Why Your IPhone Wants You to Update Many More Apps Than Usual
The Apple App Store randomly asks users to re-download app updates they have previously installed. A similar issue has been affecting Android users for several weeks, but iOS app updates seem to download entire update files rather than empty “ghost” updates like on Android.
No need to worry about your device or your apps – they will work fine regardless of whether you download “updates” or not, unless you’ve previously encountered the new “This app is no longer in use for you” error on iOS 13.5, which prevented you from starting them from the very beginning. If so, these app updates are the right fix to get you started. To everyone else, it seems like a lot of wasted, unnecessary data that is being poured over you in a huge digital wave.
In other words, if your iPhone or iPad is set to download updates over a cellular connection and you only get a certain number of gigabytes of monthly downloads before you have to pay your ISP an extra fee (or slow down to a slower speed), re-downloads More than 40 app updates can be a problem. Or, if you’re nearing your ISP’s data limit as it’s the end of the month, adding a ton of app updates might give you some anxiety.
If these scenarios apply to you, you might want to turn off automatic updates for a while – at least until you get to a place where you can get free Wi-Fi and briefly turn off their connection.
- On your iOS device, go to Settings> [Apple ID]> iTunes & App Store.
- Disable App Updates in Automatic Downloads.
You should also make sure auto download is turned off for cellular data as well:
- Go to Settings> [username]> iTunes & App Store.
- Scroll down to Cellular Data and disable Automatic Downloads.
Turning off automatic app updates will change the way that fixes are handled on your iPhone. Usually, your iPhone will silently install updates in the background, but these updates need to be manually installed after turning off the automatic update feature. You will receive push notifications when a new update is available; follow these steps to install it.
- Open the App Store.
- Click Today.
- Tap your profile icon at the top of the screen.
- Scroll down and click Update next to any apps in the list to download the update. You can also click Update All to launch all pending updates.