John Larkin

Having an iPad is generally good, although not everyone agrees, including myself and others. There is another thing about the iPad, and the iPhone for that matter, that annoys. Updates. Big, bloated, humongous updates.

Big updates. Big like 100mb, 200mb, 300mb, 800mb. This week’s updates to the Apple apps on my iPad add up to 1.8gb. Add the iOS update of 729mb to that and you get 2.5gb. Ridiculous. Download constipation.

Surely the developers, especially those at Apple, can code the updates so that only specific files or code are updated? Why replace the entire application or OS? Look at the latest iPad Software Update. 729mb. 18 hours to download.

These updates can take hours to download, consume bandwidth and can cost money if the user exceeds their download quota with their ISP.

I cannot download the app updates or the iOS update at this point in time. I had to stop the downloads. I will need to go somewhere else with a decent broadband connection to perform this update. Somewhere like Korea, Taiwan or Singapore perhaps.

I must admit living in Australia is broadband hell. The country is too jolly big and the infrastructure is not there yet. I have ADSL2 and my average download speed  hovers about 0.04mbps. My line speed is 0.44mbps. I am certainly not getting value for money. The advertisement stated 8mbps. This download was going to take 53 hours.

So, Apple and other app developers, please develop a protocol that ensures that app updates simply upload the specific files or code that has been updated and the not the entire box and dice. Not everyone has a blindingly fast connection to the Internet like you.