How updates work
Recordist keeps itself up to date, and it never interrupts a call to do it.
Updates that install themselves
From version 1.0.9, Recordist installs each new version by itself, so you are always on the version we test and support. It downloads in the background, as the same signed package and from the same place as Restart to update, and installs only when Recordist is quiet, and never during a recording, while a call’s transcript or notes are being written, while the notes engine is setting up, or while the record card is up.
On a Mac and with an AppImage on Linux, it installs between calls while the window is closed, when you quit Recordist, or as it starts at login, and after an install between calls it starts again in the background. On Windows it installs when you quit Recordist or as it starts at login. The installer shows its progress for a moment, then Recordist starts again in the background.
The next time you open Recordist, a short card says Your Recordist just got better, names the new version and what it brought, with a link to the full notes.
To be asked first instead, turn off Settings → General → Install updates automatically. A .deb install always asks, because installing needs your password, and so does a copy in a folder only an administrator can change.
What you’ll see when it asks
When a newer version exists and it will not install by itself, a banner appears at the top of the app. It also appears when a new version has waited a few days for a quiet moment, or could not download by itself. The banner shows the version number, the first line of the release note, and two choices. Restart to update downloads the new version, verifies it and restarts the app. Skip this version keeps the banner quiet for that version; the next one will show again. The menu bar icon offers the same thing under Update to …, and you can check by hand at any time with Check for updates in Settings → About.
An update never starts while a recording is in progress.
On Windows and Linux
The app updates itself the same way: Restart to update downloads the new version, checks its signature and installs it. A .deb install asks for your password during the update, because it changes files owned by root. An AppImage replaces the file where it is, so keep it in one place (installing on Linux).
What the check sends
The check asks our update server for one small file, the same file for everyone. It carries no identifier, no account and nothing about your meetings, and the app compares versions on your machine. Every check is listed in the Privacy Ledger under Settings → Privacy, and so is every update download, whether you pressed Restart to update or it came by itself.
How updates are verified
Every package is signed with a key that only we hold. The app carries the matching public key and refuses anything that doesn’t verify, so a tampered download can’t install.
Turning it off
Settings → General → Install updates automatically turns off only the automatic install: Recordist still checks, and a banner asks before each new version.
Settings → General → Check for updates automatically. With it off, the app never contacts the update server and nothing installs by itself; you can still press Check for updates in Settings → About whenever you like, and download new versions from the download page.
When it goes wrong
If a download fails, nothing changes: the version you have keeps running. A download that came by itself is tried again at the next check, and if an update could not install by itself, the banner offers it. If the update server can’t be reached, an automatic check fails quietly and tries again six hours later; Check for updates in Settings → About tells you when a check by hand fails.