Wi-Fi Assist on iPhones running iOS 9 was designed to help its users achieve optimum network connection whenever the local wireless network is found to be faulty or spotty. However, it had led to costly data charges as users were unaware that the new feature was already taking place. As such, Apple is taking heat for it and is now faced with another class action lawsuit, claiming that Cupertino has failed to properly inform and educate the users about the potential charges that they incur whenever Wi-Fi assist takes place.
William Scott Philips and Suzanne Schmidt Phillips were the ones who have filed the lawsuit. Allegedly, the costs related to Wi-Fi Assist exceeds USD $5 million. The suit was filed in a United States District Court in San Jose last Friday.
Wi-FI Assist in iOS 9 is turned on be default. 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.
However, there are users who had not understood or had not known the existence of Wi-Fi Assist, and the supposedly advantegeous feature had made them incur more cellular data changes than they had anticipated. According to class action lawsuit, Apple should be responsible for reimbursing customers for the overages incurred in the controversy.
Only after the downpour of articles written about the unintended, excessive cellular data use did Apple post on their website the details on how the new feature actually works and how to switch it on or off. The plaintiffs also found that the additional information found on the website was too late.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs had been overcharged with data charges on both their iPhone 5S units after they had upgraded to iOS 9. The suit did not mention how much the overcharges exactly are, but it did assert that the plaintiffs and the class were mislead about data cellular data usage on their iPhones.
"Defendant's above corrective action, however, still downplays the possible data overcharges a user could incur," the suit reads. "Reasonable and average consumers use their iPhones for streaming of music, videos, and running various applications - all of which can use significant data. Defendant's corrective statement does not disclose any basis for its conclusion that an average consumer would not see much increase in cellular usage."
In the suit, the plaintiffs had incurred data overcharges after they upgraded their iPhone 5S units to iOS 9. There was no mention of the exact amount the overcharges had cost, but it did assert that the plaintiffs and the class were misled about cellular data usage on their iPhones.
