How to share or receive a Wi-Fi password on your iPhone with a few taps, and join a new Wi-Fi network without having to type a password in

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How to share or receive a Wi-Fi password on your iPhone with a few taps, and join a new Wi-Fi network without having to type a password in

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Share Wi-Fi passwords between two iPhones to easily let one phone join a new network.

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  • You can share a Wi-Fi password on your iPhone to automatically connect another iOS device to a new Wi-Fi network, and you won't have to type in a password on the unconnected device.
  • To share or receive a Wi-Fi password and join the network, you will need to bring two iOS devices (that are both running iOS 12 or higher) close to each other.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Getting connected to a new Wi-Fi network is always a bit of a hassle.

Not only do you need to accurately enter the password in your phone's Wi-Fi settings, but frequently, the owner of the network doesn't even remember the password and has to look it up to begin with.

Starting with iOS 12, there's an easy way to join a new Wi-Fi network on your iPhone. Someone who is already connected to the Wi-Fi network can share the password with a single tap, and your iPhone will automatically connect.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone XS (From $999 at Apple)

iPad Pro (From $799 at Apple)

How to share a Wi-Fi password on the iPhone

In order to share a Wi-Fi password with these steps, both you and the recipient of the password need to be using an iOS device.

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It can be two iPhones, two iPads, or one of each, but this doesn't work if one of the devices is an Android. Also, both of you need to be running iOS 12 or higher. If you run into a problem, fix any iPhone update issues and make sure you're running the latest version of iOS.

In addition, both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth should be turned on for both phones. To check, pull down the Control Center from the upper right corner of the screen (or bottom of the screen on an iPhone 8 or earlier) and make sure that both the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth icons are illuminated in blue.

wifi 1

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Both the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth icons should be turned on and appear blue.

1. The person who needs the Wi-Fi password should start the Settings app.

2. Tap "Wi-Fi."

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wifi 2

Dave Johnson/Business Insider

The Wi-Fi settings page shows a list of all available networks.

3. In the Choose a Network section, tap the network you want to join. You'll see the Enter Password dialog box appear, but you won't need to enter a password.

wifi 3

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Don't enter a password - the other phone will do this for you automatically.

4. The person who is already connected to the network should unlock their iPhone and bring it within Bluetooth range of the other device (less than 30 feet).

5. On the Wi-Fi password pop-up window, tap "Share Password."

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wifi 4

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The iPhone that's already connected to the network should offer to share the password.

6. After a moment, the other device will automatically receive the password and connect, and your phone will display a message that you were successful. Tap "Done."

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