Frequency Of Updates

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Rickles

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#304647 24-May-2023 11:35

I recently attended to a friends phone with a new SIM, and noticed that auto-updates was turned off.

Since he now has a heap of data available, we turned it back on and a number of updates proceeded. Over the last month, update notifications have comethrough, and each time there were anything from 15 to 18 updates available ... mostly Google/Android.

My own phone is on auto-update so never really noticed, so is this number of updates on a regular basis a reality?

Are Google and Apps writers really churning out myriad updates so often?

timmmay

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#3079235 24-May-2023 11:44

I assume you're talking about app updates, rather than Android updates. I don't have heaps of apps on my phone, quite a few but less than average. I run manual updates sometimes and a dozen updates every few days seems typical.

robjg63

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#3079285 24-May-2023 12:11

You can set it to just auto-update update when connected to wifi.

Seems from what I found on google, the phone also needs to be charging - so that makes sense - When I recharge overnight, they likely install.

You probably wont notice them downloading and installing - I can't say I normally notice them.

But depending on how many apps you have installed, they tend to update often. The modern approach with app development seems to be to "Release Early Release Often" (RERO). i.e. make some roughly tested fixes, release it, get feedback, attempt to fix and release again - keep repeating process.

According to google :

Default update behavior

By default, apps are updated automatically when the following constraints are met:

The device is connected to a Wi-Fi network.
The device is charging.
The device is idle (not actively used).
The app to be updated is not running in the foreground.

Google Play typically checks for app updates once a day, so it can take up to 24 hours before an app update is added to the update queue. After an app is added to the queue, it will be automatically updated the next time the constraints above are met.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

rscole86

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#3079354 24-May-2023 12:31

If an app gets put to sleep, then they will miss out on any updates. You'll normally only notice this when you go to use it and it refuses to start as it's out of date.
Thankfully not all apps demand to be updated if they're a few revisions behind.

timmmay

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#3079359 24-May-2023 13:00

robjg63:

Google Play typically checks for app updates once a day, so it can take up to 24 hours before an app update is added to the update queue. After an app is added to the queue, it will be automatically updated the next time the constraints above are met.

I find that it can take between 1 day 3 months for an app to be updated once a new version is available on Google Play. Even though I occasionally do manual updates they often don't update for quite a while.

boosacnoodle

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#3079366 24-May-2023 13:16

Yes. Similar thing happens on iOS too. My phone seesm to check maybe once a week. I was similarly astounded. I guess they push little updates often?