How to update my software to download free apps from App Store?

What was presented in another post is from: How apps, content, and subscriptions from Apple are billed - Apple Support

"If you see a pending charge for a small amount

If you update your billing information or add someone to your Family Sharing group, a temporary authorization hold for a small amount might appear on your statement. Authorization holds are removed by your card issuer or financial institution after a short time."

You not only have to have a card, it has to be one that is in working order, not empty.

You will need a valid payment method even to download free apps. For a new card, Apple may make a temporary small dollar charge to verify if it is valid. This temporary charge will disappear and you will not have to pay for that charge. Without a valid payment method, you won't be able to download/update any apps.

The original poster (OP) actually mentions two unrelated things. The main one appeared to be the issue of a payment method and we were addressing that. The bit about updating software didn't really seem to be a question and it didn't really make sense anyway since a software requirement issue is not just going to affect free apps. Since the OP appears to be running iOS 16, the OP should be able to download any apps available on the App Store without updating.

It is not unusual to see irrelevant mentions in a post on this community. It is very common to see posts where people ask about needing to have a payment method even for downloading free apps.

i thought it was in general?

im a little confused.