Cellular Over-the-Air App Download Limit Increased to 150 MB

Tuesday September 19, 2017 2:39 PM PDT by Juli Clover
Following the launch of iOS 11, Apple today announced that it has increased the cellular over-the-air app download limit from 100 MB to 150 MB, meaning users can now download apps and app updates that are as large as 150 MB over a cellular connection.

Apps and app updates over 150 MB will require users to connect to Wi-Fi for content to be downloaded.

It's been awhile since Apple last updated the cellular download limit. The last increase was introduced in 2013, increasing the 50 MB limit to 100 MB.

Apple has limits in place to avoid causing customers to unwittingly use high amounts of data when downloading apps, but the introduction of unlimited plans from all of the major carriers in the United States has likely alleviated some of those concerns.

Developers often aim to keep their app sizes under the cellular limit whenever possible to prevent customers from having to hassle with connecting to Wi-Fi to download an app or app update.

Tag: App Store
38 comments


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mrbrown
25 months ago
I wish they would just lift this arbitrary restriction and let the end user decide whether or not to use cellular. I have an unlimited data plan - let me use it!
Rating: 30 Votes
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chriscrowlee
25 months ago
There must be some serious back door deals between Apple and the carriers if they have a limit at all. Why not leave it up to the customer how they use their data?!?!?
Rating: 14 Votes
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al256
25 months ago
This sucks. The App Store no longer discloses the size of updates. I'd like to know the actual size before I update over cellular.
Rating: 9 Votes
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John.B
25 months ago
It's.
My.
Bandwidth.

Let me use it how I see fit.
Rating: 6 Votes
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adamjackson
25 months ago

People arent idiots, Apple. Not just that, but I have 20gb per month in the UK, so I have plenty of data.


You're a commenter on MacRumors meaning you're way more technical than Grandma at this stuff. Anyone participating in a technical discussion online isn't why these limits exist.
Rating: 5 Votes
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OldSchoolMacGuy
25 months ago
Since iOS 9 you've had the option to download apps over that size, you just have to accept the dialog that pops up warning you the apps are larger.
Rating: 5 Votes
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Michael Scrip
25 months ago
Apple thinks you shouldn't download more than 150MB of apps over cellular.

But they have no problem letting someone stream a Netflix movie at over 1,000MB over cellular.

:confused:
Rating: 4 Votes
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fairuz
25 months ago

You can tap in the app's update area to take you to a detail screen, which if you scroll down a ways will tell you the size of the app. Not very user-friendly, but it's there.

A summary of every update made to the App Store app in the past few years.
Rating: 3 Votes
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fairuz
25 months ago

There's no reason for Apple to limit it but for the fact that Apple and the carriers stuck up a back room deal to limit it to allow networks to go a bit longer without upgrading their backhaul. Once again, we pay for mediocrity in American networks.

Pretty sure the bandwidth per day of App Store downloads is nothing in comparison to what the LTE networks already serve. I honestly can't think of why there is this limitation other than maybe to encourage app devs to keep their stuff below the limit.
Rating: 2 Votes
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chriscrowlee
25 months ago

It's certainly not a software limitation. Jailbreak tweaks were made to circumvent this a long, long time ago by people who are not paid nearly as much as Apple's own engineers.


It absolutely IS a software limitation, what u smoking? The TWEAKS circumvent the software limitation. LOL. Welcome!
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God forbid us customers take responsibility for our own cellular usage, Apple..

Like you, I am hoping for the day when we can update any app over cellular if we want to.


There's no reason for Apple to limit it but for the fact that Apple and the carriers stuck up a back room deal to limit it to allow networks to go a bit longer without upgrading their backhaul. Once again, we pay for mediocrity in American networks.
Rating: 2 Votes
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