Is “update” really just code speak for: let us download a bunch of spam into your phone?
We’re going to need some more info.
What kind of phone? iPhone, Android, Windows Phone?
Is it the phone software updating, or is it individual apps that are updating?
Generally, no. The phone’s OS itself isn’t going to download spam (which really should just be used to refer to junk email, not ads in general,) adware, spyware, etc… onto your phone.
And odds are, neither are the apps. 99.9% of the time, the app maker just released an update to fix some bugs, or add some functionality.
I’m just talking about random apps. For instance, I just had to do one for my Kroger app, my bank app and my Channel 4 weather app.
These updates occur on a weekly basis it seems like.
I’m fairly confident that all software gets released with known bugs. Subsequent releases fix these bugs, and new bugs get discovered and resolved through further updates.
My work computer was converted to Windows 7 a couple of weeks back. That very first day, after conversion, I needed to install 10 updates. So, the version that my IT department had been given was already 10 updates behind by the time they got to my machine…
Apps get updated on a almost daily basis because they can.
Did you use computers in the 80s? Software updates were a big deal. They came out maybe once/year, were sent on multiple floppies, and usually added a slew of features and bug fixes. Now that computers are connected to the Internet, developers can add features, fix bugs, and address vulnerabilities much quicker. In many cases, too quickly - they don’t do nearly enough testing, instead using their huge user base as “beta testers.”
It’s not spam. Ad-supported apps download ads in real time, more or less as you view them. The updates are actual improvements (or at least changes) to the software.
Just for grins, check out the number of apps you have stored on your phone. I have an Android phone, and I can do that by touching the “apps” button and then counting the number of apps that are displayed as I scroll screen-to-screen. I have 86 of those puppies, and I didn’t think I had downloaded many apps to my phone (I play most of my “smartphone” apps on my tablet instead of my phone). If my phone is updating three apps every week, that’s over six months between releases for any one app.
Now factor in that 1) the mindset of most phone app developers is that it’s more important to get their app out faster than their competitors than to take their time and thoroughly test the app before release (a correct mindset in this instance, IMHO) and 2) it’s relatively easy to push out app updates (unlike with, say, PCs, the developer doesn’t have to worry about tracking which devices have their apps on them and need to be updated - the OS folks take care of that).
Very often these apps are being updated to plug security holes that can lead to malware or other attacks. Sometimes they are releasing new features for the app. I doubt a reputable company would knowingly release a version of their app that downloads spam or malware. Everyone would remove it almost immediately it if that was the case.
If the app provides some kind of advertising, then it may be downloading new and different ads for you to see. If you don’t want to see ads you usually have the option to upgrade to an add-free version. If that’s not an option you can delete the app whenever you want.
It is also probably because of Agile development. Agile allows you to make faster releases by making a build of the app every month which includes everything you have worked on or fixed in that month. Apps may need a lot of work because they are going across at least two platforms (Android, IOS, Blackberry) and there is usually a long list of tickets. Since deploying the app is relatively cheap, and may fix someones problem more frequent updates become the norm.
If you have an iPhone, if you go to App Store -> Updates, you’ll see the last line of each update is “What’s New”. If you tap on that, you’ll be able to see what the update included.
For example, the Kroger app that updated on Tuesday has a long list of what was included, but it looks like mostly work on improving user experience in finding things in the app.
This. Except it’s not a monthly schedule - it’s whatever the team can manage. I’m not in mobile development, but it’s not unusual for agile web projects to have multiple updates per day.
Android devices work similarly. Go to the Google Play Store, and under My Apps you’ll see a category Recently Updated. Click on one of the apps there and it’ll show you the app’s info, including a What’s New section.
My other half has developed an Android app that works with solar inverters. He and I are the only alpha testers. There are half a dozen people or so who are volunteer beta testers.
Reasons he has released patches:
- to fix bugs that only came to light after the app was in general release
- to add new features users requested
- to add new features and improvements as he thought of them
- to add new features that were always planned but didn’t justify delaying the launch, or that he wanted to hold off investing time in until he saw that the app attracted enough users to make it worth while.
We try to test thoroughly, but some issues only come to light in the field. For example, yesterday morning we discovered that if the inverter has generated a fraction of a kilowatt hour and the app is running on a Samsung Galaxy S2 or S3, then it will enter an infinite loop. However, on a Nexus 5 or 7, it doesn’t. We don’t yet know if it’s because it’s an older version of Android, or if it is something specific to Samsung’s version of Android. We only know about this bug at all because we tried to connect my S3 to the inverter early in the morning on a very overcast day. None of the app users have run into this bug yet so we didn’t know it existed. There will be a patch for it imminently - hopefully before someone else discovers it the hard way.
Does it sack the middle managers or something like that ?
Releases are only hindered by bureaucracy or politics (Desire to appear conservative and professional… calculating… pre-planned…etc)
Well the daily updaters may be using the update as a spam war…
Some websites show “Todays new app releases”. and there are the updates…