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How to Turn on Automatic Software Updates on Your iPhone or iPad

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Apr 12, 2001
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If you don't want your iPhone or iPad to bug you about Apple's frequent software updates but want your software to stay up to date, there's an option on the iPhone or the iPad to enable automatic software updates. Apple first enabled this change in iOS 12.

ios12automaticupdates-800x386.jpg

With this feature turned on, when a new version of iOS is released, your iPhone or iPad will be updated automatically
  1. Open the Settings app,
  2. Choose "General."
  3. Select "Software Update."
    ios12softwareupdate-800x648.jpg
  4. Tap on "Automatic Updates."
  5. Toggle the option from off to on.
    automaticsoftwareupdates-800x800.jpg
Automatic updates are turned off by default, so the default behavior of software updates hasn't changed. Unless this is turned on, your iOS device will wait for you to manually tap the install button when an update is released, though it will continue to download new updates in the background.

To turn off automatic updates, follow the same steps, toggling the update from on to off.

Article Link: How to Turn on Automatic Software Updates on Your iPhone or iPad
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/turn-on-automatic-software-updates-ios-12/
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Even with ios 12 auto download of new updates for app never works it claims to be a feature and turned on in setting but no app updates show unless u click app store and still have to download them manually, so i doubt ios updates will be automatic
 
I want to turn it OFF: when I'm at my parents on vacation, I don't have Internet. So I bring my access Point which includes a 3G card. Overnight, as soon as our devices (2 iPads + 2 iPhones) see the WiFi, they start downloading several GB's of updates - and I reach my data cap in less than a week.

gees thanks! How difficult is it to be able to turn off updates depending on network ?
 
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MacRumors said:



If you don't want your iPhone or iPad to bug you about Apple's frequent software updates but want your software to stay up to date, there's a new option in iOS 12 to enable automatic software updates.

ios12automaticupdates-800x386.jpg

With this feature turned on, when a new version of iOS is released, your iPhone or iPad will be updated automatically
  1. Open the Settings app,
  2. Choose "General."
  3. Select "Software Update."
    ios12softwareupdate-800x648.jpg

  4. Tap on "Automatic Updates."
  5. Toggle the option from off to on.
    automaticsoftwareupdates-800x800.jpg
Automatic updates are turned off by default, so the default behavior of software updates isn't changing in iOS 12. Unless this is turned on, your iOS device will wait for you to manually tap the install button when an update is released, though it will continue to download new updates in the background.

To turn off automatic updates, follow the same steps, toggling the update from on to off.

Article Link: How to Turn on Automatic Software Updates in iOS 12
Click to expand...
Superb feature!! Thank you, Apple. I am so looking forward to it!! So convenient!!
 
When does it do the installation? Hopefully when you’re asleep and the phone is plugged in.
 
bergert said:
I want to turn it OFF: when I'm at my parents on vacation, I don't have Internet. So I bring my access Point which includes a 3G card. Overnight, as soon as our devices (2 iPads + 2 iPhones) see the WiFi, they start downloading several GB's of updates - and I reach my data cap in less than a week.

gees thanks! How difficult is it to be able to turn off updates depending on network ?
Click to expand...

Or, just turn it off when you are experiencing your incredibly narrow use case instead of over complicating it for everyone else?
 
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When I updated to public beta 2 I was asked if I wanted to enable automatic updates. Amazing it’s taken 12 major updates to add this although if it works as well as the App Store auto updates it may as well have been left out.
 
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bergert said:
I want to turn it OFF: when I'm at my parents on vacation, I don't have Internet. So I bring my access Point which includes a 3G card. Overnight, as soon as our devices (2 iPads + 2 iPhones) see the WiFi, they start downloading several GB's of updates - and I reach my data cap in less than a week.

gees thanks! How difficult is it to be able to turn off updates depending on network ?
Click to expand...
Install the tvOS beta profile, only remove when you want to run an update. Or apply updates via iTunes.
 
LarryBaker said:
I can’t agree more. All these ‘howto’s’ MR is posting seems to be an effort to simply add content, much of which is useless to anyone with half a brain.
Click to expand...

Oftentimes with simpler how tos like these, the point is to serve as a reminder that a feature exists in the first place rather than as a walkthrough on how to do it. This is the case with automatic software updates. You might not even realize it's a thing, just because there's so much else going on in the beta.
 
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dan9700 said:
Even with ios 12 auto download of new updates for app never works it claims to be a feature and turned on in setting but no app updates show unless u click app store and still have to download them manually, so i doubt ios updates will be automatic
Click to expand...

Since i turned this feature on. It does not automatically update anything for me. Even with a reset, i have to go in and do a manual update.
 
lsutigerfan1976 said:
Since i turned this feature on. It does not automatically update anything for me. Even with a reset, i have to go in and do a manual update.
Click to expand...

It’s because they’re not plugged in with charger to recharge your iDevices or just plug in charger and the app update will automatically download and install. When I plugged it in to recharge, I notice my apps start to download update. It happens on my iPhone all the time even with WiFi on. It doesn’t matter if it’s not plugged in, it won’t download unless if you do manual update.
 
are OTA updates supported now? It is about a freaking time that Apple does allow that or at least gives us a choice. It is ridiculous that four major national carriers have been forcing people to unlimited data for some time, yet, I cant use it with Apple services as most of them are limited to WiFi.
 
jclo said:
Oftentimes with simpler how tos like these, the point is to serve as a reminder that a feature exists in the first place rather than as a walkthrough on how to do it. This is the case with automatic software updates. You might not even realize it's a thing, just because there's so much else going on in the beta.
Click to expand...


Thank you for taking the time to reply. Even though I may not agree, I sincerely appreciate knowing that users posts are noticed, and the staff will indeed respond.

Thank you again and have a great day!
 
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MacRumors said:
If you don't want your iPhone or iPad to bug you about Apple's frequent software updates but want your software to stay up to date, there's a new option in iOS 12 to enable automatic software updates.
Click to expand...


What if you want your iDevice to bug you about Apple's frequent software updates but want your software to stay where it is?

LarryBaker said:
I can’t agree more. All these ‘howto’s’ MR is posting seems to be an effort to simply add content, much of which is useless to anyone with half a brain.
Click to expand...

I don't mind these how-tos, it is not like you have to read them.

Over the past 5 years, the iOS has gotten a lot more complex and unintuitive when it comes to the settings. I am not saying that this how-to is complex, but many things that used to be really simple, are now moved, and hard to find.

I find myself having to do a something-search for where to find settings on Apple devices a lot more often than I used to. So, I appreciate how-tos like this one.
 
Last edited:
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LarryBaker said:
I can’t agree more. All these ‘howto’s’ MR is posting seems to be an effort to simply add content, much of which is useless to anyone with half a brain.
Click to expand...

I’ve been a Mac user since they came in ugly, beige boxes and an iPhone user since the 3G. I consider myself a hardcore/power user and there have been a couple of these articles on features I didn’t know about. Hidden features in Finder, for example, that Apple don’t document anywhere.
 
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twistedpixel8 said:
I’ve been a Mac user since they came in ugly, beige boxes and an iPhone user since the 3G. I consider myself a hardcore/power user and there have been a couple of these articles on features I didn’t know about. Hidden features in Finder, for example, that Apple don’t document anywhere.
Click to expand...

Understood. I can certainly respect other points of view.

Have a great day!
 
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I want to be able to say NO to an update and stop it from bothering me till I choose to update. For something as vital as my phone and computer, nothing could be worse than Apple releasing an update that breaks something, like battery usage on phone, WiFi stability. You should check vital software compatibility with update before upgrading. It's NOT smart to autoupdate.
 
Yes but can you turn off iOS updates? I love how iOS downloads an update over my hotspot using up my data costing me money.
 
bergert said:
I want to turn it OFF: when I'm at my parents on vacation, I don't have Internet. So I bring my access Point which includes a 3G card. Overnight, as soon as our devices (2 iPads + 2 iPhones) see the WiFi, they start downloading several GB's of updates - and I reach my data cap in less than a week.

gees thanks! How difficult is it to be able to turn off updates depending on network ?
Click to expand...
Go to Settings, Mobile and flick the toggle to stop App Store from accessing mobile data.
 
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