Recent changes to the Microsoft Store are seeing enforced updates for your apps downloaded through the marketplace. The service has previously allowed you to indefinitely pause updates until you’re ready to download changes yourself, but that has now changed in the last few days.
As spotted by German website Deskmodder, and reported by Neowin, the changes appear to have happened recently, and it reduces the options when delaying individual app updates.
The Microsoft Store settings will still allow you to delay for a short time, which you can do by heading to Settings > App updates and pressing on the toggle on the right hand side.
You’ll be given a pop-up that reads, “You may pause automatic updates for a period of time. Please note you could be missing important app updates from developers when you pause.” There are then five options to choose from, which are in weekly increments from one week to a maximum of five.
Microsoft previously made similar changes for its operating system updates. It previously allowed you to pause them indefinitely, but now it offers a maximum of 35 days from the software’s release until it’s mandatory to download.
Why is Microsoft doing this? Security is the number one answer. Microsoft reducing the upper limit to five weeks is to ensure you have time to install an update at the right moment, rather than when you’re in the middle of a particular project using specific software.
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However, it also ensures you don’t miss out on security-focused changes that make usage of the app more secure over time. The idea is that a month of delay should give you a suitable window to download new changes.
This change only applies to apps downloaded directly from the Microsoft Store, so you may find you want to swap over to alternative sources if you don’t like the company’s decision. If you do that, and you delay updates indefinitely, be aware that you may miss out on some important security updates.
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About James Peckham
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