California Man Sues Apple over Unwanted iOS 7 Update

A California man has filed a lawsuit against Apple over unwanted downloads of iOS 7 firmware.

Mark Menacher, a resident of Poway, California, filed a small-claim complaint against Apple's CEO, Tim Cook in the Superior Court of California in San Diego on 17 October demanding the removal of the iOS 7 install file, which is downloaded to the devices automatically while they are connected to power and Wi-Fi connection, reports CNET.

Although the file does not install iOS 7 on a device without a user's permission, it reminds the user to do so every time the device is restarted.

"Apple's disregard for customer preferences in relation to iOS 7 is corporate thuggery. Steve Jobs was reportedly rough on company employees in pursuit of happy customers, but Tim Cook apparently cultivates a culture of contempt for customer satisfaction in pursuit of corporate profits. It is a policy that will eventually fail," said Menacher in a statement.

Menacher, in his complaint, asked for a way to remove the downloaded installer file and $50. Besides, he is considering elevating the issue to a higher court as well as exploring if there is support for class action status.

This is not the first complaint about the iOS 7 update. A number of users did not update their devices to iOS 7 when Apple released its latest mobile operating system. Those users later discovered that their iOS devices have already downloaded the iOS 7 update and it cannot be removed from their devices, notes iPhone Hacks. As iOS 7 is major update, weighing in at around 1GB for some devices, it occupied a significant portion of the storage space for devices with 16GB storage or less.

Users reported the same issue at Apple Support Communities last month.

This automatic downloading behavior was also present in the jumps from iOS 5 to iOS 6. The OTA update feature, introduced in iOS 5 in 2011, automatically downloads updates when the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network and a power source. However, the installation is not automatic but requires user consent.

Also read: How to Install OS X 10.9 Mavericks on Intel-based PC [GUIDE]