The problem is a bit niche but it has frustrated quite a few of you ever since 2010. That "problem" is when the phone goes to the Lock screen, WiFi automatically disconnects. Obviously Microsoft had good intentions in mind here with power-saving as the chief concern. But recently, evidence and personal anecdotes seem to betray the idea that turning off WiFi (when not in use) saves battery.

If there's one area where have heard a lot of complaints on it's the WiFi function on Windows Phone.

Luckily, Microsoft looks to finally be changing this behavior in a future update. Windows Phone Program Manager Joe Belfiore responded to a Tweet from Stephen Simpson about Data Sense (the forthcoming service that compresses data, records data usage) and there he noted that a fix is coming to alter how WiFi behaves:

Simpson: "I wish she would ask you why WiFi shuts off when you turn off the screen on every Windows Phone! Please fix this horrible bug!" Belfiore: "Someone is gonna yell at me for saying this, but... fix is coming. :) Sshh. Just promise me a little patience though."

That's some pretty big news and we imagine this will rollout with whatever planned-package update Microsoft has in mind for Windows Phone 8. Seeing as that OS can receive over-the-air updates, presumably Microsoft could either push out just that update or a larger one, encompassing global bug fixes and new features. Of course Belfiore stresses "patience" meaning we should not expect this next week or even next month. There's also no word if this is coming to Windows Phone 7.x devices as well via the 7.8 update.

Recently there have been some homebrew and even on the Store "fixes" for this issue that have mixed results. But clearly Microsoft got the message from the popularity of such apps.

Personally speaking, this has never bothered us but we think we're in the minority here. How about you?

Source: Twitter; via Unleash the Phones