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Sparkle: A software update framework for macOS

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Re: Sparkle: A software update framework for macOS

#111

Post by veeti »

adamomada wrote: post #87
dewey wrote: post #3

Maybe I‘m weird, but for some reason seeing a Sparkle „Update available“ modal popping up fils me with joy (The software I‘m using is getting better) and I enjoy reading the changelog. If there’s some weird custom updater in another software it always fills me with dread because I have to navigate a different UI, and probably have to restart it immediately.

The modal popup is the single thing I can’t stand about sparkle updates. Why oh why can’t they use the regular notification system and respect DND. It always seems so random as well, it’s not when the application starts or quits, just some rando timer polling for updates to surprise me with an interruption I can’t ignore

Nothing worse than starting iTerm and typing half a command when suddenly this thing interrupts you.

Re: Sparkle: A software update framework for macOS

#112

Post by dewey »

wingerlang wrote: post #61
dewey wrote: post #3

Maybe I‘m weird, but for some reason seeing a Sparkle „Update available“ modal popping up fils me with joy (The software I‘m using is getting better) and I enjoy reading the changelog. If there’s some weird custom updater in another software it always fills me with dread because I have to navigate a different UI, and probably have to restart it immediately.

I don't think that's weird, I enjoy those as well. So much so that I have a newsletter where I post changelogs of various apps that had updates in the past week ( https://buttondown.email/appsandupdates ). Adding apps is a slow process but I'm starting to see quite a bit of repeated apps so I'll have to speed it up.

Is anyone really interested in reading the detailed changelog for apps they don't use?

Re: Sparkle: A software update framework for macOS

#113

Post by wingerlang »

dewey wrote: post #112
wingerlang wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's weird, I enjoy those as well. So much so that I have a newsletter where I post changelogs of various apps that had updates in the past week ( https://buttondown.email/appsandupdates ). Adding apps is a slow process but I'm starting to see quite a bit of repeated apps so I'll have to speed it up.

Is anyone really interested in reading the detailed changelog for apps they don't use?

In practice it's more of a software discovery email, with the added bonus of knowing that they are being worked on actively, and finding out what sort of things they are working on at the same time. It's not really about "bug fixes and improvements" and I trim those out if I have time.

Re: Sparkle: A software update framework for macOS

#114

Post by eddi »

wingerlang wrote: post #61
dewey wrote: post #3

Maybe I‘m weird, but for some reason seeing a Sparkle „Update available“ modal popping up fils me with joy (The software I‘m using is getting better) and I enjoy reading the changelog. If there’s some weird custom updater in another software it always fills me with dread because I have to navigate a different UI, and probably have to restart it immediately.

I don't think that's weird, I enjoy those as well. So much so that I have a newsletter where I post changelogs of various apps that had updates in the past week ( https://buttondown.email/appsandupdates ). Adding apps is a slow process but I'm starting to see quite a bit of repeated apps so I'll have to speed it up.

In the latest newsletter „Clean my Mac X“ is listed. I always assumed that this is some form of malware, because they advertise so aggressively. Does it really make sense to „clean“ your mac?

Re: Sparkle: A software update framework for macOS

#115

Post by hermitcrab »

Deadpikle wrote: post #94
hermitcrab wrote: post #70

I write software for Mac and Windows (in C++/Qt). I put each new release out as a separate application for the user to install. Is there some equivalent to Sparkle that runs on both Mac AND Windows, so I don't have to integrate a separate system on each OS? Also I worry about update frameworks as way for bad guys to do bad things via my software. Should I be worried?

There is one that is .NET and cross platform (incl. Linux) here: https://github.com/NetSparkleUpdater/NetSparkle (disclaimer: I am the primary maintainer of this repository). For C++, WinSparkle works too: https://github.com/vslavik/winsparkle/

Presumably that means having to install .Net? I guess that makes sense if your software requires .Net, but mine doesn't.

Re: Sparkle: A software update framework for macOS

#116

Post by pasc1878 »

jwells89 wrote: post #103
pasc1878 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is it less hassle. Installation is similar just a standard mac install. apps are the same. The only difference is that Homebrew gets confused if you install your code or another build in /usr/local oh and Homebrew forces you to use non standard permissions on /usr/local

Back when I switched, it wasn’t unusual for MacPorts packages to not compile for some reason or another, and at that point my skills in that realm were lacking which meant I had little ability to fix these issues, rendering its technical superiorities over Homebrew moot. Homebrew was less hassle in that most of the time, it successfully installed things and when it didn’t, it was fixed in short order. Since then I’ve…

Odd I have only had one or two Macports failures

Re: Sparkle: A software update framework for macOS

#117

Post by pantulis »

madeofpalk wrote: post #74
pantulis wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are correct. That's why Sparkle is still relevant these days and of course it requires the app to phone home. Interesting things could happen with third party App Stores if they ever see the light in macOS.

What do you mean? There's already third party app stores on macOS. Steam and all the other gaming ones. Setapp is a more non-gaming one.

Thanks! I was not aware of those, go figure.

In that case I understand that Setapp can "phone home" and update the apps if necessary, not the apps themselves.

Re: Sparkle: A software update framework for macOS

#118

Post by wingerlang »

eddi wrote: post #114
wingerlang wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's weird, I enjoy those as well. So much so that I have a newsletter where I post changelogs of various apps that had updates in the past week ( https://buttondown.email/appsandupdates ). Adding apps is a slow process but I'm starting to see quite a bit of repeated apps so I'll have to speed it up.

In the latest newsletter „Clean my Mac X“ is listed. I always assumed that this is some form of malware, because they advertise so aggressively. Does it really make sense to „clean“ your mac?

It cleans it in terms of identifying large files, duplicate files/images, shows you caches for apps, uninstaller, which apps and files are old and never/rarely used. And so on. It's more of a convenience tool than anything. Don't recall other features.

I think there is a certain type of company that go for fairly generic(named) software with a lot of SEO and marketing to be able to earn a lot of money. I guess there is a venn diagram of malware creators where this applies too but I don't think they are.

They are also the developers behind SetApp. I mean, that's a pretty mainstream/famous app(store?) so they collaborate directly with loads of developers/companies to distribute their apps in SetApp. If that counts for something.

Re: Sparkle: A software update framework for macOS

#119

Post by aesh2Xa1 »

mirashii wrote: post #105
parl_match wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It still is. Matrix, and other federated platforms, are exploding in popularity. You could start here, if you are interested, to get a taste: https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im/#creating-...

I don't think this is what was meant by Adium being possible. At its peak, Adium acted as a single frontend to many different instant messaging networks to provide you a single user interface for chat. Today, we've regressed to a point where this is no longer really feasible; every network requires its own client.

Matrix has bridges, which allow you to send/receive messages to other services like Slack or Discord.

https://matrix.org/ecosystem/bridges/

Re: Sparkle: A software update framework for macOS

#120

Post by alexvoda »

aesh2Xa1 wrote: post #119
mirashii wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is what was meant by Adium being possible. At its peak, Adium acted as a single frontend to many different instant messaging networks to provide you a single user interface for chat. Today, we've regressed to a point where this is no longer really feasible; every network requires its own client.

Matrix has bridges, which allow you to send/receive messages to other services like Slack or Discord. https://matrix.org/ecosystem/bridges/

Also, as a different approach, to some degree Ferdium can act as a central place for various messaging platforms even if the integration that Pidgin (and Adium) and libPurple provided is not possible this way. Station is similar and a bit better but is in desperate need of developers. Both are FLOSS.

https://ferdium.org/

https://getstation.com/

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