To stop your LG G6 or G6+ from automatically downloading and installing OTA updates, you’ll want to follow the step by step guide detailed below.
More and more Android smartphones and tablets are moving to a system where OTA updates are automatically downloaded and installed. I’ve seen many, many, many AT&T customers wake up and notice their smartphone has been automatically updated during the night.
This system started with mobile carriers pushing setting up the OTA update system that way, but even Google is moving to a similar system with the latest version of Android.
Most OEMs and wireless carriers will say this is done at the benefit of the consumer and in most cases that is probably true. The average customer doesn’t know much about a new software update and they would rather not deal with them. However, not everyone is a fan of this and thankfully there is an option for us to disable these automatic updates on the LG G6. This could actually very from model to model of the LG G6 (since a carrier can remove it), but it should be in the hidden Developer Options menu.
LG G6 Disable Automatic Updates
- Enable Developer Mode on the LG G6
- Launch the Settings application
- Tap on the General tab at the top right of the screen
- Scroll down and tap on the Developer Options option
- Look for and then toggle off the Automatic System Updates option
Explanation
Wireless carriers generally have complete control over the software and a lot of them will remove various features from the device. In the video, I am showing you how to do this on the T-Mobile LG G6, but carriers like Verizon Wireless, AT&T and many others could technically remove this toggle from the Developer Options menu completely. So please don’t blame me if you can’t find this option in the Developer Options menu because it’s the carrier who removed it.
So, as you can see the process is simple and it just requires that you enable the hidden Developer Mode menu to find it. The guide I linked to in Step 1 will be a bit different on the LG G6 since the OEM has laid out the Settings menu different than most. You just need to enable the Developer Mode by going into the Settings application, tapping on the General tab, going into the About Phone section and then looking in the Software section to find the Build Number entry to tap on.
With Developer Mode enabled, we can then go back to the main Settings menu screen, tap on the General tab again and then scroll all the way down to the bottom. You should see a new option here called Developer Options. There will be a ton of features and toggles within this menu but be careful which ones you experiment with. Most will be harmless and can be reverted but some will fundamentally change the way your device manages applications and services.
In any case, we want to ignore most of the stuff here any way and just look for the Automatic System Updates toggle. For me and the T-Mobile LG G6, this is toward the top before we even get to the USB Debugging feature. It’s just a simple toggle that is set to On by default, and can be toggled Off with a simple tap. Once the toggle is set to off, you can then press the Home button to go back to the Home Screen and the process is complete.
With that part done, you have disabled automatic system updates on the LG G6.
Mobile carriers always remove features like FM Radio, the ability to disable updates, and many other features. They also install a lot of bloatwares.
That’s why people should buy factory unlocked phones only. They are the full featured version of phones.
Some people don’t have the option without buying from a reseller. Like here in the states, the only ‘unlocked’ versions of the LG G6 and Galaxy S8 you can buy from a retailer is SIM unlocked and no way to legitimately unlock the bootloader.
I had to order my international S8+ variant from eBay and was thankful that T-Mobile lets their customers unlock the bootloader of the LG G6.