An update to an app on the App Store today had this single line in its release notes…

“Reduced file size - Download is now available without Wi-Fi connection.”

It is seriously time for Apple to get rid of this 20MB limitation. Last week I was out with my wife and daughter, away from Wi-Fi access, and decided to download an app for my daughter to play with, as I had forgotten to bring her iPod touch with me. It was over 20MB, so I ended up turning on Personal Hotspot on my wife’s iPhone and downloading it over “Wi-Fi” that way, since of course my own iPhone didn’t know the difference.

I could understand Apple leaving an option in the settings — even enabled by default — to allow people to choose whether to enforce this limit or not, When I can use a 3G network that outperforms most public Wi-Fi networks, it’s ridiculous that I would otherwise have to jump onto a slower network to download something, and you really can’t use “network congestion” as an excuse in that case, either.