On Android I have auto update enabled, and it works alright. Sometimes an update removes a feature I liked though, which is more of a problem with the state of software these days than updating.

On Linux I just update whenever I feel like it, or when I need a new feature.

On Windows 10 I never update. I disabled it 3 years ago and will never install another update, ever. They were using automatic updates to reset my privacy changes, pester me with ads, and try to trick me into updating to Windows 11. I’m never on that OS for long enough that it matters. I only use it when there’s something that I can’t accomplish on my phone or Linux, because some asshole somewhere decided that they’re going to force Windows.

My Linux laptop is set to check for updates daily, which I then apply manually when I notice the tray icon. I sometimes procrastinate when it comes to reboots though.

My Android phone is on auto-update, which seems to mean whenever it’s being charging for a few hours (so typically when charging overnight). Because the battery is still pretty good and I don’t need to charge daily, that comes down to once every 2-3 nights or so.

My personal Linux servers (which run my self-hosted apps) are configured to automatically apply all updates (and reboot if necessary afterwards) at the time of day I’m most likely to be awake and available to manually fix stuff if anything goes wrong. The Docker-containers that run on them mostly get auto-updated to the latest version every 6 hours by Watchtower. A few containers have more cautious policies though, ranging from pinning a major version (but auto-upgrading to new minor versions within that) to pinning a specific version and at most sending a notification if there’s an update. The latter is limited to stuff that has broken before and/or where newer releases are known to be buggy or incompatible.

When it comes to major updates (i.e. new distro releases) of my Linux machines, I typically wait about a month before upgrading because I’ve been bitten by release-day bugs before.

I’m still on DOS.

I update whenever it is convenient or pushed. On Android it’s not really a decision that I make, it just updates whenever it feels like it and so far I haven’t disagreed very often. On my desktop I update Arch pretty much weekly, and Windows as little as possible because it wants to restart during the updating process and will probably just pull in more spyware. My Ubuntu laptop isn’t used often, so it doesn’t get updated often either. I also sometimes use some Fedora machines, which I also don’t update too regularly.

Ubuntu and the multiple Fedora machines under my control also like to start unattended updates at the worst possible moments, which regularly interrupts my attempts to update or install stuff. I prefer to turn that shit off at every opportunity. I’d rather just get a notification that it wants me to update in the DE or terminal

Android: no clue, F-Droid started updating my apps automatically after an OS update, which is nice. My phone isn’t rooted either. Linux: About once a week.

Android: 1-2 times per week, according to updates on gplay and F-droid
Win11: Once per month. OS, driver, app updates etc
Linux: Once per month. Once per two months, if I don’t open it often.

I like updates of some apps and look forward to them.
Especially those of Collabora office, Newpipe/Pipepipe, Jerboa, Infinity, VLC, MPV, Firefox, Sumatrapdfviewer and similar cool apps.

But I understand the internet issue. It’s mostly 3G mobile internet for me.

You should update your phone appa every day for security reasons. At least the ones with internet connectivity.

On your computer, do the same for your system and for your web browser and other web-focused apps.

Pretty much as soon as a stable release happens for software on my phone. On my PC it mostly depends (for not-games) how annoyingly the update popup is placed. If it tells me on startup “Now (including a restart of the program) or we’ll remind you on next startup” I usually pick later because I want to work on that, e.g. PDF, immediately. By the time I did the work, I either forgot about updating (repeat cycle next time I use it) or the manual update option is somewhere too obscurely placed and I’m too lazy to find out where.

One of my programs - I think it’s Foxit PDF reader - offers an option to run the update when I close it. That’s so lovely, because it allows me to do my work now and when I’m done, I can let it update in peace while I start something different.

Edit: Because I read Win10 in the comments: For OS updates, I carefully vet the major releases. I stayed on my XP until Win 7 released and was actually an improvement. Then I only upgraded to Win 10 when I acknowledged it as good and because Sea of Thieves wouldn’t run on Win 7. Currently I’m trying to stay as far away from Win 11 as I can. We use it at work and I wouldn’t want to bring this peril into my home.

Immediately and constantly apply updates.

Very, very, rarely have I ever had to roll anything back. Newpipe I rolled back once.

— After some thinking

• MacOS - Minor changes Number.minor I update ASAP, Major Changes Number+1.1… I wait until Number+1.3… Apple has a history of breaking the ecosystem on major changes, give them a month or two to sort it out

Every day. Almost everything is automatic, but I have a few manual things like my PC check for updates every day and I always install all of them after review.

You update twice a year?? Enjoy your security vulnerabilities i guess.

I trust my crap to update itself. Is that wrong?

I check and update them whenever I can. There is no reason not to.

more and more apps (primarily Google services, Social Media, …) get shitty updates

Don’t use them and switch to alternatives then!

Multiple times a day. It’s a bit of a dopamine addiction.