Do I really have to install that update?

The popup is back. “Update available.” Two buttons: Update tonight and Remind me later.

Liz taps “Remind me later”. Again. That's three weeks running.

“Do I really have to install this thing?”

“Often, yes,” says Dan.

What's inside an update

An update is a bundle of changes from the company that made your phone or computer. Some add features. Some fix bugs. And many patch holes in your device's security: mistakes in the software that a crook could use to get in, read your data or take over the device.

Some of those holes are already being used. Apple's notes for its updates sometimes say it's “aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited”. The US cybersecurity agency, CISA, keeps a list of security holes that have been used in real attacks, and it holds well over a thousand of them, across all kinds of software.

To keep it in proportion: Apple's reports of these usually describe attacks aimed at specific people, not at everyone. But you don't get to choose whether you're one of them.

Once the fix is out, the hole is no secret

Here's the twist. Companies stay quiet about a hole until the fix is ready. Then they publish what they fixed, so people know to update.

That's good news for anyone who updates, and a map for crooks. They can study the fix to find the hole, then go after devices that skipped it.

How fast? Google's Mandiant team looked at holes used after their fix was published. About one in eight was used within a day, nearly a third within a week, and more than half within a month. That's across all kinds of software, not only phones, but the point holds: the clock starts when the fix comes out.

“Phones like mine?” asks Liz.

“Three weeks?” says Dan. “Crooks thank you for your patience.”

You don't have to babysit the popups

“So I have to babysit every popup?”

Nope. Turn on automatic updates, and your device can do it while you sleep, or at its next restart.

Device	Where to find it	Good to know
iPhone	Settings → General → Software Update → Automatic Updates	Installs overnight while charging and on Wi-Fi. You get a heads-up first
Android	Settings → System → Software updates	Most security patches install on their own. Menu names vary by brand; on a Pixel, the update takes effect at the next restart
Mac	System Settings → General → Software Update → info button next to Automatic Updates	Turn on “Install Security Responses and system files” too
Windows 11	Settings → Windows Update	Set your active hours, so restarts happen when you're not using the PC

Your apps update separately, through the App Store or Google Play. Automatic updates are a setting there too.

Worried an update will break something? It's a fair worry, and waiting a few days to see if anyone reports problems is your call. Just give “later” a date.

When a device is too old to get updates

Updates don't last forever. Each company stops making them for older models at some point, and then any hole found after that stays open.

• Pixel: Google gives the Pixel 8 and later 7 years of security updates, the Pixel 6 and 7 get 5 years, and the Pixel 5a and earlier no longer get any.
• Windows 10: support ended on October 14, 2025. Microsoft's Extended Security Updates program can keep a Windows 10 PC protected until October 12, 2027.
• iPhone, Samsung and others: check your maker's support pages for your model.

What you do about an older device is up to you. You might keep it for things that don't involve your accounts or money, move to a newer system if your device can run it, or replace it when it suits you. The point is to know where it stands.

Update tonight

Liz looks at the popup one more time, and taps the other button. “Fine. Update tonight.”

“Sweet dreams, phone,” says Dan.

Her sum-up: updates patch holes crooks look for. “Later” means tonight, not never.

What you can do

• Turn on automatic updates on your phone, computer and tablet (see the table above).
• Leave your phone charging on Wi-Fi overnight now and then, so the update has its chance.
• Restart now and then. Some updates only take effect after a restart.
• Turn on app updates in the App Store or Google Play.
• Check whether older devices still get updates, and decide what to do with the ones that don't.