Re/code:
Oh God, what is this?
That’s the first thought you might have when a notification appears on your iPhone or iPad prompting you to download a “Carrier Settings Update.”
If you’re like me, you’ll shrug and tap the Update button (YOLO!). But others might be a little more wary, and want to know what the update is for and whether it’s safe to download before taking any action.
Unfortunately, getting answers to these questions is much harder than it should be.
I had this happen while setting up a friend’s phone yesterday. Finding info on what it is was frustratingly difficult.
I want to know if these ‘carrier updates’ are vetted by Apple? Are carriers able to push these themselves & potentially open ‘backdoors’, change firmware, or make other changes that I wouldn’t want?
No. They are essentially the settings that allow your phone to connect to the proper cell towers and at proper speeds and whatnot. If you’re using your phone on a carrier that is not one of Apple’s partners (essentially, if you’re using it on a network that you can’t buy the phone already connected with), you have to enter these settings manually. Apple has some info on it here:
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201270
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201699
There’s also an article from Macworld.com from 2009 that talks about one of (if not the) first carrier updates for the iPhone:
http://www.macworld.com/article/1138715/iphonecarriersettings.html
Supposedly, it just included updated icons for when the iPhone connected to a MicroCell and some other network icons.
I had some of these already back in the days of my 3G in the Netherlands. Haven’t seen them in the last few years, though.