In an upcoming release, Microsoft is removing a controversial feature that enabled Windows 10 users to share their secure Wi-Fi passwords with their contacts.
This was a feature many users complained about and few used.
I first wrote about this feature — called Wi-Fi Sense — in August 2015.
Here’s my description of Wi-Fi Sense from that original article:
“Say you’re at a friend’s house for the weekend and you want to use his Wi-Fi. He had to either tell you his password or type the password into your device himself. With Windows 10 and Wi-Fi Sense, you and your friends can use each other’s Wi-Fi networks without having to give out your Wi-Fi passwords. Windows makes the authentications happen in the background. You both have to be using Windows 10 and have Wi-Fi Sense enabled.
“There are three groups that you can grant access — your Facebook friends, Skype contacts or Outlook.com contacts. The access can be turned on or off for one or more of these groups, but it’s all or nothing inside each group.
“No big deal, you say? This is only if your friends are over at your house and in Wi-Fi range, right? What if your next-door neighbors are also your Facebook friends? You’re giving them constant access to your internet connection. I’m not sure I see any reason to keep Wi-Fi Sense on all the time.”
I guess I wasn’t alone in thinking password sharing was a bad idea. Apparently not many customers were using the feature.
In announcing a new preview build of Windows 10 on the Windows Experience blog, Microsoft vice president Gabe Aul addressed the end of Wi-Fi Sense.
“We have removed the Wi-Fi Sense feature that allows you to share Wi-Fi networks with your contacts and to be automatically connected to networks shared by your contacts. The cost of updating the code to keep this feature working combined with low usage and low demand made this not worth further investment. Wi-Fi Sense, if enabled, will continue to get you connected to open Wi-Fi hotspots that it knows about through crowdsourcing.”
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Jim Rossman writes for The Dallas Morning News. He may be reached at jrossman@dallasnews.com.
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