Updates

Choose how Macro Deck handles new versions in Settings > About, under Updates > Automatic updates. Check for updates in the same place works in every mode.

Mode	What happens when a new version is out
Off	Nothing. Macro Deck only looks for updates when you check yourself.
Notify only	Macro Deck tells you and asks before it downloads and installs anything. This is the default.
Automatic	Macro Deck downloads the update in the background and installs it when you quit Macro Deck. Windows and macOS only.

If Macro Deck cannot reach the update server, for example while you are offline, a notification says it could not check for updates. You see it once: while checks keep failing, Macro Deck does not warn again until a check succeeds or Macro Deck restarts. Check for updates tries again right away.

Automatic installs

An automatic download finishes quietly: no dialog opens and nothing restarts while you work. The next time you quit Macro Deck, it installs the update before it closes. The new version runs from the next start, which shows what’s new.

Quit with Quit in the tray icon’s menu, or on macOS with Macro Deck > Quit Macro Deck (Cmd+Q). Quitting takes a little longer then: Macro Deck makes the backup set in Settings > Backups and installs the update, and on Windows the installer’s progress window shows briefly. If the backup takes longer than two minutes, Macro Deck quits without installing and downloads the update again at the next start. If that happens every time, install the update with Install now instead.

The update is not installed when:

• you only close the Macro Deck window: Macro Deck keeps running in the background and the update keeps waiting;
• you quit from the macOS Dock, log out, or shut down the computer while Macro Deck is running. The download is then repeated after the next start.

To install it sooner, open View details in Settings > About and choose Install now.

Switching the mode away from Automatic keeps the downloaded update until Macro Deck quits, but no longer installs it on quit.

When the Macro Deck window is closed

Macro Deck keeps checking for updates while it runs in the background, for example after it started with your computer or after you closed its window. When it finds a new version then, it opens a small update window with the release notes, so you do not have to open Macro Deck to see it.

• In Notify only, choose Download & install. The window shows the download, then Macro Deck restarts to install the update.
• In Automatic, the update window does not open. The update downloads in the background and installs when you quit Macro Deck.
• Later, or closing the window, leaves the update for now.

The update window opens on its own at most once per version while Macro Deck runs, when an update is found in the background. It never opens in Off or Automatic mode.

While an update is waiting, the Macro Deck icon in the system tray or menu bar has an Update to entry with the new version. It opens the update window again.

With Before Macro Deck updates turned on in Settings > Backups, Macro Deck makes a backup before it installs. See Backups.

Extension updates

Plugins and icon packs from the Store have their own updates, set in Settings > Store.

• Notify about updates shows a notification when a new version of an installed plugin or icon pack is out. It is on by default. Macro Deck tells you about each version once per session; a notification you dismiss comes back only when a newer version appears. Opening it shows Installed in the Store.
• Update extensions automatically installs new versions on its own, then shows one notification listing what was updated, or what failed. It is off by default. An automatic update that failed is not retried until Macro Deck restarts; update it from Installed instead.

If you install an older version of a plugin or icon pack on purpose, or any version other than the latest, Macro Deck keeps it: automatic updates and update notifications skip that item until you update it yourself, from its page, its card or Update all. Installed still shows the newer version as available.

Macro Deck never offers or installs an update to a version the Store has withdrawn. If the version you have installed is withdrawn, a warning notification says so, whether or not Notify about updates is on; see Withdrawn versions.

A failed install or update offers Retry only when trying again can help, for example after a download failed. When the item needs a newer Macro Deck, the Store offers Check for updates instead; when it does not run on your platform or version, it says so without a button to try again.

Automatic updates only replace plugins and icon packs you installed from the Store. A plugin you installed from a file, or one installed from the Store before this setting existed, is announced instead; update it once from the Store to include it. Profile templates are never updated automatically.

With Before plugin updates turned on in Settings > Backups, Macro Deck makes one backup before a batch of plugin updates. The Store shows this as its own Backing up step before the update installs, so an update takes longer than a first-time install of the same plugin. Turn the setting off if you would rather not wait for it.

Store download statistics

When Macro Deck downloads a plugin, icon pack or profile template from the Store, for a first install, an update or a reinstall, it tells the Store which of the three it is, so downloads can be counted per version. An update or reinstall also sends the version you had installed. Replacing an installed version with an older one counts as an update. Each install or update action gets its own temporary ID, which a retry of that action reuses so it is counted once.

The download sends no account, device or installation ID, and no list of your other extensions. Test builds and plugins installed from a URL or file send none of this.

What’s new

The first time Macro Deck starts after an update installed from within the app, it shows the release notes of the new version once. An update installed by running a downloaded installer yourself shows nothing.

Announcements

The Macro Deck team occasionally publishes news, for example about a new release or a change you should know about. Macro Deck looks for it when it starts and every few hours, and shows each announcement once, after What’s new and never in front of a dialog you opened. Got it, or closing it any other way, marks it as seen, and it does not come back, not even after restoring a backup. Links in an announcement open in your browser.

A new installation only shows an announcement published in the last two weeks. If Macro Deck cannot reach the Macro Deck servers, nothing is shown and it tries again later.

Do you like Macro Deck?

Once Macro Deck has been installed for 7 days, it asks you one time whether you like it. The question appears when you open Macro Deck, after What’s new, any announcement and any Store rating request, and never in front of a dialog you opened. Answer Yes! and you can give Macro Deck a star on GitHub; answer Not really and you can give feedback on GitHub. Whatever you choose, including closing the dialog, Macro Deck does not ask again. Restoring a backup does not bring the question back, but a new installation that you restore a backup into asks once more after its own 7 days.

Release notes

Macro Deck loads the release notes from the version’s GitHub release when it finds an update. If GitHub cannot be reached, for example behind a firewall or a proxy that inspects secure connections, the update dialog, the update window and What’s new show Read the release notes on GitHub instead, which opens the release in your browser.

Linux

On Linux, Macro Deck never installs updates itself. It tells you that a new version exists, and you update through apt or the package you installed. The update window and the tray entry still show the release notes, with the apt command or a link to the download page instead of an install button. See Installation.