Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P Turn on Wi-Fi Automatically Feature

Android 8.0 Oreo came with numerous new functions and improvements and one of them was the option to “Turn on Wi-Fi Automatically”. This feature will allow your device to scan the area for Wi-Fi networks even when you Wi-Fi is off. When it will recognize a saved network, like the one at home or at work, it will automatically active Wi-Fi. While this function was available on the Android O Developer Previews and every device was able to use it, it was removed from Nexus 5X amd 6P in the final version.

Luckily you can easily re-enable it. Let’s find out how.

Before we start

Make sure you already have the ADB command-line utility on your computer. You will need a USB cable in order to connect your device to the computer and your Nexus must have Android 8.0 installed on it.

How to enable this feature

Connect your device to the computer. If you use a Mac use Spotlight to search for Terminal. For Windows press Window key + R. Type “cmd” in the text box that will appear and press Enter.

Type “adb devices” and press Enter in order to look for connected Android devices. If you get an alert on your device select the “Always allow from this computer” option.

You should see your phone/tablet under “List of devices attached” if your device is properly connected.

Now you will have to type these two commands. Press Enter after each.

adb shell

settings put global wifi_wakeup_available 1

settings put global wifi_wakeup_enabled 1

Now you should have the “Turn on Wi-Fi Automatically” option in your Settings. You can disable it by following all the steps again, and replacing the 1 with a 0 in the commands.