Keeping the app up to date

The desktop app asks before it changes anything. It can look for a new version when it opens, but it downloads one only when you click Download, and installs it only when you click Restart. It never downloads in the background on its own and never swaps itself out when you quit, so the version you open is the version you get.

Updates work for the macOS app, the Windows installer, and Linux AppImage, .deb and .rpm installs. The one exception is the Windows portable version, which never installs updates itself; see The portable version.

Versions 2.0.4 and 2.0.5 behaved differently

Those two versions downloaded an update in the background as soon as they found it, and tried to install it when you quit. From 2.0.6 the app asks first, as described here. If you are still on 2.0.4 or 2.0.5, Check for Updates… shows whether an update is waiting, with Restart Now.

How an update reaches you

1. When the app opens, it checks for a newer version, unless you have turned Check for updates when LED.FYI opens off in Preferences. If the check fails because you're offline, nothing happens.
2. If there is one, a blue banner at the top of the workbench says LED.FYI X.Y.Z is available, with Download and Later. Nothing has been downloaded yet.
3. Click Download and the banner shows the download's progress. You can keep working.
4. When it is ready, the banner says Update (X.Y.Z) ready: restart to install, with Restart and Later. Click Restart and the app closes, installs the update and opens again. Until you click it, nothing changes: quit and reopen as often as you like and you stay on the version you have.

Later hides the banner until something new happens: the next launch, or a newer version.

Updates usually download only the parts of the app that changed, so they're much smaller than the full installer.

Which updates you're offered

LED.FYI 2 updates only within the 2.x line. It is a separate release line from LED.FYI 1.x, with its own downloads and its own update feed:

• A 2.x install is only ever offered newer 2.x builds. It will never roll back to a 1.x build.
• A 1.x install is offered LED.FYI 2 in its own update box, but it only moves to 2 if you click Download Update there. It never installs 2 on its own.

So a 1.x machine you don't want changing (a show laptop, say) stays on 1.x as long as you choose Later, and will not wake up one morning running 2. Moving to 2 is always something you do deliberately: accept the offer in the 1.x app, or download it from led.fyi/downloads. See Upgrading from the 1.x app.

The update banner

Phase	Banner
Available	"LED.FYI X.Y.Z is available", with Download and Later
Downloading	"Downloading update (X.Y.Z)… NN%": informational, no action needed
Ready	"Update (X.Y.Z) ready: restart to install", with Restart and Later
Available (portable only)	"Version X.Y.Z is available. Download it to update this portable copy", with Download and Later

The banner follows the language you've chosen in Preferences.

Checking manually

Use Check for Updates…: in the LED.FYI app menu on macOS, or the Help menu on Windows and Linux (see the menu bar). It works whether or not the check on opening is turned on, and always answers with a dialog:

Result	What you see
You're current	You're up to date: "LED.FYI <version> is the latest version."
An update exists	Update available, with Download and Later
It is already downloading	Update downloading: the banner tells you when it is ready
An update is already downloaded	Update ready, with Restart Now (install now) and Later (it stays ready until you restart)
An update exists (portable)	Update available, with Open Downloads Page; see The portable version
Nothing has been published yet	No updates available: "There are no published updates for LED.FYI <version>."
The check failed	Update check failed: "Couldn't check for updates. Check your internet connection and try again."

Your current version is always visible in About LED.FYI (macOS app menu) or Help → About LED.FYI (Windows/Linux), and in the in-app About led.fyi (see the menu bar). LED.FYI 2.0 continues the version line of the 1.x app, so a 2.x number is always newer than any 1.x one.

Updates only ever move forward

The app will not install a version older than the one you're running. If the feed ever offers an older build (for example because a release was pulled), Check for Updates… tells you you're up to date rather than rolling you back.

The portable version (Windows)

The Windows portable .exe runs without installing anything, so it never downloads or installs updates itself; replacing it with the installer would defeat the point of running it portably.

It still checks. When a newer version exists, the update banner says so with a Download button, and Help → Check for Updates… offers Open Downloads Page. Both open led.fyi/downloads in your browser: download the new portable .exe and use it in place of the old one. Your projects and settings live in the app's data folder, not next to the .exe, so they carry straight over.

If you'd rather update from inside the app, use the regular Windows installer instead; it offers updates the same way as the macOS and Linux apps.

Updating on show networks & offline

Update checks need real internet. On an offline machine or a captive-portal venue network they simply fail quietly, and nothing downloads. And because nothing installs until you click Restart, an update can never change the app during a show. On a show machine you can also turn Check for updates when LED.FYI opens off, so the app never contacts the update server on its own.

Before heading to site

If you'll be offline for a stretch and want the latest version, update on a good connection first: Check for Updates…, Download, then Restart. Open the app once more on that connection: the first launch of the new version tops up your offline license for the trip, and if an update ever needs you to sign in again, you find out while you still can.

Coming from the 1.x app

The 1.x desktop app also asks first. It offers version 2 in a box with the version number, a short note, and Download Update or Later; nothing is downloaded until you click, and choosing Later simply asks you again the next time you open it. From 2.0.6, LED.FYI 2 works the same way. See Installing for what the move itself does to your projects and settings.