Give the user the option to update when the application CLOSES

[A. Jesse Jiryu Davis]

I've had what may be a user-experience insight: software applications should self-update when you CLOSE them, not when you open them. When I open an application it's because I want to use it NOW. The notification should still appear when you open the app, BUT a button on the notification box that says "Upgrade On Close" would be fantastic!

The problem with "upgrade first" is that the moment I open the app is when I'm least likely to be willing to click "OK, do this mysterious upgrade, which probably won't noticeably help me, and prevent me from the using the app I JUST OPENED for an unspecified period of time." If you really want the app to upgrade you have to make the user willing to click "yes".

It might also be nice to distinguish between feature upgrades (do it whenever) and critical upgrades (do it before you use the app or you might be sorry), but that adds complexity both to the code and the user experience that may be unwarranted.

[Andy Matuschak (andymatuschak)]

Totally agreed: this is #1 on my feature list. I have a more thought-through workflow in mind that I intend to document sometime soon-ish.