SPUUpdater

Objective-C

@interface SPUUpdater : NSObject

Swift

class SPUUpdater : NSObject

The main API in Sparkle for controlling the update mechanism.

This class is used to configure the update parameters as well as manually and automatically schedule and control checks for updates.

For convenience, you can create a standard or nib instantiable updater by using SPUStandardUpdaterController.

Prefer to set initial properties in your bundle’s Info.plist as described in Customizing Sparkle.

Otherwise only if you need dynamic behavior for user settings should you set properties on the updater such as:

  • automaticallyChecksForUpdates
  • updateCheckInterval
  • automaticallyDownloadsUpdates
  • feedURL

Please view the documentation on each of these properties for more detail if you are to configure them dynamically.

  • Initializes a new SPUUpdater instance

    This creates an updater, but to start it and schedule update checks -startUpdater: needs to be invoked first.

    Related: See SPUStandardUpdaterController which wraps a SPUUpdater instance and is suitable for instantiating inside of nib files.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (nonnull instancetype)initWithHostBundle:(nonnull NSBundle *)hostBundle
                             applicationBundle:(nonnull NSBundle *)applicationBundle
                                    userDriver:(nonnull id<SPUUserDriver>)userDriver
                                      delegate:
                                          (nullable id<SPUUpdaterDelegate>)delegate;

    Swift

    init(hostBundle: Bundle, applicationBundle: Bundle, userDriver: SPUUserDriver, delegate: SPUUpdaterDelegate?)

    Parameters

    hostBundle

    The bundle that should be targetted for updating.

    applicationBundle

    The application bundle that should be waited for termination and relaunched (unless overridden). Usually this can be the same as hostBundle. This may differ when updating a plug-in or other non-application bundle.

    userDriver

    The user driver that Sparkle uses for user update interaction.

    delegate

    The delegate for SPUUpdater.

  • Unavailable

    Use -initWithHostBundle:applicationBundle:userDriver:delegate: or SPUStandardUpdaterController standard adapter instead.

    If you want to drop an updater into a nib, use SPUStandardUpdaterController.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (nonnull instancetype)init;
  • Starts the updater.

    This method first checks if Sparkle is configured properly. A valid feed URL should be set before this method is invoked.

    If the configuration is valid, an update cycle is started in the next main runloop cycle. During this cycle, a permission prompt may be brought up (if needed) for checking if the user wants automatic update checking. Otherwise if automatic update checks are enabled, a scheduled update alert may be brought up if enough time has elapsed since the last check. See automaticallyChecksForUpdates for more information.

    After starting the updater and before the next runloop cycle, one of -checkForUpdates, -checkForUpdatesInBackground, or -checkForUpdateInformation can be invoked. This may be useful if you want to check for updates immediately or without showing a potential permission prompt.

    If the updater cannot be started (i.e, due to a configuration issue in the application), you may want to fall back appropriately. For example, the standard updater controller (SPUStandardUpdaterController) alerts the user that the app is misconfigured and to contact the developer.

    This must be called on the main thread.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (BOOL)startUpdater:(NSError *_Nullable *_Nullable)error;

    Swift

    func start() throws

    Parameters

    error

    The error that is populated if this method fails. Pass NULL if not interested in the error information.

    Return Value

    YES if the updater started otherwise NO with a populated error

  • Checks for updates, and displays progress while doing so if needed.

    This is meant for users initiating a new update check or checking the current update progress.

    If an update hasn’t started, the user may be shown that a new check for updates is occurring. If an update has already been downloaded or begun installing from a previous session, the user may be presented to install that update. If the user is already being presented with an update, that update will be shown to the user in active focus.

    This will find updates that the user has previously opted into skipping.

    See canCheckForUpdates property which can determine when this method may be invoked.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)checkForUpdates;

    Swift

    func checkForUpdates()
  • Checks for updates, but does not show any UI unless an update is found.

    You usually do not need to call this method directly. If automaticallyChecksForUpdates is YES, Sparkle calls this method automatically according to its update schedule using the updateCheckInterval and the lastUpdateCheckDate. Therefore, you should typically only consider calling this method directly if you opt out of automatic update checks. Calling this method when updating your own bundle is invalid if Sparkle is configured to ask the user’s permission to check for updates automatically and automaticallyChecksForUpdates is NO. If you want to reset the updater’s cycle after an updater setting change, see resetUpdateCycle or resetUpdateCycleAfterShortDelay instead.

    This is meant for programmatically initating a check for updates in the background without the user initiating it. This check will not show UI if no new updates are found.

    If a new update is found, the updater’s user driver may handle showing it at an appropriate (but not necessarily immediate) time. If you want control over when and how a new update is shown, please see https://sparkle-project.org/documentation/gentle-reminders/

    Note if automated downloading/installing is turned on, either a new update may be downloaded in the background to be installed silently, or an already downloaded update may be shown.

    This will not find updates that the user has opted into skipping.

    This method does not do anything if there is a sessionInProgress.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)checkForUpdatesInBackground;

    Swift

    func checkForUpdatesInBackground()
  • Begins a “probing” check for updates which will not actually offer to update to that version.

    However, the delegate methods -[SPUUpdaterDelegate updater:didFindValidUpdate:] and -[SPUUpdaterDelegate updaterDidNotFindUpdate:] will be called, so you can use that information in your UI.

    -[SPUUpdaterDelegate updater:didFinishUpdateCycleForUpdateCheck:error:] will be called when this probing check is completed.

    Updates that have been skipped by the user will not be found.

    This method does not do anything if there is a sessionInProgress.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)checkForUpdateInformation;

    Swift

    func checkForUpdateInformation()
  • A property indicating whether or not updates can be checked by the user.

    An update check can be made by the user when an update session isn’t in progress, or when an update or its progress is being shown to the user. A user cannot check for updates when data (such as the feed or an update) is still being downloaded automatically in the background.

    This property is suitable to use for menu item validation for seeing if -checkForUpdates can be invoked.

    This property is also KVO-compliant.

    Note this property does not reflect whether or not an update session is in progress. Please see sessionInProgress property instead.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic, readonly) BOOL canCheckForUpdates;

    Swift

    var canCheckForUpdates: Bool { get }
  • A property indicating whether or not an update session is in progress.

    An update session is in progress when the appcast is being downloaded, an update is being downloaded, an update is being shown, update permission is being requested, or the installer is being started.

    An active session is when Sparkle’s fired scheduler is running.

    Note an update session may not be running even though Sparkle’s installer (ran as a separate process) may be running, or even though the update has been downloaded but the installation has been deferred. In both of these cases, a new update session may be activated with the update resumed at a later point (automatically or manually).

    See also:

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic, readonly) BOOL sessionInProgress;

    Swift

    var sessionInProgress: Bool { get }
  • A property indicating whether or not to check for updates automatically.

    By default, Sparkle asks users on second launch for permission if they want automatic update checks enabled and sets this property based on their response. If SUEnableAutomaticChecks is set in the Info.plist, this permission request is not performed however.

    Setting this property will persist in the host bundle’s user defaults. Hence developers shouldn’t maintain an additional user default for this property. Only set this property if the user wants to change the default via a user settings option. Do not always set it on launch unless you want to ignore the user’s preference. For testing environments, you can disable update checks by passing -SUEnableAutomaticChecks NO to your app’s command line arguments instead of setting this property.

    The update schedule cycle will be reset in a short delay after the property’s new value is set. This is to allow reverting this property without kicking off a schedule change immediately

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic) BOOL automaticallyChecksForUpdates;

    Swift

    var automaticallyChecksForUpdates: Bool { get set }
  • A property indicating the current automatic update check interval in seconds.

    Prefer to set SUScheduledCheckInterval directly in your Info.plist for setting the initial value.

    Setting this property will persist in the host bundle’s user defaults. Hence developers shouldn’t maintain an additional user default for this property. Only set this property if the user wants to change the default via a user settings option. Do not always set it on launch unless you want to ignore the user’s preference.

    The update schedule cycle will be reset in a short delay after the property’s new value is set. This is to allow reverting this property without kicking off a schedule change immediately

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic) NSTimeInterval updateCheckInterval;

    Swift

    var updateCheckInterval: TimeInterval { get set }
  • A property indicating whether or not updates can be automatically downloaded in the background.

    By default, updates are not automatically downloaded.

    By default starting from Sparkle 2.4, users are provided an option to opt in to automatically downloading and installing updates when they are asked if they want automatic update checks enabled. The default value for this option is based on what the developer sets SUAutomaticallyUpdate in their Info.plist. This is not done if SUEnableAutomaticChecks is set in the Info.plist however. Please check automaticallyChecksForUpdates property for more details.

    Note that the developer can disallow automatic downloading of updates from being enabled (via SUAllowsAutomaticUpdates Info.plist key). In this case, this property will return NO regardless of how this property is set.

    Prefer to set SUAutomaticallyUpdate directly in your Info.plist for setting the initial value.

    Setting this property will persist in the host bundle’s user defaults. Hence developers shouldn’t maintain an additional user default for this property. Only set this property if the user wants to change the default via a user settings option. Do not always set it on launch unless you want to ignore the user’s preference.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic) BOOL automaticallyDownloadsUpdates;

    Swift

    var automaticallyDownloadsUpdates: Bool { get set }
  • The URL of the appcast used to download update information.

    If the updater’s delegate implements -[SPUUpdaterDelegate feedURLStringForUpdater:], this will return that feed URL. Otherwise if the feed URL has been set before using -[SPUUpdater setFeedURL:], the feed URL returned will be retrieved from the host bundle’s user defaults. Otherwise the feed URL in the host bundle’s Info.plist will be returned. If no feed URL can be retrieved, returns nil.

    For setting a primary feed URL, please set the SUFeedURL property in your Info.plist. For setting an alternative feed URL, please prefer -[SPUUpdaterDelegate feedURLStringForUpdater:] over -setFeedURL:. Please see the documentation for -setFeedURL: for migrating away from that API.

    This property must be called on the main thread; calls from background threads will return nil.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic, readonly, nullable) NSURL *feedURL;

    Swift

    var feedURL: URL? { get }
  • Clears any feed URL from the host bundle’s user defaults that was set via -setFeedURL:

    You should call this method if you have used -setFeedURL: in the past and want to stop using that API. Otherwise for compatibility Sparkle will prefer to use the feed URL that was set in the user defaults over the one that was specified in the host bundle’s Info.plist, which is often undesirable (except for testing purposes).

    If a feed URL is found stored in the host bundle’s user defaults (from calling -setFeedURL:) before it gets cleared, then that previously set URL is returned from this method.

    This method should be called as soon as possible, after your application finished launching or right after the updater has been started if you manually manage starting the updater.

    Updaters that update other developer’s bundles should not call this method.

    This method must be called on the main thread.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (nullable NSURL *)clearFeedURLFromUserDefaults;

    Swift

    func clearFeedURLFromUserDefaults() -> URL?

    Return Value

    A previously set feed URL in the host bundle’s user defaults, if available, otherwise this returns nil

  • The host bundle that is being updated.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic, readonly) NSBundle *_Nonnull hostBundle;

    Swift

    var hostBundle: Bundle { get }
  • The user agent used when checking for updates.

    By default the user agent string returned is in the format: $(BundleDisplayName)/$(BundleDisplayVersion) Sparkle/$(SparkleDisplayVersion)

    BundleDisplayVersion is derived from the main application’s Info.plist’s CFBundleShortVersionString.

    Note if Sparkle is being used to update another application, the bundle information retrieved is from the main application performing the updating.

    This default implementation can be overrided.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *_Nonnull userAgentString;

    Swift

    var userAgentString: String { get set }
  • The HTTP headers used when checking for updates, downloading release notes, and downloading updates.

    The keys of this dictionary are HTTP header fields and values are corresponding values.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic, copy, nullable) NSDictionary<NSString *, NSString *> *httpHeaders;

    Swift

    var httpHeaders: [String : String]? { get set }
  • A property indicating whether or not the user’s system profile information is sent when checking for updates.

    Setting this property will persist in the host bundle’s user defaults.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic) BOOL sendsSystemProfile;

    Swift

    var sendsSystemProfile: Bool { get set }
  • The date of the last update check or nil if no check has been performed yet.

    For testing purposes, the last update check is stored in the SULastCheckTime key in the host bundle’s user defaults. For example, defaults delete my-bundle-id SULastCheckTime can be invoked to clear the last update check time and test if update checks are automatically scheduled.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic, copy, readonly, nullable) NSDate *lastUpdateCheckDate;

    Swift

    var lastUpdateCheckDate: Date? { get }
  • Appropriately re-schedules the update checking timer according to the current updater settings.

    This method should only be called in response to a user changing updater settings. This method may trigger a new update check to occur in the background if an updater setting such as the updater’s feed or allowed channels has changed.

    If the updateCheckInterval or automaticallyChecksForUpdates properties are changed, this method is automatically invoked after a short delay using -resetUpdateCycleAfterShortDelay. In these cases, manually resetting the update cycle is not necessary.

    See also -resetUpdateCycleAfterShortDelay which gives the user a short delay before triggering a cycle reset.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)resetUpdateCycle;

    Swift

    func resetUpdateCycle()
  • Appropriately re-schedules the update checking timer according to the current updater settings after a short cancellable delay.

    This method calls resetUpdateCycle after a short delay to give the user a short amount of time to cancel changing an updater setting. If this method is called again, any previous reset request that is still inflight will be cancelled.

    For example, if the user changes the automaticallyChecksForUpdates setting to YES, but quickly undoes their change then no cycle reset will be done.

    If the updateCheckInterval or automaticallyChecksForUpdates properties are changed, this method is automatically invoked. In these cases, manually resetting the update cycle is not necessary.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)resetUpdateCycleAfterShortDelay;

    Swift

    func resetUpdateCycleAfterShortDelay()
  • The system profile information that is sent when checking for updates.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic, copy, readonly) NSArray<NSDictionary<NSString *, NSString *> *> *_Nonnull systemProfileArray;

    Swift

    var systemProfileArray: [[String : String]] { get }