Open Sword Sparkle

With a few notable exceptions, most Mac software has really lame update functionality. Programs will usually just tell you that there's a new version available, point you at the web site, and make you do the rest. I'm trying to fix that.

Sparkle is a module that developers can stick in their Cocoa applications (five-step install!) to get instant self-update functionality. By that, I mean that your app will be able to update itself, not just check for new versions: it'll read the update information from an appcast on your server, download, extract, install, restart, and even offer to show the users release notes before they decide if they want to update.

It's free, it's easy, and it'll make using a Mac better for everyone, so go for it!

What is new in this release:

• The most important things to know:
  • The 10.3 support is untested at best; sketchy at worst. Test with it thoroughly before you use it.
  • Sparkle now asks for permission to update on second launch; don't be surprised at that. You can change that behavior with a delegate method; read SUUpdater.h for more info.
  • We no longer distinguish between "check on startup" and "scheduled updates"; everything is scheduled, with the default being every day.
  • The test application is using the new profiling features, but that's only for demonstration: these are off by default. More on this later.
  • There are no localizations yet.
• New features:
  • Sparkle now supports .pkgs. Just name the .pkg the name of the app and put in the update archive.
  • Sparkle now sends optional demographic profiling information; set SUEnableSystemProfiling to YES in your Info.plist and check out the GET data sent to your webserver when fetching the appcast. More on this in the documentation. The test application has this on so you can see the behavior.
  • Sparkle now supports updating non-.apps. Just call -setHostBundle: on the global SUUpdater to let it know what you're trying to update.
  • Sparkle now supports garbage collection in the host app. Use "Sparkle-with-GC.framework" for that, but be aware it's 10.5-only.
  • Sparkle is now 64-bit compatible, compiling both ppc64 and x86_64.
  • Sparkle now supports a sparkle:minimumSystemVersion attribute on the enclosure. It does what you think it does.
  • Sparkle now checks to see if the host app is running from a disk image and refuses to update if it is. (10.4+ only)
  • Added support for entities in enclosure paths.
  • The file size output is now formatted prettily.
  • Sparkle now gives visual indication that it's checking for updates when the update's user initiated. ie: it pops up a status controller saying "checking for updates"
  • Added support for an SUPublicDSAKeyFile, so people don't have to copy/paste their entire key into their Info.plist. Set this key in your Info.plist to the filename of the key in your Resources directory.
  • Added an actually maintainable codebase.
• Changes:
  • Sparkle version comparison is now dramatically less stupid and verified by a bunch of unit tests. If something doesn't work the way you think it should, add a test to SUVersionComparisonTest.m
  • Added a minimum to the check interval so that developers don't accidentally release their apps into the wild with 60-second test check intervals and have DOS-attack-like results. It's an hour now for release mode; feel free to change it.
  • The relaunching process now uses a separate helper app, which is a much more robust method.
  • Changed CFBundleShortVersionString behavior: Sparkle no longer uses Apple's about box style of displaying ShortVersionString (CFBundleVersion) when the latter is available.
  • No more MD5 checking. Use DSA: it's actually secure.
  • The abomination that was SUStatusChecker is dead. Use SUProbingUpdateDriver instead.
• Bugfixes:
  • Fixed a huge bug with fully-automatic updating: before, if the user chose to relaunch later, the app would be running from the trash for a while. Now the buttons are "install and relaunch" or "install later."
  • Sparkle forces Spotlight to reindex the updated app so that it won't keep pointing to the one in the trash.
  • Sparkle trims whitespace from around DSA signatures; this could cause crashes before.
  • Fixed a bug where the user choosing to skip a version would inhibit future automatic updates until the next launch.
  • Fixed a bug that could occur when the app has a localized CFBundleName.
  • .dmgs now work on Leopard.
  • The status controller's button now sizes appropriately to the localization.
  • Sparkle now works correctly with LSUIElement apps: it focuses them before displaying the update alert.
  • Sparkle now deletes failed partial downloads.
  • The update alert no longer floats above everything in the app.
  • Fixed varied and sundry memory leaks.
  • A ton of other things that I've forgotten or were too small to mention!

Requirements:

• Mac OS X 10.4 PPC
• Mac OS X 10.3.9
• Mac OS X 10.4 Intel
• Mac OS X 10.0
• Mac OS X 10.1
• Mac OS X 10.5 PPC
• Mac OS X 10.2
• Mac OS X 10.5 Intel
• Mac OS X 10.3
• Mac OS Classic