A new feature in iOS 7 lets you enable automatic app update downloads; this means you don’t have to go to the App Store and manually download any updates you get; this can happen every day depending on the number of apps you have. .
By default, automatic app updates are disabled, so you’ll have to adventure through the settings to turn it on, but once you’ve set it up, manually updating your apps will be a thing of the past. Here’s how to do it.
Enabling Automatic App Updates
To enable automatic app updates, open the Settings app and go to . Under the section titled “”, “.” You will see an item named Push the toggle switch to the right until it turns green. This enables automatic app updates.
You will no longer have to deal with manual updates, and if you are worried about iOS not notifying you of said automatic updates, you will actually get notifications in Notification Center when apps are updated. Swiping the notifications sideways takes you to the App Store, where you can see what changes have been made to apps. The new App Store in iOS 7 also keeps a history of which apps were updated and when.
You can also set whether you want automatic app updates to be enabled when using a 3G or 4G connection. Just below the section “.” There is an item named Turning this switch on will allow the App Store to download updates and other content (as well as other iOS services) over a 3G or 4G connection. Turning the feature off will limit the App Store from downloading updates only when over a WiFi connection.
Should You Use This Feature?
It depends on your situation. Unfortunately, you cannot select specific apps that receive automatic updates while other apps remain manual. This is one of the biggest criticisms of the new feature; you must either enable automatic app updates for all your apps or manually install the updates for all of them. If you’re looking for such a control, you won’t find it here.
Second, if you’re the type who always waits to install an update just to make sure it’s not corrupted, you probably want to disable automatic app updates. While most updates fix bugs and improve performance over the previous version, some apps get interrupted from time to time and an update can wreak havoc.
