Update channels

Three channels. You pick one per application, and you can move between them at any time.

• Stable. The normal one, and the one you want. It arrives after every check has passed and the release has been rolled out gradually without trouble.
• Beta. Finished versions that have passed every check but have not been out in the world long. Slightly early, and useful to us.
• Test. Whatever we are working on right now. Expect it to break. Do not put this on a machine that matters to you.

How an update is checked

The list of what is in an update is signed with a key we keep offline, on a machine that never touches the ones that build the software. Your application checks that signature before it downloads anything at all. If it does not check out, nothing is fetched.

This matters more than it sounds. An update is a way for new code to arrive on your machine. If somebody could tamper with that list, the way in would belong to them.

Large updates

A small fix only downloads the part that actually changed, so a minor update to a multi-gigabyte application is a small download. The complete file stays available if you would rather reinstall from scratch, and any download picks up where it stopped if it is interrupted.

If the update service is down

The application runs normally and retries later. An update check that cannot complete never blocks the software from starting.