What Does The Chain Link Symbol Mean On An iPhone?

Sometimes, confusing status icons appear at random times on your iPhone. There could be a person icon next to the time, four dots at the top, or a TFW in your iPhone's status bar. Every now and then, a chain link symbol can also pop up on your iPhone.

This chain link symbol on your iPhone can mean one of two things, depending on where it appears. If it's in your status bar next to the battery, the chain link means you're connected to the Personal Hotspot of another iPhone or an iPad with cellular service. It specifically has to be an Apple device that you're connected to for the chain link to appear. If you're using a hotspot from an Android phone, you'll see the regular Wi-Fi symbol instead.

If, on the other hand, you see the chain link on your iPhone's Dynamic Island, that means another device is connected to your iPhone's Personal Hotspot, either via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth tethering. It can be a phone, tablet, or computer made by either Apple or another manufacturer. Either way, the chain link icon on your iPhone isn't permanent, and you can choose to remove it anytime. Here's how.

If you want to remove the chain link icon from your iPhone, it's very quick and easy to do so. For the first scenario, where your iPhone is connected to another Apple device's Personal Hotspot, all you have to do is turn off Wi-Fi from the Control Center. You'll automatically disconnect from the Personal Hotspot, and the chain link should disappear from your status bar.

For the second scenario, where your iPhone is the Personal Hotspot provider itself, there are several methods to disable the chain link symbol. First, you can simply toggle off Personal Hotspot from either the Control Center or your Settings app. In Settings, open Personal Hotspot and turn off Allow Others to Join. This, in turn, disconnects all the devices using your Personal Hotspot, blocks hotspot access, and removes the chain link symbol from the Dynamic Island. The same thing happens when you directly turn off Cellular Data, which automatically switches off Personal Hotspot.

Changing the Personal Hotspot password on your iPhone, even while the hotspot is still active, can also get rid of the chain link icon. To do so, go into Settings and tap Personal Hotspot. Then, just edit the Wi-Fi Password. You might think that simply kicking the connected devices off the hotspot will make the chain link symbol disappear too. Unfortunately, that's not the case. You can only check who's connected to your iPhone's hotspot, but not remove specific devices from it.