The tyranny of updating

The Mac is often – perfectly fairly, we think – criticised for not having an OS-level system for uninstalling apps. (PedantSpoiler™: some apps, yes, uninstall pretty cleanly if you drag 'em to the trash, and yes, Windows' Add or Remove Programs system can often be troublesome. Still: my point stands.)

Less contentious but more frustrating is how to keep your apps up to date. And it's important that you do – stability and security improvements are vital, never mind the feature improvements such updates can bring. Keeping up to date can be a nightmare, though; some developers will use the Sparkle framework to ensure they can alert their users automatically to available updates, but not all do.

One way to take the headache out of checking for updates – and installing them easily – is MacUpdate Desktop 5. You have to be a member – it costs $20 a year – but it promises to make your life much simpler. We'll be doing a proper review in MacFormat soon.

If you have any other tips for keeping your apps up to date, share them with us in the comments!