOT true... and is completely against the idea here (I know... I use this feature all the time).
This works when you have Personal Hotspot turned OFF... indeed you don't need to explicitly turn it on ever again.
this post. you don't need to have it turned on.
I don't know what's up with connecting my Retina MBP and my iPhone 5S. With 10.7-10.9, and iOS 5,6,7 [earlier iPhones as well], I could setup a bluetooth connection between my computer and the iPhone, then select 'Connect to Network' in the right menu item under the bluetooth icon in the menu bar, and my computer would connect to the phone with a valid internet connection in a few seconds.
Now, with Yosemite and iOS 8.1 [didn't actually try tethering with iOS 8.0], I can connect to my iPhone using either Bluetooth or WiFI, but either way, the computer only gets a link-local address, so no working internet connection on the computer.
I've tried deleting the iPhone setup, and then redo the connection via bluetooth, and haven't made any progress.
And wifi in general seems botched for me on Yosemite, as it doesn't seem to get a DHCP address from my router, but it works if I manually configure the TCP setup. And it seems the same for bluetooth, where it connects to the phone [and the phone indicates a tethering connection], but it doesn't get a TCP address so the connection doesn't actually work.