Restricted Access to Local Networks

iOS 14 will now let you know when apps are trying to scan your local Wi-Fi network for other devices, prompting you to authorize these requests in much that same way that you do for Photos, Contacts, and other data. This will prevent apps from sniffing around your local network to find and identify other devices unless they clearly have a reason to do so.

Apple implemented something similar last year for Bluetooth devices in iOS 13, so this basically just expands the concept to your Wi-Fi network. Of course, you’ll still encounter apps that have a legitimate need to do this — even YouTube asks to scan your network, since it will want to look for things like Chromecast devices and smart TVs that you can stream to, although we were a little more surprised to discover that Facebook and Twitter also wanted network access when we first opened them.