Request: auto update!

[johnnynoble]

That's it. I'd just love it if Alfred had the option to update himself somehow.

 

Anecdote: my partner, not a nerd, *loves* Alfred. But do you think she has ever, one time, updated it? Nope. Every time I sit at her computer I see the update notification and I do it for her.

[Smpl]

7 hours ago, johnnynoble said:

That's it. I'd just love it if Alfred had the option to update himself somehow.

 

Anecdote: my partner, not a nerd, *loves* Alfred. But do you think she has ever, one time, updated it? Nope. Every time I sit at her computer I see the update notification and I do it for her.

 

I think this is not added to Alfred, because sometimes an update could break a workflow. If it auto-updates, someone might not know why their workflow is no longer working.. 

[Vero]

@johnnynoble There are a number of reasons why Alfred doesn't update invisibly - but before I share some more insight, I will say that we do have plans to make the update process easier, and smoother to do without having to use your mouse.

 

Generally speaking, there are only a few Alfred updates a year for non-pre-release users, unlike some apps that have a weekly release cycle as a matter of course (e.g. Facebook and other iOS apps). If you're seeing more frequent updates, open Alfred's preferences to the Update tab, and check that you haven't selected the pre-release options in the dropdown menu at the bottom.

 
As such, the effort it takes with a couple of clicks at a convenient time is very low - and hopefully you'll take a moment to glance at the change log. This change log is our only opportunity to communicate significant changes and new features to Alfred, so it's a chance for you to see what lovely stuff we've added for you to use and, as @Smpl alludes to, it gives workflow creators and users an opportunity to see if anything significant is changing that may affect their favourite workflows.

 

Cheers,
Vero

[johnnynoble]

Thanks @Vero, and that all makes sense to me – certainly someone in the 'power user' camp. And maybe people like us are the vast majority of your users, I get that most people probably just use Spotlight.

 

As a counter-point, my partner very much isn't a power user. She wouldn't know what a release note or a workflow was! And couldn't care less.

 

On 7/13/2022 at 12:03 AM, Vero said:

I will say that we do have plans to make the update process easier, and smoother to do without having to use your mouse

 

This would be a nice compromise. If she could just invoke Alfred and type 'update' to make him do that, that'd be cool ... and I could probably train her to actually do it! :)

[Mike Fisher]

On 7/12/2022 at 10:03 AM, Vero said:

smoother to do without having to use your mouse

🎉🍾 -- this would be so huge!

I enjoy having the opportunity to read/skim the changelog, but I really don't use many workflows, so the changelog would be something I'd really dive into if something broke. If the updating process gets better in the UI, that's great, but I originally came here also looking for the updates to just auto-apply.