ESP8266 Community Forum

It sounds familiar. I use a bunch of different Android devices for testing... many with various versions of Android. A couple of them flat out won't stay connected if they don't detect Internet. A couple (mostly newer) will prompt the first time, but let you "Stay Connected". Some, even if you check the box, will still prompt you every time. I have no idea what iApples do.

Just a thought... are you familiar with: wifi_set_sleep_type(NONE_SLEEP_T);

The default state is for the ESP is to go into one of the sleep modes. If you don't have enough traffic on the line, it will go to sleep and drop connections. This statement says to never sleep. That might help you.