What actually changes between operating system versions
An upgrade is usually announced as a list of new features. The settings tree tells a different story: things leave as fast as they arrive, and the first screen you see is being quietly compressed.
The shape of 48 upgrades
We compared the full settings tree of 48 pairs of releases across 19 operating systems — every pair the catalogue holds. Between them, 12,808 settings rows appeared and 10,443 disappeared.
| System | Pairs | Arrived | Gone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android | 5 | 2,669 | 2,369 |
| iPadOS | 7 | 1,999 | 1,493 |
| iOS | 7 | 1,844 | 1,390 |
| macOS | 7 | 1,932 | 686 |
| ChromeOS | 3 | 1,393 | 1,101 |
| Ubuntu | 3 | 1,162 | 986 |
| Windows | 1 | 984 | 2,200 |
Windows is the only one in that table where the second number is bigger than the first — and it is more than twice as big.
The first screen is being compressed
The interesting movement is not the count but the top level. Four of these systems spent the period collapsing first-screen entries into fewer, larger groups:
- iPadOS dropped eleven app entries — Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Messages, Maps, Music, TV, Photos, Files and Health — and added one called Apps.
- iOS did the same with five: Safari, Messages, Phone, Photos and Health, replaced by Apps.
- ChromeOS removed seven top-level groups and added one, System preferences.
- Ubuntu removed six, including About, Users and Date & Time, and added System.
None of those settings went away. They moved one level down, behind a door with a more general name. Which is why an upgrade can leave you unable to find something you have changed a dozen times.
Six systems have never removed anything
Across every pair we hold for them, these systems added rows and removed none:
| System | Arrived | Gone |
|---|---|---|
| HyperOS | 130 | 0 |
| CarPlay | 102 | 0 |
| One UI | 86 | 0 |
| HarmonyOS | 82 | 0 |
| Symbian | 23 | 0 |
| watchOS | 8 | 0 |
Some of that is the catalogue holding fewer releases for them. Some of it is a real difference in habit: a system that never removes a setting never breaks anyone’s muscle memory, and never cleans up either. Settings menus only grow follows that thread across fourteen years.
Read any upgrade yourself
Each pair has a page listing every row that arrived, left or was renamed, with the path to each one: all 48 version comparisons. Every path opens in the simulator, so you can walk the old menu and the new one side by side.
The per-system write-ups: Windows 11, iOS, iPadOS, Android, macOS, ChromeOS and Ubuntu.
Try it yourself, on the real menusOpen any of 43 operating systems in your browser and walk the Settings tree exactly as it appears on the device. No download, no account.Frequently asked questions
Do operating systems remove settings when they update?
Constantly. Across 48 release pairs we counted 10,443 settings rows that disappeared against 12,808 that arrived. Windows 10 to 11 removed 2,200 and added 984 — the only pair in the catalogue where far more left than arrived.
Why can I not find a setting after an upgrade?
Usually because the first screen was reorganised rather than because the setting was deleted. iPadOS moved eleven app entries off its first screen into one group called Apps; ChromeOS and Ubuntu did the same with seven and six groups. The setting is still there, one level further down.
Which system changes its settings the most?
Android, by volume: 2,669 rows arrived and 2,369 left across the five release pairs we hold. By proportion, Windows 10 to 11 is the largest single upheaval in the catalogue.