# Why do large apps require wifi to download and update, when wifi is slower? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 27, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-large-apps-require-wifi-to-download-and-update-when-wifi-is-slower/744405 "2016-01-27T20:05:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-large-apps-require-wifi-to-download-and-update-when-wifi-is-slower/744405/21 "2016-01-29T02:05:23Z")
> [@](#): > > In fact, I imagine there are a fair number of us now, who, if we did the numbers, could probably pay extra for the tethering option and either unlimited or a high-ish amount of monthly data allowance and ditch our cable internet altogether, and still come out ahead in terms of fees, with little noticeable loss in functionality. As it happens, I just looked into that, and while the prices were comparable, it wasn’t enough to make up for the loss of speed and reliability. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-large-apps-require-wifi-to-download-and-update-when-wifi-is-slower/744405/22 "2016-01-29T17:14:33Z")
> [@arseNal](#): > > I had trouble finding one source that had the percentage numbers for both US home broadband and smartphone ownership, but here’s this at least: > > “19% of Americans rely to some degree on a smartphone for accessing online services and information and for staying connected to the world around them — either because they lack broadband at home, or because they have few options for online access other than their cell phone.” > > [U.S. Smartphone Use in 2015 | Pew Research Center](http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/) > > 19% of the US is a minority I guess, but I don’t know if I would call it insignificant or “quite small”. 19% is more than I thought it would be. But I don’t think it’s the right statistic “10% of Americans own a smartphone but do not have broadband at home, and 15% own a smartphone but say that they have a limited number of options for going online other than their cell phone.” So, they might have no other options for going online than a cell phone, but that doesn’t mean that they have no wifi. It just means that the only device they can use with their wifi is a cell phone. Maybe. And: “7% of Americans own a smartphone but have neither traditional broadband service at home, nor easily available alternatives for going online other than their cell phone.” So, it seems like 7%, rather than 19% is closer to the right number. But: that’s the percentage of people who rely on a _smartphone_, not on an _iPhone_. iPhone owners skew rich and urban, both of which are going to be correlated with having lots of regular access to wifi. The iPhone is a luxury device, costing 4-6 times more than reasonably adequate alternatives. Pointing out that it relies, somewhat, on having another internet connection to be optimal feels like pointing out that electric cars are not well-suited to rural people who live far from charging stations. It’s a true statement, but it doesn’t mean that the design decisions that went into the electrical cars were made with the intention of screwing over the rural population. My analogy isn’t perfect, because of course electric cars _need_ electric chargers, while Apple _could_ allow large App downloads if they wanted. But if enabling the feature helps a few people and causes many more people to accidentally use more data than they expected, then it’s not unreasonable to disable it. And while the App Store limit is sometimes annoying, I doubt it significantly impacts access to online services or personal connectivity. I have 100+ apps on my phone, and the only ones that are larger than 100MB are games, and the Google Sheets app. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-large-apps-require-wifi-to-download-and-update-when-wifi-is-slower/744405.md?page=1)