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How to Turn Off or On Automatic Update: Many people who use smartphones download way too many apps for them to be able to keep updating each one by hand. All of the major app platforms now have automatic app updates, and the default setting for this is ‘On’. This means that your apps will always have the newest features and bug fixes that the developers make, and you won’t have to do a thing to keep them that way.
And these days, apps fix bugs faster than you can say “update,” so it makes a lot of sense to keep app updates set to auto. But there are also some big problems with automatic updates that might make you change your mind about how you handle them.
Then there are the changes to software that you didn’t want in the first place. Sometimes fixing bugs leads to more bugs, and sometimes adding new features doesn’t make anything better. When you find out that an app has been updated, sometimes you’ll wish that the old version was still around.
How to Turn Off Automatic Update on iPhone
Downloading and installing app updates automatically can save you time and a lot of taps on your phone. But if you want full control over the software on your phone and how you use data, you can turn off auto app updates by following these steps:
- Tap Settings.
- Tap App Store.
- Move App Updates slider to off/white.
- If you have limited data but still want to have up-to-date apps, there’s another option. Keep App Updates turned on (the slider will be green), but go to the Cellular Downloads section and move Automatic Downloads to off/white. With that, apps will only auto-update using Wi-Fi.
Steps to Turn Off Automatic Update on Windows
The Group Policy feature is not available in the Home edition. So, only when you run Windows 11 Professional, Enterprise, or Education, you can use the Group Policy Editor to change the settings to prevent Windows 11/10 from automatically updating. The local group policy editor will notify you of new updates without automatically installing them.
- Press the Windows logo key + R then type gpedit.msc and click OK.
- Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update.
- Double-click Configure Automatic Updates.
- Select Disabled in Configured Automatic Updates on the left, and click Apply and OK to disable the Windows automatic update feature.
How to Turn Off Automatic Update on Android
- Open the Play Store and tap your profile picture on the top right.
- Go to Settings, select Network preferences, and go to Auto-update apps.
- Select Don’t auto-update apps and tap DONE.
- You could also select the Over Wi-Fi only option if you’d prefer automatic updates on Wi-Fi.
Turn off Automatic update for Specific Apps on Android
- Reopen the Play Store and tap your profile picture on the top right.
- Go to Manage apps and device.
- Tap the Manage tab to see all your installed apps.
- Open the app you want to disable automatic updates on.
- Tap the three-dot button on the top right of the app’s description screen.
- Uncheck the box next to the Enable auto-update.
- Go back and repeat these steps on all apps you want to disable automatic updates on.
FAQs
Automatic updates are best for: Essential security fixes that address system vulnerabilities. Operating system updates that have been thoroughly tested/vetted by vendors. Updates that can easily be reverted back if anything goes wrong
It’s generally better to keep auto-updates on so that you can get a timely security fix in case there’s a vulnerability found in an app you’re using—but whether you should enable or disable auto-updates comes down to personal preference.