Help Touch here for 23 updates

[mls58]

Hi all,new to Android and the forums here. Just bought a Nexus 7 (2013) which is updated to 5.02 for about a week now. 2 days ago got a pull down pop up that said touch here for 23 available updates for Gmail,music etc.
Didn't want to do all these updates at once so I just put it in sleep mode and haven't used it since. I wasn't sure if swiping up would start the updates. While I have Windows and some Ipad experience I'm not sure of the best way to handle these updates.
Will mostly be using the tablet for light browsing at work and home.

Thanx
mls

 

[Madbat]

Just update them. Apps will have updates constantly. You will likely see more every day. Its best to keep apps updated for security and stability. You can ignore them and swipe them away if you want, but there will just be more and more.

 

[sherri]

I disagree with @Madbat. Sometimes, not all updates are good. Read the comments on the play store first. I have a few apps that I like the older versions better. I am rooted, so I get the apk onto SD card, or Dropbox, and if I hate newer version, I install older one.

 

[Madbat]

I disagree with @Madbat. Sometimes, not all updates are good. Read the comments on the play store first. I have a few apps that I like the older versions better. I am rooted, so I get the apk onto SD card, or Dropbox, and if I hate newer version, I install older one.

Most updates right now, especially on nexus devices, include security and lollipop compatibility. So skip at your own risk. Security in an app is becoming more and more important as vulnerabilities are being exploited. So skipping an update because you don't like some aspect of how it looks, and in the process missing important security upgrades and compatibility fixes? Not the best advice.

 

[UncleMike]

I agree with Sherri - don't update for the sake of updating. See what's new with each app (this can be daunting at times), and decide of you want to update or not. I routinely use System Panel (available in the Play Store) to archive apps prior to installing updates. If I don't like the update (which doesn't happen often), I can roll back to a previous version.

Ask any Tapatalk user if blindly updating of a good idea. I bet 99% of them will respond with an emphatic NO.

 

[mls58]

Thanks for the info everybody. I haven't installed any apps yet,they are all ones that came preloaded with Lollipop and or Nexuus. Is there any way I can put them on hold until I can research it a little or install something like System Panel?
It just seems like it's too easy to inadvertently do them by trying to get rid of the pop up. I want to do the updates just not 23 at once.

 

[UncleMike]

There's no way that I'm aware of to put updates on hold. However, you can disable notifications from the Play Store by opening the app drawer and dragging the Play Store icon to the top of the screen and dropping it on "App Info" (which will appear at the top after you start dragging), and then unchecking the "Show Notifications" check box. I'm pretty sure this will stop the app update notifications from appearing, but our may also have other (undesirable) effects.

Maybe others can weigh in on this.

 

[Madbat]

OP was talking about stock Google Apps. I stay at recommending keeping them updated.

 

[UncleMike]

OP was talking about stock Google Apps. I stay at recommending keeping them updated.

While I still think it's a good idea to keep older versions available, updating stock apps is probably a good idea.

In the past few months I've had two instances of stock app updates having undesirable results. The Google app updated and caused an issue with Motorola Assist, and a Gmail update wouldn't work with sending attachments from Drive. In both cases, reverting to an archived version was a temporary solution until a permanent fix was provided.

 

[Madbat]

To each his own. Stock Google Apps on a nexus device. I update them all, regularly. Never had a problem. This is a nexus 7 thread.

 

[sherri]

One of the stock map updates was awful. Made the mess of the iPhone app look like amateur hour. Got rid of street names.... "turn right" was useless when there were three "rights" at the intersection.... And when "market" changed to Google Play? The difference in size was incredible....

 

[Madbat]

One of the stock map updates was awful. Made the mess of the iPhone app look like amateur hour. Got rid of street names.... "turn right" was useless when there were three "rights" at the intersection.... And when "market" changed to Google Play? The difference in size was incredible....

Android market was very limited. Play store now works with Google play services. It's the most important and incredible update to Android ever. It integrated everything and allows Google to update core components without needing to update the operating system. Since manufacturers refuse to update mid level phones (Samsung I'm looking at you) Google can update Google play services and play store to keep your phone capable of running up to date software. So yeah the size got a little bigger. Android has matured a lot. It's actually more important now than it has ever been to keep core apps updated (especially on nexus devices) . With the Lollipop update and all the updates to API'S and app design. Old ways of thinking are becoming obsolete as android matures. Just my. 02¢

 

[mls58]

I touched the pull down popup and luckily it didn't automatically do the updates but listed each one in a menu with an update button next to it.
I guess this was actually Play Store. Updates I made for now were Chrome(twice),GMail,Google Inc,Calendar,Camera,Google Docs,Google Keyboard and YouTube.
Was going to do Google Maps but it wanted access to so much info that I held off on that for now.
The apps that I didn't update just now were Cloud Print,Drive,Earth,Google Keep,Google Play Books,Play Games,Play Movies & TV,Play Music,Play Newstand,Google Sheets,Google Slides,Text to Speech,Google +,and Hangouts.
If any of the ones I didn't do yet are essential or recommended for security reasons let me know your suggestions. Don't really know what most of these apps do. Thanks for bearing with me,looks like there is a big learning curve ahead !!
I did buy a book on Amazon called Google Nexus 7 & 9 No Fluff Guide (Android 5 Lollipop Edition) so that should help me get a little more familiar with Android

Thanx
mls

 

[michaelkenward]

I'm with those who warn against blindly accepting every update or every app. Some apps are seriously broken when the developers implement major changes. Sometimes they deliberately remove features that may be important to some users.

It does not harm to look at the latest reviews of apps. You can quickly see if they have done any major damage to the apps.