APPLICATION UPDATE CONTROL

• US 20180143822A1
• Filed: 11/18/2016
• Published: 05/24/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo PC International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: VanBlon, Russell Speight, Zaitsev, Grigori, Zhang, Jianbang
• Granted Patent: US 10,579,360 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/658 Incremental updates; Differential updates

Abstract

For controlling application updates, an apparatus is disclosed. A system, method, and program product also perform the functions of the apparatus. The apparatus includes a processor and a memory storing code executable by the processor. The processor identifies one or more updatable applications installed on the apparatus and identifies a pattern of use for each updatable application. The processor also creates an application update policy for each updatable application based on the pattern of use for each updatable application.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a memory that stores code executable by the processor to;

identifies one or more updatable applications installed on the apparatus;

identifies a pattern of use for each updatable application; and

creates an application update policy for each updatable application based on the pattern of use for each updatable application.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor further categorizes the one or more updatable applications into one of a plurality of application categories, wherein each application in an application category has the same application update policy.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor further:

receives an application update for a specific application, wherein the pattern of use for the specific application indicates a rate of use less than a threshold rate;

determining whether the application update is a major revision;

applying the application update in response to the application update being a major revision; and

postponing the application update in response to the application update not being a major revision.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein creating an application update policy for each updatable application based on the pattern of use for each updatable application comprises disabling an automatic application update feature for a particular application in response to the pattern of use for the particular application indicating a frequency of use below a threshold amount.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor further identifies a calendar item associated with use of a specific application, wherein the application update policy defers applying application updates for the specific application until a predetermined time prior to the calendar item.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor further identifies a location associated with use of a specific application, wherein the application update policy defers applying application updates for the specific application until the apparatus is within a predetermined distance of the location.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor further:

receives an application update for a particular application;

determines whether the application update is a security update; and

overrides the application update policy to immediately update the particular application in response to the received application update being a security update.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor further:

identifies one or more features of an updatable application, each feature being independently updatable; and

identifies a pattern of use for each feature, wherein creating an application update policy for the updatable application comprises creating a feature update policy for each feature of the updatable application based on a pattern of use for each feature.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the application update policy of a first updatable application applies application updates to the first updatable application at a first frequency and the application update policy of a second updatable application applies application updates to the second updatable application at a second frequency, wherein the first frequency is greater than the second frequency in response to the first updatable application being used more often than the second updatable application.

10. A method comprising:

identifying, using a processor, one or more updatable applications installed on a computing device;

identifying a pattern of use for each updatable application; and

creating an application update policy for each updatable application based on the pattern of use for each updatable application.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising categorizing the one or more updatable applications into one of a plurality of application categories, wherein each application in an application category has the same application update policy.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving an application update for a specific application having a rate of use that is less than a threshold rate;

determining whether the application update is a major revision;

applying the application update in response to the application update being a major revision; and

postponing the application update in response to the application update not being a major revision.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying a calendar item associated with use of a specific application, wherein the application update policy defers applying application updates for the specific application until a predetermined time prior to the calendar item.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying a location associated with use of a specific application, wherein the application update policy defers applying application updates for the specific application until the computing device is within a predetermined distance of the location.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving an application update for a particular application;

determining whether the application update is a security update; and

overriding the application update policy to immediately update the particular application in response to the received application update being a security update.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying one or more features of an updatable application, each feature being independently updatable; and

identifying a rate of use for each feature, wherein creating an application update policy for the updatable application comprises creating a feature update policy for each feature of the updatable application based on a rate of use for each feature.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the feature update policy of a first feature applies updates to the first feature at a first interval and the feature update policy of a second feature applies updates to the second feature at a second interval, wherein the first interval is less than the second interval in response to the first feature being used more often than the second feature.

18. A program product comprising a computer readable storage medium that stores code executable by a processor, the executable code comprising code to perform:

identifying one or more updatable applications installed on an electronic device;

identifying a pattern of use for each updatable application; and

creating an application update policy for each updatable application based on the pattern of use for each updatable application.

19. The program product of claim 18, wherein creating an application update policy for each updatable application based on the pattern of use for each updatable application comprises enabling an automatic application update function for a particular application only in response to a frequency of use for the particular application being above a threshold amount.

20. The program product of claim 18, wherein creating an application update policy for each updatable application based on the pattern of use for each updatable application comprises disabling an automatic application update function for a particular application in response to a frequency of use for the particular application being below a threshold amount.