TT is unusual in that it doesn't offer users the luxury of time: You install it, launch it, update it, and prepare and file your tax return, and if there's a glitch in the update, you either find out about when it's too late, or never find out about it at all.
So I'll guess that TT does its best to minimize the possibility of those possible scenarios by reinstalling the entire guts of the app in every update, rather than doing traditional line-by-line updates.
Perhaps what you've described is H&R Block's approach to the problem.
H&RBlock
schedules regular monthly updates throughout the entire tax season and the planned release dates are published with the initial app release. The app tracks each form as Preliminary or Final and all the forms used in your return must be finalized before the app will permit you to file the return. That said,
each update is essentially a complete replacement of the previous version and I have never had to backtrack or reenter previous data between updates or noticed any change in the questionnaire. The questions do not change, just the reporting format, and perhaps some underlying calculations. As Texas has no state income tax I have no direct experience, but it appears the earlier updates are due to last minute IRS reporting changes and the later updates are more often the result of last minute tweaks from the various state tax agencies. Any filing delays I have are almost exclusively waiting for third parties to send 1099s or donation receipts. All of which makes the failure of the update function to work properly even more inexplicable.
