Ask Jerry: How do I get my Wi-Fi toggle widget back?

Welcome to Ask Jerry, where we talk about any and all the questions you might have about the smart things in your life. I'm Jerry, and I have spent the better part of my life working with tech. I have a background in engineering and R&D and have been covering Android and Google for the past 15 years.

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I need my Wi-Fi toggle back!

Allan sent in a very detailed issue about Android's silly decision to remove a quick way to turn off Wi-Fi. The gist of it:

I have an Android Auto WiFi dongle, which auto connects and everything is fine... BUT... when I leave the car and walk away the phone is still connected to the vehicle and the audio is in the car, not on the phone.

How can I turn off the WiFi temporarily?

Hi Allan. You're experiencing something that a lot of people don't like about recent versions of Android . It used to be you could find a quick settings toggle switch to shut off Wi-Fi completely and even place it as a home screen widget. Not anymore.

There is a way to fix it, but you're probably not going to like it. I know I don't because I like to drop a quick answer at the beginning of any explanation. Here it is: Tasker. But not the Tasker you'll find in the Play Store. I hope you're ready to get nerdy.

I don't know why Google changed the way Wi-Fi settings are displayed or why it decided to remove the easy way to shut it off. I've been told that the current solution — hiding everything in a Network & Internet section of the settings — is a more elegant solution but I don't remember anyone asking for Wi-Fi settings to be made more elegant. Google does what Google does sometimes.

The bigger issue is that with API 29 Google also changed some rules about system settings and connections, making it so an app developer couldn't just create a switch to turn off Wi-Fi. You can still do it, but making a capable app means it can't be in the Play Store and it won't install the normal way.

Thankfully, the developer of Tasker has provided the source and an archived Android app that does exactly what you want. Head here and grab the "Toggle Wifi" version of Tasker 1.2 and save it to a computer. Yes, you need a computer, too. Thanks, Google.

That's the easy part. The harder part is to set up your phone and a computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux all work fine) to use adb (Android Debug Bridge). Since Android 14 , you can't sideload apps built on depreciated SDK versions automatically, but you can force install them using the command line.

Once you have everything in order, run the following command:

adb install —bypass-low-target-sdk-block TaskerSettings.apk

You can then use Tasker normally and create a switch or routine to toggle Wi-Fi on and off.

Anytime someone online starts saying Android phones are "better" because it's so customizable I remember that an app like Tasker has to exist and that Google does everything to keep you from doing what you want if it's not what it wants.

I know all of this is done with useability in mind. Google really doesn't want people to be able to easily install old versions of apps that might do unwanted and unintended things. I also know that there could be a switch on your phone in the developer tools section that makes bypasses the target SDK block setting.

Anyway, this terrible solution will work and you should be able to shut Wi-Fi down completely with a tap then reenable it with another right from your home screen once you've done all the work. Good Luck!