Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Making It Harder to Avoid Nagging macOS Update Notifications

beermode said:
Like Windows, they will have to issue warning about their own updates.
Click to expand...
It might be a good idea to do so. In the case of Windows, it has to run on several million combinations of devices and drivers. In such a huge ecosystem (or mess, depending on the point of view) I think their warning system is quite smart, especially because it is associated with automatic blacklisting of devices (if your device is included into a warning, the problematic update won't be available until the bug/driver is fixed). It could still improve and we keep reading about users having issues, but the folks at Microsoft do have to work within a context of huge complexity. Apple has far less devices/drivers to manage.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lazy
russell_314 said:
Apple has given software devs years of notifications to fix their apps. If apps are still on 32 bit it's because the devs have abandoned it. Unfortunately devs will make software and not do updates but still sell it. At some point they have to update their OS. From my understanding you still have the ability to say no you don't want to install updates and you can turn off automatic updates.
Click to expand...
Well how come Apple didn't update Aperture or Dashboard then? Those two programs are why I'm holding back on my 2019 iMac.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lazy, bice, Morod and 5 others
4jasontv said:
This is untrue. You can either delay feature updates in one year intervals or security updates in one month intervals. You can also just turn all updates off completely. I mean, it's a terrible idea, and Win10 runs really well on even older hardware, but you could do it if you really have some software that you can't risk breaking.
Click to expand...

russell_314 said:
There's still no way to tell Windows not to automatically install updates.
Click to expand...
You can delay updates... I think I mentioned that but unlike macOS you can't choose not to automatically install updates. There is no provision for turning off automatic updates.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lazy
I have been stuck remotely in a foreign country since the outbreak, and been relying on pre-paid SIM cards, tethering from iPhone to my MBP for work. If an accidental update proceeds to download a few GBs which then drains out my remaining quota then I am unsure if there's enough anger management in me for that.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: Lazy, bice, primarycolors and 4 others
If I had known beforehand how horrible Catalina was going to be on my Mac, I would not have updated. Catalina has a terrible experience. In the 10+ years I've had a Mac I've never had a software update cause this many issues. I can no longer edit my large audiobook collection because it's on Apple Books and it no longer allows me to edit metadata. The worst is I can also no longer bring my Mac when I travel for work because the captive network assistant is broken. The pop up for hotel/public wifi doesn't show up unless I boot in safe mode. It's really annoying and there is still no software update that has fixed this.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: B S Magnet, Lazy, sideshowuniqueuser and 4 others
David G. said:
Well how come Apple didn't update Aperture or Dashboard then? Those two programs are why I'm holding back on my 2019 iMac.
Click to expand...
Because they discontinued that software? I'm not saying devs need to support software forever because maybe they don't want to mess with it anymore. I'm just saying those devs out there still selling 32 bit software then blaming Apple for it not working on Catalina are wrong. Apple gave them years to update to 64 bit and they chose not to.
 
Nagging? If you choose to update to a new version of the OS, why wouldn't you want to do the incremental updates as well?
 
russell_314 said:
There's still no way to tell Windows not to automatically install updates. You can pause them for a week now but if you just want to only manually update that's not possible.
Click to expand...

You have to use the Group Policy Editor. There are directions here, worked for me:

www.windowscentral.com

How to stop automatic updates on Windows 10

Yes, it's possible to disable automatic updates on Windows 10, and in this guide, I'll show you how.
www.windowscentral.com www.windowscentral.com
 
  • Like
Reactions: russell_314 and TheDailyApple
russell_314 said:
Because they discontinued that software? I'm not saying devs need to support software forever because maybe they don't want to mess with it anymore. I'm just saying those devs out there still selling 32 bit software then blaming Apple for it not working on Catalina are wrong. Apple gave them years to update to 64 bit and they chose not to.
Click to expand...
- Numerous games are 32 bits, including not so old ones. Games tend to be released and not updated, except (sometimes) within the first 1-2 years. Of course, online games and gacha games are different.

- And in science, a lot of amazing software gets released as part of a PhD, or a project defined within a very specific time frame. This kind of software sometimes gets released a single time, works well, and is never touched again.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Lazy, sideshowuniqueuser, !!! and 2 others
russell_314 said:
You can delay updates... I think I mentioned that but unlike macOS you can't choose not to automatically install updates. There is no provision for turning off automatic updates.
Click to expand...

Sure you can. Set Windows Update to Disabled and that will stop all automatic updates. If you set it to manual you have to manually check for updates and they won't install until you tell it.

1590682991780.png

[automerge]1590683142[/automerge]
FlyingDutch said:
actually it is still true. You can delay but not avoid a Windows update...
Click to expand...
See above.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SteveJUAE and Vfalcon
alexanderjb91 said:
If I had known beforehand how horrible Catalina was going to be on my Mac, I would not have updated. Catalina has a terrible experience. In the 10+ years I've had a Mac I've never had a software update cause this many issues. I can no longer edit my large audiobook collection because it's on Apple Books and it no longer allows me to edit metadata. The worst is I can also no longer bring my Mac when I travel for work because the captive network assistant is broken. The pop up for hotel/public wifi doesn't show up unless I boot in safe mode. It's really annoying and there is still no software update that has fixed this.
Click to expand...
You said
canesalato said:
- Numerous games are 32 bits, including not so old ones. Games tend to be released and not updated, except (sometimes) within the first 1-2 years. Of course, online games and gacha games are different.

- And in science, a lot of amazing software gets released as part of a PhD, or a project defined within a very specific time frame. This kind of software sometimes gets released a single time, works well, and is never touched again.
Click to expand...
I understand that devs make software then abandon it shortly after. It doesn't make that software bad but rather unsupported. I think it's wrong when companies still sell but don't take responsibility as to why it doesn't work on Catalina. You can't expect Apple to support it forever. If you need to run outdated software a VM is your best way to go.
 
canesalato said:
You need to go to Settings -> Windows Update -> Advanced options.
See the attached screenshot
PS: you can also tell windows not to restart automatically your machine after installing the update, or set a time of the day for the reboot to happen.
View attachment 919427
Click to expand...
You’re my hero, bro! I have a friend who’s PC Video drivers breaks after every Windows update
 
russell_314 said:
I’m guessing you don’t have a Windows PC. Windows doesn’t just give you a notification of the updates. It installs them without asking and restarts your machine
Click to expand...

Don't worry. Right now Apple has copied Microsoft's Windows 7/8 nagging and tricking to upgrade to Windows 10 feature. They are well on their way to compulsory upgrades. Maybe that will be a "feature" in macOS 10.16 Cucamonga (let's hope that's the next CA name).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lazy, Jim Higgins, nt5672 and 2 others
ouimetnick said:
Yup. No easy way to turn off the auto updates in Windows 10. Pretty much forced. At least my MBP hasn’t automatically upgraded.
Click to expand...

eh no. Last Fall Windows 10 added the ability to defer, pause or uninstall updates. Go into Windows Update > Advanced Options. To uninstall and go back to previous build you can select Uninstall Updates or use System Restore points just like Time Machine.

The big difference with Windows updates is that they are a refinement of the current system. It's Windows 10 from 2015 to 2025. With macOS they give you a new system every year and you start all over again with dozens of bugs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lazy and Queen6
russell_314 said:
You said

I understand that devs make software then abandon it shortly after. It doesn't make that software bad but rather unsupported. I think it's wrong when companies still sell but don't take responsibility as to why it doesn't work on Catalina. You can't expect Apple to support it forever. If you need to run outdated software a VM is your best way to go.
Click to expand...

Apple could give developers 1 year after report and conformation of an OS update breaking an app to either pull the app or fix it. After that time they flag the app as abandonware and release the source code to active developers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tranceking26
4jasontv said:
Sure you can. Set Windows Update to Disabled and that will stop all automatic updates. If you set it to manual you have to manually check for updates and they won't install until you tell it.

View attachment 919433
[automerge]1590683142[/automerge]

See above.
Click to expand...
Okay I did the group policy editor one and will see how it goes. Either one of these methods is more for a tech than the average user. I couldn't explain to my non nerdy friends how to do this but I could easly tell them how to turn off auto updates in Mac. It's nice to see people have developed a workaround to M$ BS but it shouldn't be necessary. It should be a check box in the Windows update section.
 
  • Like
Reactions: velocityg4
GekkePrutser said:
Not really.. I can't stand Windows for this (especially that they force a reboot). And they force telemetry that can't be turned off.
Click to expand...

All Telemetry can be turned off. There's a privacy setting for ever kind of feature and you just disable it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back