iOS 13.6 Beta Adds Toggle for Turning Off Automatic iOS Update Downloads

Tuesday June 9, 2020 10:46 am PDT by Juli Clover

The second beta of iOS 13.6 that was released this morning adds more granular control over the downloading and installing of iOS updates (via Jeremy Horwitz).

In earlier versions of iOS, new software downloads automatically in the background and then can be installed through an Automatic Updates feature. In iOS 13.6, there are new toggles for customizing Automatic Updates.

You can now decide whether or not your iPhone or iPad can automatically download iOS updates when connected to WiFi, and when those updates are installed. There's a Download iOS Updates toggle for turning on automatic downloads over WiFi and an Install iOS Updates toggle for installing software updates overnight as an ‌iPhone‌ charges.

This new toggle will be a welcome change for those who do not want iOS updates to download automatically without permission, as this can eat up valuable storage space. Note that this option is enabled by default, so if you want to turn off automatic downloads, you'll need to toggle it off.

The Automatic Updates customization settings can be found by opening the Settings app, choosing the General section, tapping on Software Update, and then choosing the Customize Automatic Updates option.

This feature is limited to developers with the iOS 13.6 beta installed, but it will be available to everyone when the iOS 13.6 update is released.

Top Rated Comments

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NT1440

15 weeks ago

Who wouldn’t want to install updates

You just kicked the bees nest here on MR...

Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Lounge vibes 05

Everyone who jailbreaks just got a little too excited if you catch my drift.
They hate those auto download updates

People who jailbreak, people who don’t like to update right away, people who are very picky about when they update, people who are very picky about what’s taking up storage on the phone, and I could go on

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

phenste

On the flipside, I appreciate this as someone who initiates my own updates. This means they’ll be on my phone when I go to initiate the update (if I’m reading this article/the attached image properly). I know it’s heavily encouraged to update automatically, but…I like the choice.

I sound like the people I usually harp on in this forum, oh well. :p

Sometimes updates come out and introduce new bugs. It’s nice to be able to have an update out for a couple days and assess whether I want to actually install it or wait for the next update, where those bugs will ostensibly be fixed.
(That’s arguably a never-ending cycle, I know—I’ll happily update once I’ve assessed that a given bug isn’t going to heavily affect my everyday use.)

Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Kylo83

Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

GubbyMan

Finally! After so many years of people asking for this! This is as important as changing video resolution in the camera app or blocking half the screen to show the volume. I guess iOS 14 will not have calls and Siri take up the whole screen?

Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

now i see it

This really doesn't fix the Number One gripe people have with Apple's heavy handed nag screen approach that pops open a message at random intervals asking you to install an update.
Makes you hate the company and despise the device.

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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