iOS auto update stuck back at 16.1?

[Schtibbie]

My phone is on iOS 16.4.1 but only because I read Macrumors and regularly check for updates. I was curious what a phone would look like for someone who just uses the phone and doesn't care about tech stuff. So I check my wife's iPhone 14 and it was still sitting on 16.1! She told me she never had notifications about upgrading or updates wanting to install. Sure enough in Settings, there was no update waiting to install at all even though she has ON the options of check for updates, install updates, and security updates. All 3 on. So I had to manually check for updates to get her from 16.1 to 16.4.1.

So, is iOS auto update just completely broken? Or was it only broken back in 16.1 and now lotsa normal folks are stuck there without knowing?

 

[BugeyeSTI]

From what I noticed it seems to update when on wifi, locked and plugged into power. It definitely doesn't happen right away but in your wife's case, I'm not sure how it wouldn't of updated to each iteration or at least downloaded it. I've seen it take 2-3 weeks to show the notification badge on the settings app after the update is released but never missing updates... You might try shutting all the update features off, then restart the device and re-enable them..

 

[iStorm]

My parents have the 13 and 14, and both have been updating just fine.

I agree with the previous post...the phone needs to be on wifi, locked, and plugged in overnight. Seems like that would have happened at least several times over the past few months, unless she's not the overnight charging type of person...

 

[Morac]

I always update day of release. Auto-update works for my mom, but never for my dad (iPhone 8).

I actually found he was on iOS 14.5 earlier this year so I updated his phone to 16.1. Any time there’s a new release he’s never notified nor does his phone update even though it’s set to. I’ve had to have him manually update several times.