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How do I update the apps on my iPhone / iPad?

I admit it, I don't sync my iPad with my computer very often. Nor do I sync my iPhone, for that matter. Just seems a hassle. On the other hand, when I do, there are tons of updated apps. Isn't there some way to update my applications directly on my iPhone or iPad, Dave?


Dave's Answer:

I know that there are a lot of people who don't do much in the way of syncing, but I have to say it makes me anxious even to read this question. If you lost your iPhone or broke your iPad, how much data would you lose? How many notes? How much purchased music or how many favorite TV shows? Some of it you can recover from the iTunes Store, but for me, it'd be a nightmare to lose a months' worth of iPhone updates.

The good news is that with the latest version of the iOS system, you can actually back up your iPhone or iPad to the cloud automatically and without any wires involved by signing up for and configuring iCloud. Apple has a very good tutorial on how to get started with iCloud.

Secondly, in iTunes, you can configure it so that your iPad or iPhone can sync with your computer via wifi network. Drop your device onto a dock to charge and if your computer's on, it'll automatically sync without you having to think about it. Smart. The configuration option within iTunes looks like this:

itunes ipad sync wifi

In terms of updating your apps, that's a subset of this question, but it's equally simple to do, and, yes, you can do so directly on your device.

Start by finding your "App Store" icon. If it happens to have a numerical badge on it, as I do below, that means that there's 1 application on my iPhone that needs an update:

iphone update apps 1

Tap on the "App Store" to launch it (and just so you know, this process is 100% identical if you're on an iPad. The screen's just bigger. :-)

iphone update apps 2

Lots of stuff to explore and new apps to check out, but let's stay focused on the app update topic. Notice on the lower right it says "Updates" and the "1" badge is displayed. That's what you want to tap on to see a list of what applications have updates in the iTunes Store, so tap it...

iphone update apps 3

This time, there's only one update, for my Google Music player app gMusic. Sometimes you'll not see any numeric badge at all, but when you go to the Updates area there'll be available updates, and sometimes the number will be out of sync, showing 2 updates when there are actually 4 on the list. No big deal.

Here's a trick that most people don't realize, now that we're here. If you're curious about what's changed in the app, you can tap on it and get more information about this particular update. When I do so with this gMusic update, here's what I learn:

iphone update apps 4

Doesn't sound critical, but still, updates are good, right? I can update just this specific app by tapping on the "Update" button, but the better practice is to update everything that's available all at once. To do that, I'll back up by tapping on "Updates" on the top left.

Now I'm back to the previous screen and this time I'm going to tap on the "Update All" button in the top right, producing...

iphone update apps 5

If you have your phone set up to remember your iTunes Store password, you might be able to skip this step, but I'd rather enter my password and know my kids can't just get whatever they want on my iPad or iPhone. Your experience may vary!!

Once I enter my Apple ID Password (aka my iTunes Store account password) and tap "OK" I'll be unceremoniously dumped out of the App Store app and onto the home page of my iOS device:

iphone update apps 6

Look closely above, though, and you'll see that the former gMusic icon has been greyed out and says "Waiting...". That means that it's ready to download the update and is waiting to start the transfer with the Apple server.

In a moment or two, it'll switch to:

iphone update apps 7

Once that transfer is done -- and if you have a lot of updates, it can be a series of different downloads and transfers -- the app icon returns and you now have the updated app on your iPad or iPhone.

That's all there is to it. Once a week or so just go into the App Store application and check for updates. No hassles, no worries.

And in terms of your sync habits? Please, take a few minutes and set up wifi syncing with your computer and iCloud. You'll thank me later!


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Comments (1) · Add Comment

Well, I have to admit that I, too, don't "sync" my iPod with my computer. (I was never really sure how the fact that we have two iPods, multiple iTunes accounts on them, and different sets of music/videos/apps on them, would affect things.) That said, I do connect them to my computer on occasion and allow them to be backed up, as well as copy the camera roll to my computer.

Posted by: Ken B at December 21, 2011 11:12 AM
Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!











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