With the release of Android 12 back in 2021, Google made a somewhat controversial change to the Quick Settings panel. Gone were the individual toggles for Wi-Fi and mobile data. In their place was a new, expandable Internet tile that housed the old mobile data and Wi-Fi toggles. The change aimed to simplify things for users, but it had the side effect of making it more tedious to toggle Wi-Fi and mobile data. Years after rolling out this change, though, Google may be on the verge of reversing it in a future update to Android 16.
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A brief history of Androidโs Internet Panel
Prior to Android 12, the operating system had separate toggles for Wi-Fi and mobile data. These were convenient shortcuts for anyone who needed to toggle these connections frequently. Users could simply pull down the Quick Settings panel and tap the Wi-Fi or mobile data tile to quickly toggle the respective radio.
When Google released Android 12, the company replaced these individual toggles with a combined โInternetโ tile. Tapping this tile launches the new Internet Panel, which contains switches for controlling mobile data and Wi-Fi, as well as a list of other nearby networks and a button to share your Wi-Fi connection.
Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
Although the Internet tile offers more functionality than the old, one-click Wi-Fi and mobile data tiles, it adds an extra step every time a user wants to toggle either radio. This is because the user must expand the tile to access the mobile data or Wi-Fi controls. While this isnโt difficult, many see it as an unnecessary hurdle…