App updates from iTunes

If you have an Apple iOS device like the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch then it is also likely that you have a large collection of great apps downloaded from the App Store. Keeping them up to date sometimes seems like a full time job if you have a lot of apps. The badge on the App Store on the home screen tells you how many updates are available for your apps and I don't know about you, but it is rarely zero on my iPhone or iPad.

How do you update the apps on your iOS device? The obvious way is to tap the App Store icon on the home screen and then go to Updates. You can then update them all in one go or individually.

However, this is not always convenient. Some of the apps are large and they can be 200Mb or more. If there are several then the downloads can amount to a gigabyte or more.

This is only possible over Wi-Fi and only small apps of around 10Mb or less can be downloaded on 3G (to avoid running up huge data bills.)

A better option is to download the updates on your computer and then to plug in the iOS device and sync it. You can download large files much more quickly and easily with a desktop computer than with an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

If you have a fast broadband internet connection you should start iTunes and then select Apps in the left panel. Down in the bottom right corner is a link showing the number of app updates that are available. Click it.

A grid showing all the app updates is displayed and you can click the Get Update button next to the ones you want or click Download All Free Updates to get them all.

You can plug your iOS device into the computer afterwards (or the next time that is convenient), and sync it.