Here’s how to get iOS updates weeks early - but you shouldn’t

Auto-update isn’t immediate-update

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

iOS updates are a regular occurrence, but if you’re waiting for your phone to automatically update then you’ll often be getting those updates a lot later than you could be doing – in some cases weeks later.

If you want toget the latest versions of iOSa lot faster, then you should instead head to Settings > General > Software Update as soon as they’re available. If your version of iOS isn’t already up to date, then you’ll find the latest version there, even if your iPhone hasn’t yet alerted you to it.

That way you can enjoy new and improved features, bug fixes, and other changes a whole lot faster. But there’s a reasonAppledoesn’t alert users to updates straight away.

According to Craig Federighi (Apple’s senior VP of software engineering) in reply to an email about this fromReddit user Mateusz Buda, the reason for the delay in auto-updates (which he says typically arrive 1-4 weeks later) is so that user feedback can be obtained before every single user gets the update.

In other words then, those who seek out the update in the Settings screen to get it first will likely flag any bugs or other issues that they have, that Apple might have missed in its internal tests. The company can then - if necessary - delay or pull the update to fix those problems before the auto-update kicks in.

Although not stated by Federighi, it’s likely that this staged approach also lightens the load on Apple’s servers and ensures updates don’t take an age to download.

Analysis: auto-update is the safer option

Given this explanation, it seems that auto-update is arguably the more sensible mechanism to use, as you’re less likely to encounter bugs that way.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

Sure, Apple irons out most of the bugs before it seeds the update to anyone, but it’s impossible to catch them all. Indeed, there have been no shortage of iOS bugs over the years, and you’re more likely to avoid these if you don’t grab an update on day one.

If the system is working as seemingly intended then the update won’t be sent to your phone until Apple has learned of and fixed these user-reported issues.

But it also means that you too have the chance to be alerted to any issues (such as those reported on TechRadar and on forums) before you download the update. You can then choose to delay updating until you know the problems have been fixed.

Obviously, the lure of new features can be hard to resist, but certainly for smaller updates there needn’t be any hurry to grab them.

ViaMacRumors

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.

I’ve used Genmoji and now I’m convinced Apple Intelligence will be a huge success

iOS 18.2 could add Battery Intelligence to your iPhone, letting you know how long it will take to charge

Anker Nebula Mars 3 review: A powerful and truly portable projector