Warning: This is a rant.
I have multiple hobbies, things I enjoy doing either on my own or with my family. I write, I love to travel, I collect ephemera, and I like cooking. These things bring me pleasure.
But something else is taking time away from these activities. Something that has lately taken a LOT of my time away. Which is, installing updates. Lots and lots of updates.
I remember a time, many moons ago, that updates were a sporadic thing. Updates were also big events. Companies like Microsoft promoted such updates. They had marketing campaigns. Heck, I remember getting a Windows 7 “Party Kit” when that new version shipped. Of course, this was back when software was printed and packaged – you know, when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.
Now, with bits stored in the cloud and many applications set in a permanent beta state, I have to update my devices a lot. In fact, being the technical support team-of-one for my extended family, I am running updates all the time.
Windows, which used to be updated at most quarterly, is now getting significant updates every other week. Mobile apps, on both Android and iPhone, are often getting updates weekly. Mobile operating systems are getting patched so regularly I am surprised when a month passes without a forced restart.
Granted, it is not burdensome to do most of these updates. But when you have to interrupt your workflow on a regular basis it is (at best) annoying. And worse yet, it gives people (including me) a false sense of accomplishment. When all you did was press a couple of buttons. But, by golly, all my devices are up to date! A meaningless statement, in the end.
Yes, this is the very definition of a first world problem. And yes, as a designer who has lead many a software project team I’ve contributed to the problem. But enough is enough. To quote a certain Starfleet captain, the line must be drawn HERE.
So, here’s my recommendations (and some of these are obvious, but as I noted, this is a rant).
Bundle updates monthly
Unless it’s a critical security patch, don’t push the update. Collect them and bundle them. I remember getting one update for an app that, reading the release notes, was to color correct the icon to match the corporate branding. That’s it. There is no legitimate reason why that should be a stand-alone update.
Don’t force restarts (unless you absolutely have to)
I am really happy that companies like Microsoft and Google are focusing on optimizing the update process, to prevent restarts. But what took so long? I
Stop lowering device standards
For a while Microsoft was bragging that Windows could be installed on devices with only 16GB of storage. Which was awesome! But that was not a practical decision to help the user – it was a corporate decision to get the newest version of Windows on as many devices possible. As the owner of some of those low-end devices, upgrading them today is a laborious exercise involving USB sticks and multiple reboots – if it even reboots at all. I have one tablet that was bricked trying to install the latest update – not good.
Stop adding features no one uses
Lots of these upgrades, large and small, add features that are committee-led and not user centered. So not only are you interrupting users “flow” to upgrade and (often) restart your devices, but you are also pushing a feature that no one wants or uses (I’m looking at you, Paint 3D). WE need to stop refining and adding to apps – sometimes they are “good enough” as is.
Thanks for your attention. Now if you’ll excuse me, I just got an upgrade notification on my phone to take care of…