[Feature request] Make the automatic downloading of updates optional

[leafcutterant]

• I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates

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Feature request

Signal Desktop, as of now (and if I understand it correctly), 1 automatically looks for updates, 2 automatically downloads them, and asks the user to restart the app to apply the changes.

I can see some reasons why 1 should also be optional, but in general, it probably helps more with making the application more usable and secure, so this isn't the focus of this issue.

However, 2 can be undesirable when someone doesn't want the automatic download of an updated installer, i.e. when connecting through a metered network and it's important to keep the traffic low. If I recall correctly, the ("standalone", non-Play Store) Android version also asks before downloading the new version.

I propose to have an option which, if activated, would make the application to ask permission to download and install the new version, instead of automatically downloading and only asking when it wants to install. This dialog should also have a "Change log" button or something similar, which, when pressed, would extend the dialogue and display the change log of the version which is to be downloaded. This would add more information and transparency on what it is that the user will install.

Again, this is not to propose that Signal Desktop shouldn't automatically look for updates at all.

Platform info

Operating System: Windows 7 x64
Signal version: 10.0.37

[scottnonnenberg]

Yes, I agree this is an important feature. It's ~100MB download, so it shouldn't happen on just any network.

[bungabunga]

Many apps have this problem solved with preferences like these:

• always update
• only update on wifi
• update manualy

[leafcutterant]

@bungabunga, indeed that would be a step forward, but not sufficient. Having automatic update reminders is a nice feature, maybe even essential while the app is still in an early phase, and uses near to no traffic.

Meanwhile, not all wifi networks are unlimited. You can have a cable connection which is billed based on traffic, but distributed in your home via wifi. Another case is mobile web connections tethered through wifi.

[jasonferrier]

This seems somewhat related to #1723 . Without coding it up, my initial thoughts are that the code could be shared with the "update manually" option part of this requested feature.

[scottnonnenberg]

Another aspect of this: be more like Chrome, with an unobtrusive 'update is available' icon visible all the time, not just in a popup.

[joeykrim]

Seems to be a few thoughts:

1. The feature of enabling/disabling automatic update downloads and installs would be part of the app Settings with a section named Updates and radio boxes between "Automatically download and install" and "Manually download and install"? (Doesn't seem to apply to the Linux distribution since updating is handled outside of the app)
2. An icon/text would be visible all the time showing "update available". Not sure where this would fit on the UI?

[Beanow]

To contribute an additional use-case for this functionality, I'm installing Signal using a snap: https://snapcraft.io/signal-desktop
This comes with it's own update mechanism, so it would be great to disable the now redundant updates within the app programmatically.

[scottnonnenberg-signal]

@Beanow We don't turn on automatic update behavior on linux. Can you talk about what exactly you're seeing? Maybe the person who build the snap package needs to make a change?

[ckujau]

On macOS, Signal can be installed via Homebrew/Cask and can be updated with the same package manager. An option to disable automatic update checking on macOS would be very cool indeed.

[Beanow]

@scottnonnenberg my bad, the popups I get are on windows. The snap installation updates silently and fast.

[ckujau]

As @jasonferrier mentioned already, this looks like a duplicate of #1723 ("Allow manual checking for updates") or could be solved with fixing the same. Incidentally #1723 was opened one day before this one :-)

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[GoPapaSmurf]

This is such a PITA... I've had enough... All the time I start my computer and I'm pretty sure the f*cking damn application will ask to restart to apply the update... Why this is this way in 2024 is beyond understanding... Most applications update silently in the background.