Coverage chart / GitDesktop
How to update GitDesktop on your Mac
GitDesktop's developer publishes each version on their own page at github.com, and the app can also update itself. Below is how to run that update yourself, then how Floodtide does it for you, alongside every other app on the Mac.
Update GitDesktop by hand
- Let GitDesktop update itself. Open GitDesktop. It checks for new versions on its own, and if it has not offered one yet, look in the GitDesktop menu, or under Help or its preferences, for Check for Updates, then let it download and relaunch.
- Download the current build from github.com. GitDesktop's developer publishes each release at github.com. Get the Mac build from there.
- Replace the old copy. Quit GitDesktop, open the download and put the new GitDesktop in Applications in place of the old one: a disk image is dragged across, an installer package runs its own steps. Your settings and documents live outside the app and are kept.
That is one app. The same walk, through a different menu or page each time, is what every other app on the Mac asks of you, which is where Floodtide comes in.
The shorter route: one click in Floodtide
Floodtide's own signed catalog lists where GitDesktop's developer publishes each release, and Floodtide reads that source directly to learn which version is current. When yours is behind, the row appears under Updates with the version that is out, next to every other app on the Mac that is behind.
- The developer's own build is downloaded, with real progress.
- It is checked against a checksum where the source publishes one, otherwise against the developer signature of the copy already installed, and Gatekeeper has to accept it before anything is replaced.
- GitDesktop is asked to quit politely if it is open, and never forced.
What Floodtide knows about GitDesktop
- Floodtide reads
- the developer's own page at github.com
- Developer
- github.com
- Bundle ID
- com.thebguy.gitdesktop
- Downloads come from
- github.com
- Installed by Floodtide
- Yes, in one click, with the rest of your apps.
- Updates itself
- Yes, when you open it. Floodtide covers it anyway, so the Mac is checked whether or not you do.
- Each download is checked against
- a checksum where the source publishes one, otherwise the developer signature already on the installed copy, and Gatekeeper
Read from the source on 18 October 2026. The app reads it live.
Questions about GitDesktop
Does Floodtide update GitDesktop?
Yes. GitDesktop also ships its own updater, so it can keep itself current when you launch it. Floodtide covers it anyway, because a self-updating app only updates when you happen to open it, and it tells you nothing about the other apps on the Mac. Floodtide shows GitDesktop beside everything else and updates the whole set in one pass.
How does Floodtide install a new version of GitDesktop?
It downloads the developer's own build and checks it before anything on your Mac changes: against a checksum where the source publishes one, otherwise by requiring the same developer signature as the copy already installed, and Gatekeeper has to accept it. Then it quits GitDesktop if it is running and puts the new version in place.
Will updating GitDesktop lose my settings?
No. Floodtide replaces the application only. Preferences, licences and documents live outside it and are untouched.
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