Updating Relic

Relic looks for new versions by itself and tells you once when it finds one. Nothing installs without you pressing something.

How an update reaches you

Relic checks two minutes after it starts, then once a day while it is running. Each new version is announced once, so a machine left on for a week is not nagged every morning.

Notifications get swallowed by Focus Assist, Do Not Disturb and per-app blocks, so the tray menu carries the result too. When an update is waiting the menu reads Install update with the version number, and the greyed line under it says when the last check ran:

That line has three forms, and it is the quickest way to see that checking itself is broken:

Checked 09:14

A new version is waiting. The menu item above installs it.

Up to date, checked 09:14

Nothing to do.

Update check failed at 09:14

Relic could not reach the update file. Usually no connection.

Installing it

1. From the notification
   Click it. That starts the same update the tray menu would.
2. From the tray menu
   Pick Install update. It stays there until you take it, so a missed notification costs you nothing.
3. From Settings
   Open Settings›About and press Check for updates. When one is found the line reads Update available with the version, and an Update now button appears next to it.
4. Wait a few seconds
   Relic downloads the new version, checks the file really is the one Relic published, installs it, and starts the new build for you. You do not have to close anything first.

When there is nothing new, the line says You're on the latest version. The version you are on is the first row of the About pane, with the encryption, index and platform lines under it. That pane is described in Settings: About.

When it cannot update in place

Some installs cannot be replaced while they are running. Relic does not sit there failing quietly; it says so and opens the page where you can get the new version:

Could not update in place. Opening the download page.

Install it from there the same way you installed Relic the first time. Your vault, your settings and your account all stay where they are; an update never touches them.

winget upgrade relic

Windows, Mac, Linux and phones

• Windows. Updates in place. The installer runs without asking for administrator rights and restarts Relic into the tray.
• Mac. Updates in place. Relic swaps the copy in your Applications folder and reopens itself. macOS sometimes drops the Accessibility permission when an app is replaced, so if pasting stops working after an update, see the permission section.
• Linux. The AppImage updates itself: it is a single file, so Relic can swap it and restart. The tarball cannot, because there is no safe way to replace a folder under a running program, so it opens the download page instead.
• Android and iPhone. Updates come from Google Play and the App Store. There is no check-for-updates button in the app.

Which download is which is in Install Relic.

When the check itself fails

A failed check reads Couldn't check for updates. in Settings, usually with a short reason after it, and an Open download page button beside it. Almost always this is the connection:

• No network, or a captive portal you have not signed in to yet.
• A VPN or a company firewall that blocks the update file.
• The machine has been asleep. Press the button again once it is properly awake.

The button opens the download page, which always has the current version, so a machine that can browse can always update by hand. If checking keeps failing on a network where everything else works, open Settings›About, press Copy diagnostics, and send it to support@relic.space.