iPhone not allowing most apps to check for Local Network Access

Hello Apple Community! Hoping you could assist.


Long story... but I seemingly have trouble with Apps now allowing for Local Network Access on my iPhone 13 Mini... has been happening for several months now and is on the most current iOS update as of today (16.4).


The vast majority of the Apps that seemingly use to allow Local Network Access no longer show-up... only a select few. I use to be able to have Facebook, WhatsApp and a couple of apps I use for work (funnily enough, Car Manufacture Apps that require LNA for linking to vehicle smart functions and Software Updates). The last one is particularly important as it is somewhat required for my to carry out my job.


Have have carried out quite a lot to try and get my phone to prompt Local Network Access, including the following:


  • Deletion and Re-Installation of a number of Apps that use to have it.
  • Reset of Network & Privacy Settings.
  • Soft Reset of iPhone after carrying out the above.
  • After not getting anywhere there, I then decided to back-up the phone and completely wipe it and start fresh; Tried downloading a few apps after initial setup to see if any of them prompt for LNA - None at all.


To make matters worse, comparing to my partners phone (running an iPhone XR), pretty much all apps that work with LNA seemingly prompt upon accessing apps for the first time, and checking the Local Network settings, she has around 30-40 apps that allow for LNA. In comparison, I've got 3... and we share about 15 or so similar apps. I've checked all the privacy settings, network settings and general phone settings between us and privacy/network wise they're identical.


I understand some may refer to the App Developers for help, but when there's this much discrepancy between this multitude of Apps, I'm thinking this must be a setting or phone related issue... and I don't think its worth while advice to contact EVERY app developer whose app is not allowing LNA... when 99% of them will refer back to Apple anyway.


To sum up... is there anything else anybody could recommend here that I could try? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!


Thank you in advance.

iPhone 13 mini

Posted on Apr 4, 2023 07:02 AM

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Posted on Apr 4, 2023 07:12 AM

Do you have a work email account on your phone, or is your phone under a MDM (Mobile Device Management) plan? If either is true the account/MDM manager can impose many security restrictions on your phone.

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4 replies

Apr 4, 2023 09:24 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Hello Lawrence; Thank you for your response. I have my work e-mail on my phone, but there hasn't been any substantial changes on our end regarding security settings upon speaking with out I.T team... and I've had it on my phone for a couple of years prior to when this started happening. My other colleagues are seemingly able to get LNA to appear on their respective iPhones (depending on Apps that ask for it) and all of them have their work e-mail accounts synced too.


My phone is a personal one, not under any Mobile Device Management.

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iPhone not allowing most apps to check for Local Network Access

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