How to Turn Off Auto Update for iPhone Apps – Full Control in Your Hands Now
Want to turn off auto updates for iPhone apps? Here's a simple guide with easy steps to manually update your iPhone apps.
If your iPhone apps are updating on their own and you don’t even realize it, now you can take control of this setting yourself
Many users, during setup or while allowing a pop-up without reading, end up turning on the automatic update feature on their iPhone. At that time, it feels like a useful setting because you don’t have to do anything manually. Apps get updated on their own, you get new features, and security patches are installed too.
But auto updates are not always good for everyone. Maybe you use limited data and your apps are updating in the background without your knowledge. Sometimes new updates ruin the app’s layout or remove useful features. Maybe you just want to decide for yourself when and what to update.
If you also want full control over app updates on your iPhone, then turning off automatic updates is the best choice. The full process is explained below and any user can follow it easily.
How to Turn Off Auto Update for iPhone Apps – Step by Step
Apple already updates the system apps with iOS updates. But the apps you download from the App Store are set to auto update by default. You can turn this off manually.
If your iPhone is using iOS 17 or an earlier version, follow these steps:
- First, open Settings
- Scroll down and tap on App Store
- You will see a section named “Automatic Downloads”
- There will be a toggle in front of “App Updates”
- Turn that toggle off
Now your iPhone will not update apps automatically in the background. You will have to update them yourself.
If you are using iOS 18, the steps are a bit different:
- Open Settings
- Scroll down and select the option named Apps
- Inside that, tap on App Store
- You will now see the “App Updates” toggle, turn it off
On this same screen, you will also see an option named “Cellular Data.” If this is on, then your iPhone might also be updating apps using mobile data. If you want updates to happen only on Wi-Fi, you should turn this off too.
And if you want to save even more data, you can turn on the “Low Data Mode” feature. This feature limits your phone’s background activity and reduces data usage.
How to Manually Update iPhone Apps After Turning Off Auto Update
Once auto update is off, apps will not update by themselves. You will need to update them manually through the App Store. The process is simple:
- Open the App Store
- Tap on your profile icon in the top-right corner
- A list will open where you can see all the pending updates
- You can tap on “Update All” to update all apps at once
- Or you can tap on the Update button in front of each app to update them one by one
What to Do If You Don’t See the App Updates Toggle
Sometimes, some users don’t see the toggle option. If this happens, check these two things:
- If Background App Refresh is off on your phone, the app updates toggle will not appear. Turn it on first
- If Low Power Mode is active, some options might be greyed out. You will need to turn that off too
Right Now There Is Only One Way – Manual Control
For now, Apple has not given control to decide auto updates for individual apps. Maybe in future iOS versions, you will be able to choose which apps update automatically. But as of now, your best option is to turn off auto updates completely and manage them manually.
This solution is simple. It may need a little extra effort, but you will have full control over every update.
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