What The Blue Dot Means Next To Apps On Home Screen

What is the blue dot that appears just below next to the app on the iOS home screen?

The blue dot at the left below the app which is next to the name of the app means that it has recently been updated. Once you open the app after it has been updated, the blue dot disappears. It also disappears after a few days even if you did not open the app after its recent update. It will appear again right after the next update. Please note that there’s nothing you can do if you prefer to remove or stop the blue dot from reappearing after every app update. Some users find it annoying, but there’s no iOS feature to turn it off.

Why does this blue dot keep on appearing?

It’s to let you know that apps are kept updated to ensure that smooth end user experience. This regular app update usually includes bug fixes, new releases, and some additional features. Some updates, however, may even cause problems instead. That is why some users prefer to disable automatic updates. If your iOS settings are set to default, automatic app updates are turned off. You have the option to turn it on or turn it back off. It’s up to you to choose if you prefer manual or automatic updates. Below are some steps on how to customize your device settings.

Manual Update

If you do the manual update, you can check why an iOS app needs an update before you proceed to run the update. You’ll also see how much data is needed to download if you are running the update over cellular network. Here’s how to manually update the iOS apps.

1. Open the App Store app

2. Tap Updates

3. Update each app one at a time, or

4. Tap Update All for all the apps in the list that requires an update

You can view the change log in the Updates view before you do a manual update to know what new features have been added or to see a list of bug fixes.

Automatic Update

It’s quite a discomfort to manually update every single app if you have a long list of apps to update, so here’s how to automatically update iOS apps.

1. Go to Settings

2. Tap iTunes & App Stores

3. Scroll down to Automatic Downloads

4. Under Automatic Downloads, toggle on Updates (green)

Full Charge and Power Mode

Check your iOS software version since some iOS app updates don’t work on older software versions. To turn automatic updates on/off is not available when your iOS device is in Low Power Mode or has low battery, so make sure to turn off the Low Power Mode or fully charge your device first. Here’s how to change your Low Power Mode settings.

1. Go to Settings

2. Choose Battery

3. Turn off Low Power Mode

Wi-Fi and Cellular Data

You can choose to update iOS apps over cellular network, but it is limited only up to a file size of 150MB. You can also run the update through a Wi-Fi connection to avoid data charges or when the update requires more than 150MB. Here’s how to turn on automatic updates over cellular network.

1. Go to Settings

2. Tap iTunes & App Stores

3. Toggle on Use Cellular Data (green)