How to manage updates?

[benwiggy]

I am getting increasingly irked by the constant need to update apps. Almost every time I launch an app, I am told there's a new version available which I should download and install now.
I'm happy to be up-to-date, my issue is that it's a distraction from whatever I was about to do in the app. Some apps I use infrequently, (e.g. CyberDuck once a month to update webpages), and I can guarantee that it will ask me to update when I launch.

So what's the alternative?
Well, the immediate alternative is to click "Later", and then forget about it. This isn't ideal, particularly if we're talking about security fixes.
Sometimes, you have to update now -- witness Apple's blocking of out-of-date versions of Flash.

I suppose one option would be for apps to update silently in the background. As nice as this might be, this could cause problems with new bugs and incompatibilities being introduced, not to mention that some people will think this is the government invading their homes and taking their freedoms.

The App Store model is also quite good, where updates are made as notifications and you can update at your leisure. Of course, apps have to be in the App Store.

Thoughts?

[NaOH]

I disable update checking in every application I use (the exception is the OS X built-in protection in System Preferences > Security & Privacy). As you mentioned, it often comes at an inopportune time. Similar to what you mentioned about silent updates, for more critical software I want to avoid being at risk in case there's a bug or incompatibility that might arise.

What I do instead is typically make a late-in-the-day check of MacUpdate. That will show me updates to most software I use, and it gives me a chance to review if the changes are of value to me (e.g., I don't need to update Dropbox when the only listed change is a new localization). Plus, I'm already in not-working mode, so I'm willing to install at this point. Or at least download the software for installation sometime soon.

For software that isn't listed at MacUpdate, I periodically use the built-in Check For Update option or visit the developer's site. If something is working fine for me, I'm not bothered by missing out for a while on new tweaks or features.

I don't know that my approach is any better or worse than how you've addressed this, but it works for me and how my head operates.

[NovaScotian]

TidBITS does a reasonable job of announcing updates as well.

[fracai]

Quote: Originally Posted by NaOH What I do instead is typically make a late-in-the-day check of MacUpdate. That will show me updates to most software I use, and it gives me a chance to review if the changes are of value to me (e.g., I don't need to update Dropbox when the only listed change is a new localization). Plus, I'm already in not-working mode, so I'm willing to install at this point. Or at least download the software for installation sometime soon.

I used to do this, then I used AppFresh. Now I try to install as much as possible using the MAS, then I mark the few apps that I have to install manually that also don't auto-update with a grey label to indicate that I should periodically check for updates. The MAS and Sparkle are great things. I don't have to waste time seeking updates and I'm generally not bothered by clicking update now when prompted. It would be nice if there was an option for "download now and update on quit".

Also, you probably picked the wost example in citing Dropbox. That's one that will update and restart automatically. I don't think I've ever taken any manual intervention to update that one.

Chrome is also nice in that it just displays an icon when an update is available and, I think, applies them automatically the next time you restart the app. It could probably be a bit more in your face when you haven't restarted in a while.

I do wish you could snooze MAS updates for longer than the day or so that dismissing the alert does.

[NovaScotian]

The one thing about MAS I don't like is that it will announce that updates are available for apps for which the update is to a payed version, e.g. every time I open Pages or Numbers. For what I do with them, the versions I have are good enough, particularly since I don't much like either of them.

[NovaScotian]

Interesting addendum: I decided I probably should update in case there were security implications, but MAS doesn't work. If I try to buy a copy of Numbers, for example, MAS informs me I already have a copy on my machine (Doh!) so I should use Software Update which, in turn informs, me that no updates are available. Same for Pages. If I go to Apple Downloads and try to get an update for iWork, they inform me that I don't have a valid copy of Keynote - which I have never used. Screwed up to a fair thee well.

[tlarkin]

For OS X updates I use SUS or Reposado, found here:

https://github.com/wdas/reposado

Also, you can always use the binary to trigger updates, like this for example:

sudo softwareupdate -l

This will list the updates, -i will install and -ia will install all available updates without user interaction. This only really applies to OS X updates.

For third party vendor updates I repack and redeploy unless they have a built in update mechanism.