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Topic: Operating Systems

iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

Summary: Update your iOS 5 device ... no iTunes required!

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

I've just used the Software Update feature built into iOS 5 to update my iPhone and iPad, and it works a treat.

It's simple, straightforward and the download is far smaller compared to downloading the entire firmware package through iTunes.

Note: This is an iOS 5 only feature.

Here's how it works:

Click on Settings > General > Software Update

The iDevice will now check with Apple to see if there's an update. Today I find one.

Note that the download is a svelte 44MB, as opposed to several hundred megabytes if you download the update through iTunes.

Click Download and Install. This kicks off the process.

Read the terms and conditions, or forever live in fear of what you've agreed to!

If your battery is below 50% and you're not connected to the power source, the update won't install. Otherwise, you can ignore this message.

From this point the handset reboots and the update is installed. When you're handed back control of the iDevice, the OS has been updated.

Whole process took about 5 minutes.

Related:

Topics: Operating Systems, Apple, Mobile OS

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Talkback

25 comments
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  • RE: iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

    My iPhone 4S says that a WiFi connection is required. You might want to mention that in your article.
    bppump911
    Reply Vote

    • Also...

      @bppump911 ...suggests power connection to avoid draining battery.
      Userama
      Reply Vote

      • RE: iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

        @Userama

        That's a good suggestion. However, AKH mentioned this whole process only took 5 minutes. Most users will not run into battery charge level concerns if they update their iPad without the charge cable attached to it.
        kenosha77a
        Reply Vote

      • This is especially good advice for 4S owners

        @Userama
        Thanks.
        toddybottom
        Reply Vote

      • RE: iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

        @Userama, I don't know what the battery has to do with requiring a WiFi connection. My battery is at 92% and my phone still says that a WiFi connection is required.
        bppump911
        Reply Vote

      • RE: iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

        @Bppump911

        I believe the warning message concerns battery levels and does not indicate a user software update requirement regarding a power source.
        kenosha77a
        Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

    expected this to bork my iOS devices - but worked like a charm without plugging them in.
    CactusCraig
    Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

    Incremental updates instead of having to download the whole thing. Yay. About damned time.
    txscott
    Reply Vote

  • I hope there's bug fixes for iPad 1

    Ever since iOS 5 was installed, my iPad 1 has had very little use because of crashing. Safari crashes on a regular basis. Any website that is heavy in Javascript (ZDnet, Gizmodo, Cheezburger, etc.) crashes ALL THE TIME (I can literally go to ZDnet, load up a page, and when I start scrolling down, it crashes Safari). The Mail app isn't much better either.

    Also, the HTML5 video support often just shows a black box without any video after hitting the play button in the center of it. This happens AT LEAST half of the time when I visit any website with embedded video. The YouTube overlay will still show on embedded YouTube videos though.

    I even get this happening after a full power down and power up. This iOS release is absolute crap.

    I hope there are some secret fixes in here to resolve these issues as there have been in prior updates.
    Joe_Raby
    Reply Vote

    • This doesn't sound like a very widespread problem

      @Joe_Raby
      "This iOS release is absolute crap."

      I think you are blowing this out of proportion. I've never heard of this problem and I don't personally know anyone who has this problem. I can only conclude that this is not a problem.

      http://www.zdnet.com/tb/1-108646-2168201
      toddybottom
      Reply Vote

    • Sounds like PEBKAC

      @Joe_Raby....
      Snooki_smoosh_smoosh
      Reply Vote

      • Exactly

        @Snooki_smoosh_smoosh
        That seems to be the root cause of every problem that anyone has with any Apple product.
        toddybottom
        Reply Vote

      • RE: iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

        @Snooki_smoosh_smoosh , @toddybottom

        Not every problem with an apple product is caused by user error. It's you guys are who are blowing things out of proportion. Products are never bug/error free. That's the whole reason this patch actually came out. Don't go bashing people when you don't know what you're talking about.
        svdude
        Reply Vote

    • RE: iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

      @Joe_Raby Why don't you go to an Apple store to get your iPad checked out? I have an iPad1 with iOS 5 and everything is fine.
      themarty
      Reply Vote

    • I have similiar issues

      @Joe_Raby

      My iPod Touch 4 Dumps me back into the home screen often while browsing in Safari. It always does this during scrolling through the page. I also occasionally have other apps hang at their splash screen and I have to power off and power back on to fix them.
      dragosani
      Reply Vote

    • RE: iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

      @Joe_Raby
      Yep. I've had the same issues with my 1st gen iPad ever since the iOS 5 upgrade. Sure do hope this or some other future update fixes the issues.
      ckantack@...
      Reply Vote

    • RE: iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

      @Joe_Raby

      I'm having the very same problems with my iPad 1. Repeated crashing of applications to the point where it's greatly limited my use after losing one too many documents in Pages, emails or posts on the internet. This issue was none existent before the latest iOS release. And yes, after spending 20 minutes on a document to only have the app crash and leave me with nothing, it wouldn't be a stretch for me to use a phrase like "this iOS release is absolute crap."
      anita_1956
      Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

    Welcome to the 21st Century Apple! Android has been waiting for you the past 3 years!
    slickjim
    Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

    This is F**K Apple's policy of releasing basic features as something Amazing after 4yrs. Only one thing they did in advance was releasing iPhone. Otherthan that, rest are all this way...! Jailbreakme.com does jailbreaking itself over the Air 2-3 years before.
    jinishans
    Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 5 'Over the Air' update feature works a treat

    Android has had OTA updates since day dot and the procedure is basically the same.
    bradavon
    Reply Vote
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