AppFresh: Keep Your Apps Up-To-Date

I’m sure all MacApper readers have Application folders that are overflowing with lovely Mac apps, considering the amount of stuff that we invite users to try. Part of having a lot of apps is keeping them updated. It can be a chore to have each app check for its own updates.

And what if they don’t have an automatic update feature? There have been many attempts at programs and websites to remedy this inconvenience, but none have come even close to the feature set of AppFresh by Metaquark.

When you first open AppFresh, it automatically scans your hard drive for applications, preference panes, widgets, and plugins and then checks IUseThis to see if you have the latest version. All the programs that require updates are then filed under the “Updates” folder. When you are ready to update, you click the “Update” button and AppFresh does all the work for you.

While updating your apps, you have the option of storing a snapshot of the version of the program you currently have installed along with its preferences and application data. This allows you to go back to an older version of any program you have installed if the new version causes problems.

Metaquark doesn’t even consider AppFresh a beta, but a work in progress, however, I did not have any problems with it. AppFresh is freeware and is available from metaquark.

Here’s some homework for MacApper readers: Count how many items there are in your Applications folder.