Can I skip IOS updates?

Have you thought about switching to Android? That way you don't ever even have to worry about it as they won't even release an update.

 

if you fill your iPhone up so it doesn't auto download the update. Sure it won't install anyway but I mean you won't loose space by it auto downloading.

 

iTunes will present you with the appropriate update for your phone. Given that you'll be going from and older iOS 7 version and iOS 8 is a major revision, I'd be absolutely shocked if iTunes didn't just let you go straight to 8 as it's going to be replacing virtually everything in the OS.

(same deal for an OTA update)

 

You can if you want, but why do you skip updates. Some of them add better security or better functionality. If you let it do OTA updates it is pretty painless.

 

Yeah if you still live in 2012. Most of the big names are releasing updates regularly especially HTC.

You can now delete the downloaded updates, so I wouldn't worry about wasted space.

 

Could you safely jump from 7.0 to 8.0? Yeah. Apple hasn't been requiring interim updates for iOS ("To update to 7.1.2 you must first install 7.0.1, 7.0.2, 7.1, and 7.1.1..." Not.). You can update to the latest version, from any older version, so long as your equipment is compatible with the latest version.

It's working the same way on OS X these days, too. You can go directly from Snow Leopard to Mavericks, skipping both Lion and Mountain Lion.

Of course, "Is it safe?" is a loaded question. I've been beta testing software since the mid 1990s, so I don't worry about the x.0 release. If there's a problem, it's most likely something I can deal with. If you'd rather wait until it's been "perfected," then by all means, wait for 8.1, 8.2, 8.9.999...

But from the standpoint of overall safety? Don't do a software update unless you know you have a good backup. If your backup is in iCloud, go into iCloud settings and 'Backup Now' before you update. Updating via iTunes/computer tends to be faster than wi-fi updates. Plus, it automatically creates a backup, and also avoids most "insufficient space" problems. It seems a bit old-fashioned to me, but there's nothing wrong with that.