4 ms·

The iPhone uses a very similar technique. If you connect to a wifi network that requires login, a browser sans address bar will pop-up over your current app and

The iPhone uses a very similar technique. If you connect to a wifi network that requires login, a browser sans address bar will pop-up over your current app and allow you to login. Once an external resource can be reached, the browser disappears and returns you to the previous app. Steve Jobs even alluded to it / bragged about it when the iPhone was first unveiled, 2 years before Win7 was released.

upthedale 15y ago
In fairness, this has nothing to do with Win7 specifically. The NCSI service was introduced with Vista.
- kinetik 15y ago
  ...8 months before the iPhone was released.
  - aneth 15y ago
    Yes, Apple was focused intently on copying Vista's technology coup.
    - StavrosK 15y ago
      Haha, I like how nobody said anything when the topic was how Microsoft copied Apple, but people speak up to defend the opposite!
      - danssig 15y ago
        Probably because MS does copy Apple (do they even try to hide this?) but what would anyone copy from MS?
      - deleted 15y ago
        [deleted]
wrs 15y ago
For the curious, previous HN discussion on this wifi captive portal trick ("WISPr"): http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1674911 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1674911
phlux 15y ago
Just a note - this functionality was not in the initial day-1 release of the iPhone... I don't recall which update had this, but it was well after 1.0
- greengarstudios 15y ago
  iPhone OS 3.0 (now called iOS 3.0) - iOS app developer who was there when Apple explained it