Apple users can be divided into two groups when it comes to updating their software: Those who manually seek out updates when Apple releases them, and those who are happy to let the Automatic Updates feature take care of everything in the background.
Apple has never explained why auto-updates tend to come through to users sometimes days or even weeks later, even though it is acknowledged that manually tapping into the settings is the faster option.
An email was sent to Craig Federighi, Apple's senior VP of software engineering, from an interested iPhone user. After two weeks since the public release of iOS 15.4, Buda still hadn't received an update notification, and he asked what conditions must be met for this function to work. Federighi was happy to explain to him.
Hi Mateusz,
We incrementally rollout new iOS updates by first making them available for those that explicitly seek them out in Settings, and then 1-4 weeks later (after we've received feedback on the update) ramp up to rolling out devices with auto-update enabled.
Hope that helps!
- craig
It is not surprising to hear that Apple's software update strategy proceeds in a staged roll out. Apple added a level of protection for its server when it implemented an intentional delay of between 1 and 4 weeks for users with auto-updates turned on.
It is interesting to learn that Apple considers its auto-update feature to be a safeguard when things go wrong, as early users can still report serious bugs with the software.
Apple hasn't explained why some app auto-updates are sometimes very late to be delivered to users, but perhaps the reason is the same: server protection and an ability to action feedback before a wider release is.
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