Tutorial: How to set up single-tap homescreen folder icon Wi-Fi toggle shortcut to any pre-defined commonly used access points

[Andy Burnelli]

Tutorial: How to set up single-tap homescreen folder icon toggle shortcut
to any pre-defined commonly used Wi-Fi access points

End result (given widgets should work exactly like app icons do, IMHO):
a. You _can_ create as many homescreen icons of a _widget_ you want
b. These "widget shortcut icons" fit into folders where they belong
c. Below I created three of them named "AP_1", "AP_2", "AP_3"

The use model after they're created is:
1. Whether or not your Wi-Fi radio is on or off...
2. And whether or not you are connected to any particular AP...
3. By tapping once the "widget shortcut icon", you're connected to that AP!

Note all my APs are hidden broadcast, which makes this fact even sweeter!

Every day I test out useful apps where yesterday I tested this FOSS app.
<https://opengait.github.io/>

It's on Amazon and Google Play also:
*Wifi Shortcuts+* by OpenGait.NET, 3.8, 10K+ downloads, free, ad free, etc.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.opengait.wifishortcuts>

It doesn't do anything you can't do a different way, but what it does is
wonderful in that it saves you steps (I try to make all actions one step).

It's _also_ especially useful to me for deeper-level privacy reasons.
a. I have _lots_ of access points that I often connect to at home.
<https://i.postimg.cc/XJChDCPr/spare-access-points.jpg>
b. I hide my SSID broadcast to prevent upload to Google/Mozilla servers.
(which means nothing shows up in my available Wi-Fi menu scans)
c. In addition, I have my phone Wi-Fi set to never try to reconnect.
(There are too many details as to why this works for this thread.)

But even if you don't employ privacy measures, if you frequently connect to
more than one access point, you can benefit from an instant AP toggle.
A. When you want to toggle your pre-defined wifi-access-point one
B. You simply tap the icon widget in your homescreen network folder
C. You tap a different icon widget to toggle _any_ predefined access point!

Here's how I set it up:
1. Install the app and give it the required permissions.
2. For each access point create a "widget icon" and set it up.
3. Then put all those "widget icons" into your network access point folder!
Voila!

Note: These are the first widgets I've ever seen that are identical
in function to regular icons that go inside homescreen folders!
That's important to me because I maintain a well organized system
with _everything_ in folders, all on only one homescreen page!).

a. Customize the icon & name & the colors for each access point widget icon.
b. I set mine to _only_ connect but you can set them to also disconnect.
c. It also can be used to schedule wifi and to toggle wi-fi settings.

For me this is a keeper because it reduces multiple steps to a single step
for when I want to reconnect to one of my many access points, or when my
phone drops an access point as my phone is set to never automatically
reconnect to any known access point (for reasons of privacy).

As always, please test and let me know what you've learned, as Usenet is a
team sport where we all help each other become more powerful on Android.
--
I write these tutorials out of the goodness of my heart to help others.

[Rob]

Andy Burnelli <sp...@nospam.com> wrote:
> Tutorial: How to set up single-tap homescreen folder icon toggle shortcut
> to any pre-defined commonly used Wi-Fi access points

I'm still looking for an easy way to add a WPA2-EAP connection to
an Android phone, i.e.
- download and install server certificate (and maybe client certificate too)
- add connection with that certificate, specified domain, username and
password (or even a specific client certificate).
... preferably with data from QR code or similar, so it is as easy as
adding a WPA2-PSK connection.

Do you know about an app that can do that?