Updates
This page explains how SidebarFavorites tells you that a newer release exists, what the update notice offers, and how to install the update. Read it if you want to know what the app sends over the network, or how to update.
What the check is
When the app starts, and after it has finished setting up your sidebar, it asks GitHub for the latest release of SidebarFavorites and compares its version number with the one you are running. That single request is the whole mechanism.
| The app does | The app never does |
|---|---|
| Sends one request to GitHub each time it launches. | Checks again while it is running, or in the background. |
| Shows a notice when the latest release is newer than your version. | Downloads or installs anything by itself. |
| Compares version numbers part by part, so a tenth minor release counts as newer than a ninth. | Shows a notice for a pre-release tag that is not a plain version number. |
The request is an anonymous read of GitHub’s public releases information. It carries the app’s name and version in its User-Agent header, as GitHub requires, and nothing else about you or your folders.
The update notice
When a newer release exists, an alert titled A new version is available
appears over the manager window. It names both versions: the release that is out and the one you have.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Download | Opens the release page on GitHub in your browser and closes the notice. The page lists the release’s files, including the DMG. |
| Later | Closes the notice. The app asks again the next time it launches. |
How to update
The app does not replace itself. You install the new release the same way you installed the first one, and your favorites, settings and icons stay as they are because they live in the data folder, not in the app.
Click Download in the update notice.
You can also open Releases yourself at any time.
You seeThe release page opens in your browser.
Download the DMG from the release page.
You seeA DMG file is in your Downloads folder.
Quit SidebarFavorites: choose Quit SidebarFavorites from its menu bar menu.
You seeThe app quits. The icons stay in Finder’s sidebar.
Open the DMG and drag SidebarFavorites Manager to the Applications folder.
You seemacOS asks whether to replace the existing app. Choose Replace.
Open SidebarFavorites Manager.
You seeThe manager window lists your favorites unchanged, and the version in its footer is the one you installed.
If it does not work
| What you see | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No notice appears, although a newer release exists. | The check could not reach GitHub, was rate limited, or got an answer it could not read. The app treats every such failure as nothing to reportand shows no error. | Quit and open the app again with a working connection, or look at Releases yourself. |
| The notice appears at every launch. | You chose Later or closed it, and the newer release is still not installed. | Install the release as described above. |