How do I prevent my iPad from automatically downloading iOS updates?

For future reference there is a way to temporarily remove an iOS upgrade/update so it can't be downloaded at all.

Go into the Settings App, General Settings panel.

In the right hand column, tap Storage and iCloud Usage.

At the top in the first block of 3 panels where it is titled at the top of this block Storage, tap the panel that says Manage Storage.

A list of every app will generate itself.

Once this list stops generating, look through this list until you see something like iOS 10.x.x in this list.

Tap on the arrow at the far right on that iOS 10.x.x panel.

It will bring you to another screen that will allowing you to completely delete/remove the entire iOS upgrade/update.

This removal/deletion of an iOS upgrade/update is not permanent and may return at anytime when the iOS upgrade/update at some point will get re-pushed to your iDevice, where you can simply perform this procedure, again.

Good Luck to You!

Unfortunately this does not stop it from getting the update notifications, and the IOS package is only there if you have downloaded it to your IOS device. For example in my case i don't have any IOS update file in the "iCloud usage" - "storage" section, but i still get these push notifications.

So it needs to be stopped from even receiving these update push notifications.

No.

It won’t stop it and you can’t stop it from being pushed to your iDevices, but you can easily delete right away.

I just got the notification to update to iOS 11.2.1.

Took me all of a minute to get rid of this update off of both of my iDevices and return the data space back to my iPad and iPod Touch!

n your router's settings, set up a block (using Access Restrictions or similar in the router's web interface) to mesu.apple.com. This will prevent the devices from "phoning home" to Apple, checking for updates and getting the download(s) pushed to the device

In the future to check for updates on the device, simply disable the Access Restriction block created above. After you've checked for updates, remember to reenable the Access Restriction block that you disabled.

Really!?!?!?!?! I've suspected that something like this was the ONLY way to prevent IOS from downloading those IOS updates. Earlier versions of IOS would NOTE that an update was available and then give me the choice "download" or "download and update". But, now, it seems that DOWNLOAD is no longer OPTIONAL. I've had to manually remove the 9.2.1 IOS update (Settings -> General -> Storage and iCloud Usage) a few times.

I asked an Apple employee at the Apple store about this and they said that if Background Updates were not enabled the this shouldn't happen. IOS doesn;t update BUT the freaking package is downloaded.

I would really like to see the AUTO IOS UPDATE DOWNLOAD either removed or we are given the ability to disable the download. Why waste the memory by storing the package on the device if we are not ready to apply it. That memory could be used for something else on my device.

Your technique won't help if I am at a Starbucks or the Airport connected to a router I don't control.

Stupid Apple.

How is this done on the Airport Express router, i.e. in the Airport setup software. I could not find where to do this on the Airport ?

And can't this be done directly in the ipad / iphone?