Applesfera: Apple app updates criticized
- Applesfera argued on May 3 that many built-in iPhone apps still cannot update independently, tying fixes and features to full iOS releases instead. - Apple’s own support page says default iPhone apps update when iOS updates, while downloaded App Store apps can update manually or automatically. - That gap matters for users delaying iOS upgrades for stability, even as Android keeps pushing many Google and system updates separately.
Apple’s built-in iPhone apps have a weird status. They show up in the App Store, you can delete and reinstall some of them, and they look like normal apps. But a lot of the time they do not behave like normal apps at all. That is the complaint Applesfera put front and center this week — that Apple still ties many first-party app updates to full iOS updates, while Android has spent years splitting more of that stuff into separate downloads. ### What is the complaint, exactly? The complaint is not that Apple apps never change. They do. The problem is how they change. Apple’s support page is blunt: apps installed by default on iPhone update when you update iOS, while apps you downloaded from the App Store can be updated on their own. So if Apple tweaks Notes, Calendar, or other built-in tools, the path often runs through a system update, not a quick standalone app patch. ### Why does that feel strange? Because Apple puts many of those apps in the App Store anyway. That creates the expectation that they work like every other app. But for many of them, the App Store page is mostly a storefront for redownloading, not a real independent update channel. Applesfera’s point is basically that Apple exposes the iconography of app freedom without always giving users the underlying flexibility. ### How is Android different? Android is messy in other ways, but here it has a real advantage. Google updates ordinary apps through Google Play, and it also pushes a lot of core plumbing through Google Play services, the Play Store, WebView, and Google Play system updates. Google’s own documentation says those system services updates cover key parts of Android and arrive on an ongoing basis, separate from the big annual OS jump. ### Why would anyone care? Because not everyone wants to install the latest iOS build the minute it appears. Some people wait for battery complaints to settle down. Some want to avoid early bugs. Some are on older devices and prefer stability over novelty. In Apple’s model, that caution can mean waiting not just on system changes but also on fixes or features in one place. ### Doesn
