But that's just part of the problem though. I want to be able to rely on my system and not have a chance 4 times a day for random things to break (the default frequency based on your link).
The argument about "latest == safest" may have some validity when it comes to browsers, but for everything else a notification that there is a new version would be more than enough.
You can turn it off by replacing your operating system with another Linux distribution. As of 20.04 you also still have the option of removing Snap outright[1], as long as you don't need the software that is only provided via snap.
Although apparently they are considering[2] adding the option to disable auto-updates.
Thanks, I did this on my 20.04 systems and it worked fine. Simply uninstall snapd. I lost LXD (no way I'd use this now anyway if its distributed via snap), and chromium browser (but discovered the far superior Ungoogled version anyway)
The argument about "latest == safest" may have some validity when it comes to browsers, but for everything else a notification that there is a new version would be more than enough.