iOS 13.6 Beta Adds Toggle for Turning Off Automatic iOS Update Downloads

[coolfactor]

Finally! After so many years of people asking for this! This is as important as changing video resolution in the camera app or blocking half the screen to show the volume. I guess iOS 14 will not have calls and Siri take up the whole screen?

But the opposite is true, too. Some grandson is going to change this setting on his grandmother's phone "in her best interest" and then she will fail to get updates for years, blame Apple for the problem, and on the cycle goes.

Yes, this is good for those that want this feature, and there are many.

 

[now i see it]

This really doesn't fix the Number One gripe people have with Apple's heavy handed nag screen approach that pops open a message at random intervals asking you to install an update.
Makes you hate the company and despise the device.

 

[compwiz1202]

You just kicked the bees nest here on MR...

Unleash the MacRumors Hornets!
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Now allow updates via cellular.

YES! They don't care how big of apps you download now, so at least maybe allow under 1G or some lower amount to DL over cellular. Or maybe even allow Cellular after so long has gone by since the update was released.
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Anyone still on iOS 10.3.3 with 32bit games! Of course they won't get this toggle, so... 🤷‍♂️

R.I.P. Flappy Bird :'(
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Ooh. Cool. I've been hoping something like this would make its way in, especially for those of us in the dev beta program. Having it auto download, but not auto install, is nice. It means I can decide to install if/when I want to, and when I make that decision, the OS is already on device, saving what is often for me the longest pole in the tent when installing the OS: the download (I have pretty crappy broadband where I live).

I also prefer auto download/manual install for all updates anywhere.

 

[NMBob]

Yay! The number of settings were starting to look a little thin...
If automatic updates are not turned on don't download anything, just notify that there is one. How hard can that be?

 

[B4U]

On one hand, it is nice to finally give us back the control.
[sarcasm]On the other hand, we are losing a bunch of tech savvy folks to run the quality check for Apple and be the guinea pigs.[/sarcasm]

 

[LeadingHeat]

It’s always concerning to see that my phone is running out of space, only to see that there’s an absurd amount of storage being eaten up by “system”. When I update, it goes away. I’d rather be in control of when the update downloads AND installs, so this is a very welcome change. Nice.

 

[TimFL1]

I'm confused by article. I have settings/General/software updates/automatic updates set to Off. I never get a download I don't ask for. What happens is I check to see if there is availability, if it says there is, I download it, then I install it.

so according to the article it is going to do what it already does.

Partially true. This improves the situation by allowing you to specify that your phone should ONLY download the update, but not initiate an installation at night.

That's pretty cool because automatic iOS updates don't unlock your SIM, which means you can miss out on critical calls at night or early morning. I've also heard horror stories of automatic updates bricking your alarm, causing it to not go off (I hope that's fixed nowadays).

I'll certainly have the toggle for automatic downloads on but turn off the automatic installation due to the nitpicks mentioned above. Not that it matters, I'm always jumping on new updates right away anyways.

 

[tranceking26]

I welcome this feature. More user control is a good thing.

 

[subi257]

I like that, now the updates would be automatically downloaded and I can just choose to install...on not. If I choose to install, it will be faster because hit will already be there.

 

[Wowzera]

Finally! After so many years of people asking for this! This is as important as changing video resolution in the camera app or blocking half the screen to show the volume. I guess iOS 14 will not have calls and Siri take up the whole screen?

Please add Apple Pay not taking up the whole screen.

 

[Bokito]

iOS becomes more pro, while macOS becomes more pro hostile. OS development leader really need to get their act together.

 

[vOne1]

I actually think this is a bad decision! Regular people don’t update and wait way to long to install security updates. Also it’s bad for the developers. They maybe don’t uses always the latest API’s anymore because people don’t update as fast.

 

[compwiz1202]

Yay! The number of settings were starting to look a little thin...
If automatic updates are not turned on don't download anything, just notify that there is one. How hard can that be?

Yea I mean maybe wait a little bit after it is available to notify so the server doesn't get slammed, but eventually give a notification. And then wait a reasonable amount of time to prompt again. Even better have three choices. Update, Remind Me Later, Don't Remind Again.

 

[JosephAW]

Or at least allow iOS to connect to it's own hotspot for iOS updates and connecting to chrome cast devices.

 

[EmotionalSnow]

But the opposite is true, too. Some grandson is going to change this setting on his grandmother's phone "in her best interest" and then she will fail to get updates for years, blame Apple for the problem, and on the cycle goes.

Yes, this is good for those that want this feature, and there are many.

While you are correct, there always are some disadvantages to change. I think that in this case the advantages weigh more. The grandson should make better decisions ...

 

[cwwilson]

It’s crazy it took this long for such a simple feature.

 

[C DM]

It’s always concerning to see that my phone is running out of space, only to see that there’s an absurd amount of storage being eaten up by “system”. When I update, it goes away. I’d rather be in control of when the update downloads AND installs, so this is a very welcome change. Nice.

When it comes to storage space, usually a downloaded update will be listed separately rather than part of the "System" category.
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I like that, now the updates would be automatically downloaded and I can just choose to install...on not. If I choose to install, it will be faster because hit will already be there.

That's more or less how it is now. This would allow someone to disable the automatic download.
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I actually think this is a bad decision! Regular people don’t update and wait way to long to install security updates. Also it’s bad for the developers. They maybe don’t uses always the latest API’s anymore because people don’t update as fast.

The default settings will likely reflect how things are set up now -- with at least automatic downloads being enabled. Even that aside, it's quite likely that notifications of new updates would still be coming through even if someone might decide to disable automatic download (and installation).

 

[felixculpa]

The default settings will likely reflect how things are set up now -- with at least aromatic downloads being enabled. Even that aside, it's quite likely that notifications of new updates would still be coming through even if someone might decide to disable automatic download (and installation).

I wish I _could_ enable aromatic downloads! (Great cupertino)

 

[PrayForDeath]

Who wouldn’t want to install updates

As a developer, I keep several devices around running older versions of iOS to test my apps.

Getting constant update prompts, and worrying about not tapping the wrong button is pretty annoying. Especially since you cannot downgrade if you happen to update by accident. One mistake and you're toast.

 

[MattMJB0188]

Who wouldn’t want to install updates

Uh, ME. Installing iOS updates, like major updates renders your device one more OS closer to EOL. You also sometimes loose features.

iOS 6 to 7 = loss of classic iOS skeuomorphic design.

iOS 9 to 10 = loss of slide to unlock

iOS 12 to 13 = battery loss on older devices, plus a little slowdown.

 

[glowplug]

I must say that I'm tempted to update to get the option to not update.

 

[femike]

About time! At last separate toggles for download and install. Now thats really thinking outside the box.
Both toggles will be off for me until I and my phone are ready.

 

[Kabeyun]

Who wouldn’t want to install updates

In my entire life I’ve never installed an n.0 version of any OS ever. I would not give my iPhone that autonomy either. Suggest you follow the same rule. And in general for any new OS version I wait a week or two to let beta tes...um...early adopters work the kinks out.

 

[JosephAW]

Uh, ME. Installing iOS updates, like major updates renders your device one more OS closer to EOL. You also sometimes loose features.

iOS 6 to 7 = loss of classic iOS skeuomorphic design.

iOS 9 to 10 = loss of slide to unlock

iOS 12 to 13 = battery loss on older devices, plus a little slowdown.

You also forgot loss of 32 bit apps in iOS 11 and iOS 9 loss of transfer purchased apps in iTunes and now iOS 13 loss of installing apps from iTunes.

 

[Jimmy James]

Terrific news. I once deleted an involuntary OS download. It didn’t free up the space and DL’d again.