Why I’m glad iOS 6 doesn’t require a password for updates and free apps
In iOS 5 (and earlier versions of iOS), a dialogue asking for your Apple ID password would pop up every time you downloaded something from the App Store – including free apps and updates to apps you already had installed on your iDevice. But in the iOS 6 beta, that annoying dialogue is no more. According to Reddit user Varmanj, Apple has finally removed the password requirement for free apps and updates.
This is fantastic news to me, since I absolutely hated the fact that every time I wanted to update an app or download a free one, I’d have to enter my password. In my opinion, the requirement of an entered password should be applied only to paid apps: there’s no need to confirm that I want to try out a free app, nor is there a reason for re-asking me if I truly want to update an app.
This move will certainly save time, and saving time on a mobile device is of the utmost importance. I’ve become spoiled by the way that Android handles all app downloads – just hit download and let it do its thing – so whenever I go back to one of my iOS devices, it’s a bit of a shock to me. It honestly makes no sense to me, but thankfully I won’t have to think about it after iOS 6 is released this fall.
It’s a great move, and one that will most definitely make iOS easier to use and more efficient. Of course, iOS isn’t Apple’s only product that utilizes an App Store: its Mac computers also have a dedicated App Store, and this one asks for a password for everything, as well. Apple has a tendency to throw features from one product to another, and I hope that this is one of those features that makes it to all of Apple’s media stores.
Apple has been disappointing me a lot lately, so it’s nice to see that it can still pump out some nice features and products once in a while. I’m not a fanboy or hater of anything – I just like companies that can produce quality stuff, even when that stuff is as seemingly inconsequential as this.
How do you feel about this?
[Reddit]
