IOS8 downloads uninvited!

[nightlong]

Shocked today when, despite having auto download and background app refresh turned off, IOS8 downloaded without being invited and without warning onto my phone and both iPads, also onto a friend's iPad and phone.

So Apple now decides when you will update?? I don't want to upgrade to IOS8 yet, but I no longer have a choice? Yes I have a choice not to install and to delete the updates, which I have done, but I couldn't stop the forced downloads.

This is terrible for people like me who have a limited and slow internet situation at home, and need to plan when to update on other systems. But even for people who do have fast and unlimited data, if this happens when you are maybe staying over at a friend's place using their wifi just to do mail, messages etc, and suddenly you've downloaded 3GB or more of Apple software you don't want!!

I called Apple, they've reported it to their engineering people and will get back to me in a few days.

Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[Hal~9000]

Shocked today when, despite having auto download and background app refresh turned off, IOS8 downloaded without being invited and without warning onto my phone and both iPads, also onto a friend's iPad and phone.

So Apple now decides when you will update?? I don't want to upgrade to IOS8 yet, but I no longer have a choice? Yes I have a choice not to install and to delete the updates, which I have done, but I couldn't stop the forced downloads.

I believe the iOS devices only auto-download an update when both:
- wifi is on
- device is plugged in

Not that it's an ideal solution (the ideal solution would be for Apple to give us a choice to download it in the first place!) but for now it's the reality we deal with so before you plug in your device turn off the wifi.

P.S. thanks for emailing Apple about it, pisses me off whenever any tech i have does stuff I don't agree to

 

[nightlong]

Thanks for the tip, I didn't know that.

What a hassle though, I can see that the update is available, I'll get it if I want it! Clearly if I don't get it, I don't want it.

So Apple is doing this to bump their numbers for uptake of new operating systems?

 

[oldmacs]

Apples doing it to be freaking annoying. Until ios 8 can run iphoto I'm not updating, and loosing my storage capacity is annoying.

 

[Hal~9000]

Thanks for the tip, I didn't know that.

What a hassle though, I can see that the update is available, I'll get it if I want it! Clearly if I don't get it, I don't want it.

So Apple is doing this to bump their numbers for uptake of new operating systems?

A couple of reasons really:

- if they push everyone onto the current OS then it's easier to entice developers "Hey look! All 99% of our users are on iOS 8 so we don't have any fragmentation!"

- the current iOS might have security fixes

- the more users they push onto iOS updates that their hardware can't really handle, the more users will fork over another $650+ to get a device that doesn't lag/have battery issues (a.k.a. planned obsolescence)

 

[nightlong]

a couple of reasons really:

- if they push everyone onto the current os then it's easier to entice developers "hey look! All 99% of our users are on ios 8 so we don't have any fragmentation!"

- the current ios might have security fixes

- the more users they push onto ios updates that their hardware can't really handle, the more users will fork over another $650+ to get a device that doesn't lag/have battery issues (a.k.a. Planned obsolescence)

grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

 

[gaanee]

I also noticed this, here the internet data limit is capped and Apple pushing >3GB ios8 in the background without even notifying is super annoying. And after reading about the ios8 bugs, I have no plans of updating soon.

Because of the internet limit (even for wired connection), I have been careful with downloading stuff. Apple should have just notified about the update not auto download it.

Shocked today when, despite having auto download and background app refresh turned off, IOS8 downloaded without being invited and without warning onto my phone and both iPads, also onto a friend's iPad and phone.

So Apple now decides when you will update?? I don't want to upgrade to IOS8 yet, but I no longer have a choice? Yes I have a choice not to install and to delete the updates, which I have done, but I couldn't stop the forced downloads.

This is terrible for people like me who have a limited and slow internet situation at home, and need to plan when to update on other systems. But even for people who do have fast and unlimited data, if this happens when you are maybe staying over at a friend's place using their wifi just to do mail, messages etc, and suddenly you've downloaded 3GB or more of Apple software you don't want!!

I called Apple, they've reported it to their engineering people and will get back to me in a few days.

Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[Hal~9000]

grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Yep! I know exactly how you feel

At least in the last year though Apple has made it a tiny bit easier that it used to be to stay on the OS your phone came with:
- Now with iOS 7.1.1 and beyond you can delete the update instead of it clogging up 1-2 GB of space on your phone
- Now if you decide to stay on iOS 7 and an app you downloaded in the past gets updated to require iOS 8, you can still download the last version that worked with the OS your phone has. Before last year when they started this you were S.O.L. if an app got updated and you were on a previous firmware... even if you already paid good $$$ for it!

 

[nightlong]

Yep! I know exactly how you feel

At least in the last year though Apple has made it a tiny bit easier that it used to be to stay on the OS your phone came with:
- Now with iOS 7.1.1 and beyond you can delete the update instead of it clogging up 1-2 GB of space on your phone
- Now if you decide to stay on iOS 7 and an app you downloaded in the past gets updated to require iOS 8, you can still download the last version that worked with the OS your phone has. Before last year when they started this you were S.O.L. if an app got updated and you were on a previous firmware... even if you already paid good $$$ for it!

so, is the previous (IOS7) version in your Purchased list still, along with the Requires OS8 version?

 

[AxoNeuron]

Honestly I thought it was pretty convenient being able to install the update without having to wait for it to download.

Seriously, it's *really* easy to delete

 

[nightlong]

Honestly I thought it was pretty convenient being able to install the update without having to wait for it to download.

Seriously, it's *really* easy to delete

My issue isn't about installing or deleting, it is about forced downloading!

It's not convenient for people with limited data ... 3 GB (the total with 2 iPads and an iPhone) is a huge amount of data for my home system which is not really wifi, it is 3G with a mini wifi modem. i live in a rural place, and this is all i can get at home.

Apple assumes that everyone lives in major cities with mega mbps and unlimited download. or they don't assume anything, they just don't give a damn.

My issue is also about the lack of respect for our choice, our RIGHT to choose to consume or not.

 

[Hal~9000]

so, is the previous (IOS7) version in your Purchased list still, along with the Requires OS8 version?

You won't have both versions showing, just the iOS 8 version will show in your purchased list. But when you go to download it via your iPhone a pop-up will say something to the effect of "the newest version of this app requires iOS 8, but we'll still download the last version of the app that works with your device". You click ok and you're good to go.

 

[sanke1]

1. Just delete the partial download from Settings -> General -> Usage -> Show All Apps section. (This is a must do first step) if partial download entry of iOS 8 is not found, go to step 2.

2. Make sure automatic Apps and Updates downloads is set to off. Find it under Settings -> iTunes & App Store

3. Then do not initiate download of update manually. If you initiate the download, it will complete no matter what if adequate space exists on your device. Go back to step 1. if you started download again.

4. Now you can plug in the charger cable and what not and it will not download the update even over wifi.

Since 3 days, my iPad and iPhones are still on 7.1.2 without any background download.

 

[nightlong]

1. Just delete the partial download from Settings -> General -> Usage -> Show All Apps section. (This is a must do first step) if partial download entry of iOS 8 is not found, go to step 2.

2. Make sure automatic Apps and Updates downloads is set to off. Find it under Settings -> iTunes & App Store

3. Then do not initiate download of update manually. If you initiate the download, it will complete no matter what if adequate space exists on your device. Go back to step 1. if you started download again.

4. Now you can plug in the charger cable and what not and it will not download the update even over wifi.

Since 3 days, my iPad and iPhones are still on 7.1.2 without any background download.

Thanks, but I did have Apps and Updates downloads set to off, and I didn't initiate anything and it wasn't a partial download, it downloaded the full update on all 3 devices.

----------

A friend had the same situation with an iPad and iPhone, she didn't even know they had downloaded until I checked her devices after this happened to mine!

 

[willrun4fun]

you could also block mesu.apple.com on your firewall or DNS settings and stop them at home: http://www.enterpriseios.com/story/2013/09/17/How_to_use_DNS_to_block_iOS_7_and_other_updates_too
I block this on our public WiFi at work on our corporate network.

 

[nightlong]

You won't have both versions showing, just the iOS 8 version will show in your purchased list. But when you go to download it via your iPhone a pop-up will say something to the effect of "the newest version of this app requires iOS 8, but we'll still download the last version of the app that works with your device". You click ok and you're good to go.

Thanks! And I will follow your advice in future, charging things overnight with wifi turned off, then unplugging when i turn wifi on in the morning.