Automatic App Updates Reliable Yet?

[purdnost]

Like a lot of people, my parents never think to open the App Store to update their apps, and with the recent redesign to the way app updates are accessed, I'm sure they wouldn't even know where to look for them.

There is an App Store setting that allows for automatic app updates, but this has proven to be unreliable.

I find myself ritualistically checking the App Store for updates. I even recently installed an App Store updates shortcut that takes me right to the updates window. I don't think iOS 14 offers a widget for the App Store, which could potentially display available updates, but I think there exists better solutions.

Surely, there has to be a better way for people to be made aware of updates. I don't think push notifications are necessary, but they could be a viable option for many. Perhaps badges, like the Settings app has when there is an OS update. But, even then, those are far too easy to ignore, especially when so many phones are littered with ignored badge counts.

With the iOS 13.6 developer beta update, Apple added a new toggle to automatically download and install future software updates. This is great for people who normally don't think to do this manually (like my parents) and an overdue step in the right direction. I hope Apple gives app updates the same attention. It would save me the hassle of making sure other people's phones are as up-to-date as possible.

 

[bbates123]

Unfortunately this doesn't seem to have changed with IOS 14 yet. I still need to manually update the apps every few days even though the App Updates setting is set to ON.

 

[purdnost]

I think, for me, ideally, I would like the option to download AND install app updates (like OS updates in 13.6), and also have the option to enable notifications that let me know which apps have been updated with links to the app page detailing version updates (or even version update notes in the notifications themselves).

 

[Tammster]

I’ve always found that super annoying! Strangely, JUST today I noticed this quick way to do it.

 

[ckorhonen]

Curious why you think automatic updates aren't reliable? I've not noticed an issue since Apple rolled out the feature - my app get updated overnight relatively soon after the developer releases the update.

If you're not getting the updates immediately, or you go to the App Store and see a ton of pending updates, this seems to be more related to the developer using the phased update feature rather than automatic updates not working.

With phased updates, an increasing percentage of users with automatic update turned on will receive the app, starting at 1% and building up to 100% over 7 days. You'll be able to see the update and manually update from the App Store app, but the expectation should not be that automatic updates will run as soon as a new version is released.

 

[purdnost]

Curious why you think automatic updates aren't reliable? I've not noticed an issue since Apple rolled out the feature - my app get updated overnight relatively soon after the developer releases the update.

If you're not getting the updates immediately, or you go to the App Store and see a ton of pending updates, this seems to be more related to the developer using the phased update feature rather than automatic updates not working.

With phased updates, an increasing percentage of users with automatic update turned on will receive the app, starting at 1% and building up to 100% over 7 days. You'll be able to see the update and manually update from the App Store app, but the expectation should not be that automatic updates will run as soon as a new version is released.

I’ll try it and see how soon the updates are applied over time. Do you get any notifications about when apps are updated, or just the usual indicator dot next to the app?

 

[ckorhonen]

No notification, just the blue dot on the app name.

If you're looking for release notes etc. then you have to go to the Updates page in the App Store - there you can see both pending updates and ones which have already been applied.

 

[inkahauts]

Curious why you think automatic updates aren't reliable? I've not noticed an issue since Apple rolled out the feature - my app get updated overnight relatively soon after the developer releases the update.

If you're not getting the updates immediately, or you go to the App Store and see a ton of pending updates, this seems to be more related to the developer using the phased update feature rather than automatic updates not working.

With phased updates, an increasing percentage of users with automatic update turned on will receive the app, starting at 1% and building up to 100% over 7 days. You'll be able to see the update and manually update from the App Store app, but the expectation should not be that automatic updates will run as soon as a new version is released.

I’m with you. Have have auto updates turned on on my stuff as well as other family and friends and never have a single issue with it. Everything is always kept updated.

 

[itsmilo]

This hasn’t worked for me ever since the App Store was introduced

 

[inkahauts]

What? So you go to settings and iTunes @ App Store and then turn on auto app updates and it never automatically updates the apps? Do you have App Store turned on? Automatic updates? All that turned on?

There’s something wrong with your account I’d bet if it doesn’t work with all those things turned on.

 

[purdnost]

Curious why you think automatic updates aren't reliable? I've not noticed an issue since Apple rolled out the feature - my app get updated overnight relatively soon after the developer releases the update.

If you're not getting the updates immediately, or you go to the App Store and see a ton of pending updates, this seems to be more related to the developer using the phased update feature rather than automatic updates not working.

With phased updates, an increasing percentage of users with automatic update turned on will receive the app, starting at 1% and building up to 100% over 7 days. You'll be able to see the update and manually update from the App Store app, but the expectation should not be that automatic updates will run as soon as a new version is released.

What purpose does a phased release serve?

 

[ckorhonen]

What purpose does a phased release serve?

It's a safety net for developers - if you push an update to all your users at once, and it has a major bug that you missed in your testing, then that translates into a major headache. You need to drop everything to fix the issue, request an expedited review from Apple etc.

With a phased release, if you notice an issue then (hopefully) the update has not gone out to the majority of your users, you can pause the release, fix the issue and submit a new version.

This is similar to how Facebook, Twitter etc. often test new features on a small percentage of users so they can gather feedback and make refinements before releasing to everyone.

 

[purdnost]

It's a safety net for developers - if you push an update to all your users at once, and it has a major bug that you missed in your testing, then that translates into a major headache. You need to drop everything to fix the issue, request an expedited review from Apple etc.

With a phased release, if you notice an issue then (hopefully) the update has not gone out to the majority of your users, you can pause the release, fix the issue and submit a new version.

This is similar to how Facebook, Twitter etc. often test new features on a small percentage of users so they can gather feedback and make refinements before releasing to everyone.

Thank you for the great explanation. That makes a lot of sense! I assume most people who think automatic updates aren’t working just aren’t waiting long enough for the updates to install. In my case, it took about a day after seeing that updates were available for about five apps for them to automatically update. This eliminates the need for me to keep family members’ phones up-to-date.

 

[ckorhonen]

I assume most people who think automatic updates aren’t working just aren’t waiting long enough for the updates to install.

Exactly. With a phased roll-out, it takes 7 days for an update to be pushed out to 100% of users. It's easy enough to verify that its working if you look at your list of pending updates, you shouldn't see any which are more than 7-8 days old.

This is assuming that you charge your iPhone daily and are connected to Wi-Fi. From what I recall, automatic updates only occur when you are charging, and anything over 150Mb won't automatically update over cellular in order to conserve data.

 

[TimFL1]

Maybe anyone claiming this doesn‘t work should post how long they wait for an update to auto-install.

It‘s not supposed to be instant, can take anywhere from 1 day to 2 weeks.

 

[dk001]

Curious why you think automatic updates aren't reliable? I've not noticed an issue since Apple rolled out the feature - my app get updated overnight relatively soon after the developer releases the update.

If you're not getting the updates immediately, or you go to the App Store and see a ton of pending updates, this seems to be more related to the developer using the phased update feature rather than automatic updates not working.

With phased updates, an increasing percentage of users with automatic update turned on will receive the app, starting at 1% and building up to 100% over 7 days. You'll be able to see the update and manually update from the App Store app, but the expectation should not be that automatic updates will run as soon as a new version is released.

I usually ignore it until I get an app that won't work right. Then I check the App Store and frequently find an update that has been sitting there for days.
I just looked and I have app updates that are showing "3-days ago".
Manually triggered update

Oldest just now:
Pinterest 3 Days Ago
One Drive 2 Days Ago

11 other updates marked Yesterday and Today.
Manually triggered - all installed okay

 

[miamialley]

Unfortunately this doesn't seem to have changed with IOS 14 yet. I still need to manually update the apps every few days even though the App Updates setting is set to ON.

OMG, yes! My apps haven’t auto updated in years! So annoying.
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Maybe anyone claiming this doesn‘t work should post how long they wait for an update to auto-install.

It‘s not supposed to be instant, can take anywhere from 1 day to 2 weeks.

If I don’t manually update, it doesn’t happen.

 

[mrochester]

My oldest update that hasn’t been installed yet was released on 23 June, so just over 7 days ago.

I presume for that app I am in the last group to be updated. I’m not going to manually update it and see if it gets automatically updated by the end of today.

On the flip side I have an app that was updated this morning that was released yesterday, so I was in one of the earlier groups for that one.

 

[alex2792]

This has never worked right in any version of iOS as far as I can remember. Apple needs to copy android and have automatic updates actually automatically install new version of the app as it becomes available.

 

[mrochester]

This has never worked right in any version of iOS as far as I can remember. Apple needs to copy android and have automatic updates actually automatically install new version of the app as it becomes available.

Apple doesn’t control that, the developer does. The developer decides whether to release to all users immediately or have a phased update over 7 days. It always felt like this was the case but ckorhonen finally pointed us in the right direction.

 

[dk001]

Apple doesn’t control that, the developer does. The developer decides whether to release to all users immediately or have a phased update over 7 days. It always felt like this was the case but ckorhonen finally pointed us in the right direction.

I suspect then there is likely something broken in that process.
When an app like say ... Chase Bank ... doesn’t work right and you find an update that hasn’t installed ...
Or Spectrum TV, Netflix, Citi, Hiya, etc... (these are apps that were affected in the past) or an app/system tells you there is an update ...

Anyway, something isn’t quite right and hasn’t been on my devices in quite a while.

 

[mrochester]

I suspect then there is likely something broken in that process.
When an app like say ... Chase Bank ... doesn’t work right and you find an update that hasn’t installed ...
Or Spectrum TV, Netflix, Citi, Hiya, etc... (these are apps that were affected in the past) or an app/system tells you there is an update ...

Anyway, something isn’t quite right and hasn’t been on my devices in quite a while.

One of the apps on my update list complained to me the other day that I needed to be updated but as yet it has not been. In fact it’s the one that is on day 7 in my list of upcoming updates.

 

[dk001]

One of the apps on my update list complained to me the other day that I needed to be updated but as yet it has not been. In fact it’s the one that is on day 7 in my list of upcoming updates.

The update process seems to mostly work. But sometimes how it executes leaves me doing a head scratch.

 

[mrochester]

The update process seems to mostly work. But sometimes how it executes leaves me doing a head scratch.

If you’ve released your app update using the phased update feature then you definitely shouldn’t pester people about the app being out of date until at least after the phased update period has elapsed!

 

[inkahauts]

OMG, yes! My apps haven’t auto updated in years! So annoying.
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If I don’t manually update, it doesn’t happen.

Then either you have the settings wrong or there is something weird going on, like the ones without updates have no updates or maybe you changed iTunes accounts at some point or something. This is not a normal thing at all.

In the iTunes and App Store section of the settings are you signed in with the same Apple ID you used to purchase the apps? Are you on a family sharing plan? Do you have auto updates enable for everything on that screen?