iOS 7 beta: Developers, Sen. McCain applaud App Store auto-updates
Apple tweaked a lot of things for its forthcoming iOS 7 update, but there is one move in particular that has drawn cheers not only from the crowd of developers at WWDC, but from the halls of Congress: auto-updates for App Store software.
Among the many changes announced with the unveiling of iOS 7 was the addition of automatic updates, which drew big applause from the crowd of developers, Apple fans, and press at Moscone Center. U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) also added his own voice to the chorus, tweeting his appreciation of Apple finally resolving what had for him been a pet peeve.
"Thanks to Tim Cook for the automatic iphone [sic] app updates!" McCain posted on Monday.
McCain's tweet hearkens back to a complaint the senator made in his closing remarks during a hearing on Apple's taxes held on Capitol Hill. The senior senator from Arizona repeatedly expressed his belief that Apple's policy of routing its overseas revenues through an Irish subsidiary amounted to tax avoidance.
Throughout his statements and questioning, though, McCain remained polite to Apple CEO Tim Cook and the other Apple executives in attendance. He and the other senators on the panel repeatedly expressed their admiration not only for Apple's products, but for the company itself, as well as its founder and current leaders. Ending his remarks, McCain struck a light tone.
"I'm out of time," the senator said to Cook, "what I really wanted to ask is why the hell I have to keep updating the apps on my iPhone all the time, and why you don't fix that."
The remark drew laughs from the hearing's attendees, including Cook, who responded, "Sir, we're trying to make them better all the time."
While Apple largely reinvented the smartphone market ? giving it a much more app-centric focus in the process ? the iPhone maker has been somewhat late to the game with regard to certain automation aspects. The ability to have apps automatically update is one of those aspects, as that feature has been built into iOS' main rival, Android, for some time.
The announcement of automatically updating apps for iOS 7 received one of the larger rounds of applause during Monday's keynote presentation. The Apple executives that took the stage made sure to point out that the update would contain scores of other new features.
Among the many changes announced with the unveiling of iOS 7 was the addition of automatic updates, which drew big applause from the crowd of developers, Apple fans, and press at Moscone Center. U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) also added his own voice to the chorus, tweeting his appreciation of Apple finally resolving what had for him been a pet peeve.
"Thanks to Tim Cook for the automatic iphone [sic] app updates!" McCain posted on Monday.
McCain's tweet hearkens back to a complaint the senator made in his closing remarks during a hearing on Apple's taxes held on Capitol Hill. The senior senator from Arizona repeatedly expressed his belief that Apple's policy of routing its overseas revenues through an Irish subsidiary amounted to tax avoidance.
Throughout his statements and questioning, though, McCain remained polite to Apple CEO Tim Cook and the other Apple executives in attendance. He and the other senators on the panel repeatedly expressed their admiration not only for Apple's products, but for the company itself, as well as its founder and current leaders. Ending his remarks, McCain struck a light tone.
"I'm out of time," the senator said to Cook, "what I really wanted to ask is why the hell I have to keep updating the apps on my iPhone all the time, and why you don't fix that."
The remark drew laughs from the hearing's attendees, including Cook, who responded, "Sir, we're trying to make them better all the time."
While Apple largely reinvented the smartphone market ? giving it a much more app-centric focus in the process ? the iPhone maker has been somewhat late to the game with regard to certain automation aspects. The ability to have apps automatically update is one of those aspects, as that feature has been built into iOS' main rival, Android, for some time.
The announcement of automatically updating apps for iOS 7 received one of the larger rounds of applause during Monday's keynote presentation. The Apple executives that took the stage made sure to point out that the update would contain scores of other new features.
Comments
Too many games that I pad for went free later and either added ads, or else make you pay again by IAP to unlock to same content I bought with the app to begin with. I understand the dilemmas faced by developers--it's not always easy to pay the rent--but that's not cool! So I read the update reviews and skip those updates.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nagromme
That's great, and should be the default, but before iOS 7 ships, let us turn it off, and/or revert to older app versions.
Too many games that I pad for went free later and either added ads, or else make you pay again by IAP to unlock to same content I bought with the app to begin with. I understand the dilemmas faced by developers--it's not always easy to pay the rent--but that's not cool! So I read the update reviews and skip those updates.
It can be turned off already in the first beta, and as long as you keep a backup of the older version on your computer, you can always revert to an older version of the app.
Next up: delta updates?
Please?
Android had this before iOS? How is that possible, they copied Apple and added a feature themselves¿ Oh I get it, they didn't need to spend 2.5 years tinkering how to create the next great thing, so had all the time in the world to come up with something on their own.
Wow. Android - it really never seizes to amaze me. And that's not a positive thing to say.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ks2problema
I actually misunderstood the original story, because I didn't realize iPhones apps couldn't auto-update. I just thought McCain -- infamous for his techno-cluelessness in 2008 -- was complaining because of the automatic updates streaming in and installing themselves (which can be a distraction, if minor). I'd assumed that iPhones, like others, had been auto-updating their apps all along. Learn something new every day. Hopefully.
Oh, yes, didn't you know us Apple users and especially developers are using steam from coal to power our devices? It's heartwarming to know some of you lucky guys live at starship Enterprise...
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilBoogie
Android had this before iOS? How is that possible, they copied Apple and added a feature themselves¿ Oh I get it, they didn't need to spend 2.5 years tinkering how to create the next great thing, so had all the time in the world to come up with something on their own.
Wow. Android - it really never seizes to amaze me. And that's not a positive thing to say.
person that is not complete moron would know the feature had to do everything with infrastructure and bandwidth at Apple sites. Same person would also know this is not really a heartbreaking feature.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nagromme
That's great, and should be the default, but before iOS 7 ships, let us turn it off, and/or revert to older app versions.
Too many games that I pad for went free later and either added ads, or else make you pay again by IAP to unlock to same content I bought with the app to begin with. I understand the dilemmas faced by developers--it's not always easy to pay the rent--but that's not cool! So I read the update reviews and skip those updates.
In all fairness this is something that only techie types care about at all. It's also something that requires a significant amount of "managing" to the point that even for that small techie group, it's mostly a losing game.
Just relax and let the people that write the apps control their own apps. Then vote with your dollars.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
In all fairness this is something that only techie types care about at all. It's also something that requires a significant amount of "managing" to the point that even for that small techie group, it's mostly a losing game.
Just relax and let the people that write the apps control their own apps. Then vote with your dollars.
As mentioned above it is not always a good time to download a bunch of large apps such as when you are on your cellular data plan or in the middle of some other activity that would make it inconvenient to download apps. Fortunately, according to a beta tester posted above, there is a way to turn the automatic update feature off which means that there will be some management involved and perhaps it should always be left in the off position if just for the data plan issue. That will certainly be the case for me so the feature is mostly useless in that situation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robin Huber
Agreed. There are some updates that remove features I want to keep. Shazam comes to mind.
I know sometimes we want to keep the old app features and not update the app, but eventually the old app won't work because the developer removed those features from the server and the app has no way of getting the information it needs.