→ AppFresh Development Preview 4 (Mac OS X 10.4 only)
I’m happy to announce the immediate availability of AppFresh Development Preview 4, which includes the following new features and bugfixes:
- An improved version detection algorithm for greater precision (please continue to report issues with applications that are not detected correctly)
- Support for Widgets and Plugins (Inquisitor, Mailtags, Saft and the like)
- iusethis profile generation (works like imakeprofile for now)
- Fixed crash when creating snapshots
- Added “Up to date” category
- After downloading: don’t put single files in their own directory, just rename them
- Added Apple Developer Tools to default include path
Please feel free to comment on problems, suggestions or things that just work.
April 6th, 2007 at 12:06 am
How do I pay for AppFresh? I know, it’s a preview version. So once was OS X and Apple charged me to participate in that beta. You guys have to eat. Say, that’s not a bad idea. If you won’t take money, I’ll bake you cookies. I can’t believe I’m looking forward to paying for something.
AppFresh is amazing. Even the name is great. Well done.
April 6th, 2007 at 5:09 am
When it checks for an update to Celtx it gets confused and seems to think that version “0.9.9.1″ is earlier than “0.991″
April 6th, 2007 at 8:13 am
Which is not wrong. Version numbers are seperated by dots and 991 is larger than 9 (the second component of each version). The “right” solution here would be to get the versioning scheme right on iusethis. Since this happens sometimes, though, I’ll see if we can integrate some kind of support for these mistakes in our version comparison algorithm.
April 6th, 2007 at 11:26 am
I like this new release, finds a lot of newer versions the preview 3 didn’t (10 apps with ~110 total).
But it still forgets which apps are marked as installed after a relaunch. I have about 7 of them total, and every time I start appfresh i have to mark 3 or 4 of them.
Quinn (with iusethis name set and equal version numbers) doesn’t work now (but did with p3).
Besides this, it works great. And is also great for finding stuff I didn’t know I had installed … wow
Feature Idea, what about recognition of kernel extensions, installed frameworks etc, when no app exists?
April 6th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Btw, how do you compute the total number of apps installed?
All – 123
Updates – 0 (4 marked as installed)
Up to date – 104
Unknown – 14
Total by state — 118 (122 with marked)
Apps – 98
Plugins – 8
Widgets – 6
Panes – 6
Snapshots – 0
Total by type — 118
Exclude list – 3 apps
Would be great to be able to have a category for stuff thats “invisible” in the other categories. I really wonder what’s missing here.
April 6th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
My only suggestion at this point would be to include other sources for update information, such as Version Tracker and MacUpdate. The App Update widget does this and almost always find the most recent versions of all apps. Thanks!
April 7th, 2007 at 1:10 am
much improved, thanks!
there are problems with some beta versions; each of these was incorrectly seen as needing an update:
Chicken of the VNC
Finder info: 2.0b4
iusethis: 2.0b4
AppFresh thinks 2.0.4 is available
Carbon Copy Cloner
Finder Info: 3.0-b5
iusethis: 3.0-b5
AppFresh thinks 3.0 is available
MediaFork
Finder info: 0.8.0b1
iusethis: 0.8.0 beta 1
AppFresh thinks 0.8.01 is available
April 7th, 2007 at 2:20 am
still not recognizing some newly installed versions; thinks old version is still installed even though Reveal in Finder clearly shows the higher version number in the location being scanned; doesn’t matter if i rescan or relaunch
this occurs for me with RSyncX, for example; i installed 2.1 over 2.0, but AppFresh it still thinks i have 2.0 installed
April 7th, 2007 at 8:10 am
Version recognition is a little better, but the app has crashed three times today.
April 7th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
There should a sort by kind button in the sort by column.
April 7th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
One suggestion – offer the ability to open an application directly from AppFresh. Some apps use Sparkle or other auto-updating functionality and it’s easier to just update the app from within itself rather than using AppFresh. (Better yet would be if AppFresh could use the Sparkle info in the app to seamlessly auto-update it, but one step at a time
Also, please work on AppFresh’s memory efficiency. My desktop machine uses over 600 MB of RAM during an AppFresh scan, and I don’t have -that- many applications.
April 7th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Hey guys, where is the donation-button? This software is great!!!!
April 7th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
This version was the first time using it for me, very nice work. A few things I noted while using it:
~Possibly include a way for the user to know what/where it is scanning for applications. The current system can easily appear as if it isn’t doing anything and the program crashed before it got the the stage where it checks for updates.
~After the first application download finishes, the status bar seems to stay completely filled.
~It would be nice to have the browser have access to saved Firefox passwords.
April 8th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Really good app, thanks! works better and better with each update… and now the problematic apps
Updates
- Azureus
real version 2.5.0.4
appfresh shows version 3.0
appfresh version available 3.0.0.8
iusethis version 3.0.0.8
- Google Notifier
real version 1.9.97
appfresh shows version 1.9.97
appfresh version available 2.0
iusethis version 1.9.97
- iScrobbler
real version 1.5b4
appfresh shows version 1.5 (iScrobbler shows in preference window 1.5)
appfresh version available 1.5.3
iusethis version 1.5b3
- Mplayer OSX
real version 1.0 rc1
appfresh shows version 1.0.1
appfresh version available 1.0.8 rc
iusethis version 1.0pre8
- muCommander
real version 0.8 beta3
appfresh shows version 0.8 beta
appfresh version available 0.8.3
iusethis version 0.8 beta3
Unknown
- Remote Buddy
real version 1.0 Preview 12 (RC1) (in about window)
appfresh show version 1.0
appfresh version available (“No update Information available” but i can open iusethis.com Application Page)
iusethis version RC1r2
- SMS
need to be renamed to Callwave
- Split&Concat
need to be renamed to “Split & Concat” but seems not working. maybe cause ‘&’?
- VMW Player
need to be renamed to Flip4Mac WMV
April 8th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Getting better and better
Guys, instead of posting version problems here (which is cool), use the report broken feature in AppFresh, or look to the previous blog post and send the devs your app version list.
April 8th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
thanks for the suggestion, as it prodded me to read the rest of that blog entry; note my comments there, though, that both of these features are broken ;?>
i think version number detection is the crux of making AppFresh a winner, so thanks to metaquark for digging in; it seems like it depends on improvements at iusethis also — many version numbers there are out-of-date or malformed, so i’ve submitted some updates there, but it’s kind of awkward and you don’t get much feedback; automatic submission from AppFresh to iusethis would be a great feature
April 9th, 2007 at 8:37 am
Neue Version mit Fixes und Verbesserungen.
…
April 9th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
I think the best detection (only the detection system) I have used in AppFresh is still the 2.1 one even if the P4 one is great ! I think you should first get the name of the application, use it on iusethis to find the version stored on iusethis and then check the computer version of the program with the two keys :
- CFBundleShortVersionString and/or
- CFBundleVersion
If the IUT Version is greater than the Computer version, then put it in the Updates (that I will call “New Versions” personally). If the ‘puter version is greater than the IUT version, put it in a new category called “Check Manually”.
I also think that the version detection should be stronger before doing other things !
Michel
April 10th, 2007 at 8:09 am
The Azureus widget (http://andrewdupont.net/azureus) is being confused with the Azureus application (http://azureus.sourceforge.net). I’d use the “report broken” option, save that I’d already excluded this widget from AppFresh, and I can’t see a way of re-including excluded apps, or showing them.
I’d like to request a keyboard shortcut (command-I?) and toolbar button to show application details, and/or perhaps an option to always show them or show them on any selected application.
In addition, perhaps the “About AppFresh” dialog, or the help menu, could show a link to the developer page, since there’s no help file (yet?).
This is a great developing app, rapidly jumping ahead of the also-useful AppUpdate widget. Well done and thank you – please keep going!
April 13th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Getting better with every release – I have decided not to renew my VersionTracker Pro subscription.
I’d love to be able to upload my apps list to iusethis easily.
Still misses a few plugins, e.g. DockStar and SurfRabbit
April 13th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Also, doesn’t find any update information for Dock Dodger.
April 13th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
I think I have found why Dock Dodger : the CFBundleVersion is set to “.1″ (It’ld have been set to “0.1″) If you can, change it !
April 14th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
AppFresh eats about 60% of my 1.67Ghz g4 while downloading. Maybe there is some potential for optimization?
April 14th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
AppFresh is BRILLIANT!
I have only one wish: an Export function for the Application list with version and download details. Handy when migrating to a new computer or for a new install?
April 14th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
We’re definitely planning such a feature, especially for the Tiger – Leopard switch later this year.
April 15th, 2007 at 7:09 am
The installed version of Camino is not detected properly. I have 1.0.4int installed and AppFresh thinks it is 1.0.
April 15th, 2007 at 9:56 am
I had the same problem with it !
I have solved it by opening the package and just adding a ” ” (space) between the “4″ and the “i” of “1.0.4int” so now it’s “1.0.4 int” to the “info.plist” of Camino and that works !
PS : To do that : I used PrefSetter (it’s free !)
April 15th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Now I am speaking for me : After checking, I am sure that AppFresh does not list all of my applications (really !)
At least, TwitterPost, chkRootKit_MacOsX, and Uno 1.5 don’t appear in the apps list (don’t know why !)
April 15th, 2007 at 11:09 am
The problem here is the bundle ID. TwitterPost has no bundle ID at all, chkRootKit_MacOsX and Uno have com.apple.ASApplication, as they’re Applescript-based, I guess. Bundle IDs are what uniquely identifies an application, so that’s what AppFresh uses to distinguish them. Not having a bundle ID at all is kinda wrong and using com.apple if you’re not Apple is wrong, too. AppFresh filters all bundle IDs starting with com.apple as these are Apple’s applications (normally) and are handled by Apple’s Software Update (which we also leverage internally to show you Apple updates). The world is not perfect, I guess, so I’ll add a workaround for these cases and generate a bundle ID based on the app’s name.
(Microsoft and Adobe apps are filtered, too, BTW. They have their own updater and we’ll see how we can integrate them later)
April 15th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
I think ALL the applications (yes, even Microsoft, Apple and Adobe) must be listed (and not filtered) because the most important thing here is to know if they have an update or not ! And not if they have the good bundle ID ! the bundle ID should be here just to make the difference between two applications and not the main criterion to allow a user to know if an update is available for a given app ! Please, Jonas, don’t filter anything ! Instead, let the user launch the app and check or provide us a clickable link to the web page (I think it’s listed on IUT) !
Please !
April 15th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
First of all, this is not a final version of AppFresh. Apps from Microsoft or Adobe are supposed to appear in AppFresh’s listing eventually, as we work out how to leverage their update mechanism. It doesn’t make sense to list an app when there’s currently no way at all to tell if it’s up to date or not. That’s the whole point of AppFresh. It’s not supposed to be an application browser, it’s supposed to show you if an application is up to date or not and update it if necessary.
Second, it doesn’t make sense to list every app from Apple. There is no update information for Chess.app and there will never be any. We’re listing only Apple applications that are handled by Apple’s Software Update, we’re not filtering all of them.
Third, I said I’ll try to make apps with broken or missing bundle IDs work, I didn’t say they will never be supported if they don’t have a bundle ID. AppFresh currently uses bundle IDs internally to identify apps, and that’s the only reason you don’t see TwitterPost etc. listed. I’ll have that working for you in preview 5, so please calm down.
April 15th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
First, I am happy because I know now that hope is not dead ! And I don’t agree with you : there’s always a way to know if an application needs and the user’s mind is the best I know !
Second, I agree with you : Chess is not “my cup of tea”. But what will be interesting will be to show the applications that are handled by Apple’s Software Update perhaps in an Apple Apps category maybe ! I always prefer to know what it’s happening on my computer ! And you ?
Third, I have well read your answer and
don’t jump on your horse to go fight the mills : you are not Don Quichotte 
but Jonas Wittt : so keep calm and take a deep breath. It has never been an order to make that or this, it’s a wish ! Only a wish !
April 16th, 2007 at 7:06 am
from the users’ point of view, at least some of us would like to know which apps can’t be version-checked, not so that we have a catalog of all applications, but so that we know which ones to check ourselves
also would be useful to know when multiple versions of the same app were installed
April 16th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
or when there is a widget and an app with the same, to show all
April 20th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
I love this app. one little thing, when closed (not quit) I click on the dock icon to show the app again but in vain. is that a bug?
April 20th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Quicksilver slows the update check down substantially.
April 24th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Right, will fix that in the next release.
May 1st, 2007 at 4:32 pm
That worked!
May 1st, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Just noticed that after installing an update from Apple Software Update (e.g. the battery update) this doesn’t get cleared from the list of available updates on subsequent scans.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
This program is great. I have two requests though.
First is that there be an option to autoinstall apps containing sparkle data and even all apps, totally at anyone who dares to use its own risk.
Second, I think if it can’t find updates on iusethis, it should check macupdate and versiontracker also.
Thanks for making this app, keep up the good work.
May 11th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
I’m sure it’s already been said, but I would really like the ability to download/update more than one program at a time. Otherwise, I’m quite pleased with the app.
May 11th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
For some applications it thinks there is a more recent version available, but in fact there isn’t. Examples:
I’ve got Audacity 1.2.5, on my macbook pro (ie intel). It says 1.2.6 is available, but when I go to get the download, I discover there is 1.2.6 available for PPC, but 1.2.5 is the latest version for intel.
Similar thing for skype. I’ve got 2.5.0.85, and it’s saying 2.6.0.72 is available. That’s actually a beta; 2.5.0.85 is the latest stable version
May 13th, 2007 at 8:27 am
Absolutely agree about looking elsewhere for updates (MacUpdate / VersionTracker).
I have been using AppFresh for a couple of weeks, and let my VersionTracker subscription lapse. I have just installed the AppUpdate widget and found that I have missed a few updates.
May 15th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Sorry for the delay. Can you please provide the version you are using. We are finishing preview 5 and I can not reproduce the problem. System updates, as for example the Battery Update or Pro Application Update, will be cleared on rescan after the installation.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
I’m using Preview 4sbaisbaisha
May 16th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Ok. Can you check out Preview 5 when its available and try again. If its still not fixed please contact me directly.
May 17th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
and the next question is : “When will you release the next preview version, hummm ?”
May 17th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Hehe. We’re pretty close, I think it’ll be ready early next week.
May 19th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
I wanted to click on ‘Check for AppFresh Updates…’, but clicked a little too low on… ‘Reset and Remove all Updates’…
Can you please show a warning, before really Reset and Remove all? For people like me…
Great application by the way!
May 24th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
No news, good news ?