MacUpdater is discontinued: how to keep your Mac apps updated
MacUpdater was discontinued on 1 January 2026. Its update server keeps running until 31 December 2026. After that, MacUpdater no longer detects new versions. Time to organise updates another way. The good news: most of it works with built-in tools.
1. Apps from the App Store
Open the App Store and choose “Updates” in the sidebar. Turn on automatic updates in the App Store settings. These apps need nothing else.
2. Apps with their own updater
Many apps from outside the App Store check for updates themselves, often with the open source framework Sparkle. You can tell by the “Check for Updates…” item in the app menu. Most of them let you turn on automatic checks in their settings. The downside: each app checks on its own, and you only notice when you open it.
3. Apps from Homebrew
If you installed apps with Homebrew, brew outdated --cask lists outdated apps and brew upgrade --cask updates them. Homebrew skips apps that update themselves. brew outdated --cask --greedy shows those too.
4. Everything else
For apps without their own updater, the developer's website remains. Download new versions only there or from a source the developer names. On first launch, macOS checks with Gatekeeper that the app is signed and notarized by Apple.
What matters when replacing an app
An update should come from the same developer as the installed app. In Terminal, codesign -dv --verbose=2 /Applications/Example.app shows the team ID of the signature. It should be the same for the old and the new version.
Where Searoom helps
Searoom's Updates page asks each app's update feed, Homebrew and the App Store in one pass. Every app gets a card with the old and new version, the source and the release notes, plus “Update” and “Update All”. Searoom replaces an app only when the identifier and team ID match, codesign confirms the signature, Gatekeeper accepts the new version and, where the app carries a key for it, the update's EdDSA signature is valid. The old version goes to the Trash. App Store apps are handed to the App Store. Anything that cannot be checked is listed with the reason. Updates are part of Searoom Pro and free during the 14-day trial.
Searoom explains every storage item on your Mac in one sentence, only moves things to the Trash, removes apps with their leftovers and keeps your apps updated. 14 days with everything, then a free version stays, Pro is €29 once.
See Searoom