Xamarin turn on WiFi Hot Spot/Access Point and gain network name & password

Question

I have been searching for the ability to switch on/off a phone WiFi hot spot/access point via a mobile app on the iOS and Android platform based on Xamarin. I had a look at WiFimanager, but it only seems to support Android platforms.

Could any one advise if it's possible to extract the phone's Hot Spot/Access point network name and password, with the ability to switch it on/off?

Answer 1

Unfortunately , iOS does not have a general-purpose API for Wi-Fi scanning and configuration. However, there are a number of special-purpose APIs, and one of these may be appropriate for your product.

• NEHotspotHelper — If your app helps the user navigate a hotspot (a Wi-Fi network where the user must interact with the network to gain access to the wider Internet), you should look at NEHotspotHelper, part of the Network Extension framework. See the Hotspot Network Subsystem Programming Guide for details.

Important: NEHotspotHelper requires that your app have special entitlements.

• Another solution is to use private library but this will get your app banned from the store. So you can use this solution if you’re not going to submit your app on AppStore.

More special-purpose APIs can refer to this Apple Q&A .

Answer 2

Depending on which version of Android your App will run on, you can turn off and on the WiFi.

On Android API up to, but not including 29 (Android Q) you can by requesting the following permissions in your manifest:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CHANGE_WIFI_STATE" />

And call:

WifiManager.FromContext(this).SetWifiEnabled(true);

However, on Android Q and up, you cannot do this at all.

For iOS you won't be able to do this as they do not allow 3rd party apps to change WiFi state. Even not with the NEHotspotHelper entitlement.