How to Use Your Phone as a Hotspot for Your Tablet
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Tested on
- iOS 18.4 - iPhone 15 Pro, iPadOS 18.4 - iPad Pro
- You will need
- Smartphone with active data plan, Tablet, Wi-Fi credentials
Step by step
Enable Personal Hotspot on your phone
Open Settings on your phone and tap Personal Hotspot. Toggle the Allow Others to Join switch to the ON position. Ensure the Wi-Fi Password field is populated with a secure, recognizable string.
Note: Keep this screen open during the initial connection process.Connect the tablet to the network
Open Settings on your tablet and navigate to Wi-Fi. Locate your phone’s network name in the list of available connections. Select the network and enter the password you defined in the previous step.
Confirm the connection
Check the status bar of your tablet for the Wi-Fi icon. Once connected, open a browser and navigate to a website to confirm active internet throughput. Your phone's status bar will display a blue indicator to signify an active tethered connection.
Enable Low Data Mode
To prevent background processes from consuming your phone's data, go to the tablet’s Wi-Fi settings. Tap the Info icon (i) next to your phone's hotspot name and toggle Low Data Mode to ON. This restricts background app updates and syncs.
Note: Recommended if your cellular data plan has a restricted monthly cap.Use Auto-Join Hotspot
On your tablet, navigate to Settings > Wi-Fi > Auto-Join Hotspot. Set this to Automatic. Your tablet will now automatically request a connection from your phone whenever a known network is unavailable.
Note: This requires both devices to be signed into the same iCloud account.