Coverage chart / OpenWebStart javaws
How to update OpenWebStart javaws on your Mac
OpenWebStart javaws is published as the Homebrew cask openwebstart. Below is how to run that update yourself, then how Floodtide does it for you, alongside every other app on the Mac. Homebrew describes OpenWebStart javaws as "Tool to run Java Web Start-based applications after the release of Java 11".
Update OpenWebStart javaws by hand
- Upgrade the Homebrew cask. If you installed OpenWebStart javaws with Homebrew, open Terminal and run
brew upgrade --cask openwebstart. Homebrew downloads the current build and replaces the app in your Applications folder. - Or download it from openwebstart.com. Otherwise get the current build from openwebstart.com, which is the same download Homebrew points at. Quit OpenWebStart javaws, open the download and put the new OpenWebStart javaws 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.
brew upgrade --cask openwebstartThat 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 OpenWebStart javaws' 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.
- OpenWebStart javaws is asked to quit politely if it is open, and never forced.
What Floodtide knows about OpenWebStart javaws
- Floodtide reads
- the Homebrew cask openwebstart, through its signed catalog
- Developer
- openwebstart.com
- Version the source named on 18 October 2026
- 1.14.0
- Bundle ID
- com.install4j.9615-4721-3936-4657.313
- Downloads come from
- github.com
- Installed by Floodtide
- Yes, in one click, with the rest of your apps.
- 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 OpenWebStart javaws
Does Floodtide update OpenWebStart javaws?
Yes. OpenWebStart javaws is in Floodtide's signed catalog, which reads OpenWebStart javaws' own release source, so it appears in your update list automatically when a newer version is published, with no configuration.
How does Floodtide install a new version of OpenWebStart javaws?
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 OpenWebStart javaws if it is running and puts the new version in place.
Will updating OpenWebStart javaws lose my settings?
No. Floodtide replaces the application only. Preferences, licences and documents live outside it and are untouched.
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