Coverage chart / Playdate Simulator
How to update Playdate Simulator on your Mac
Playdate Simulator is published as the Homebrew cask playdate-simulator. Below is how to run that update yourself, then how Floodtide does it for you, alongside every other app on the Mac. Homebrew describes Playdate Simulator as "Playdate Lua and C APIs, docs and Simulator for local development".
Update Playdate Simulator by hand
- Upgrade the Homebrew cask. If you installed Playdate Simulator with Homebrew, open Terminal and run
brew upgrade --cask playdate-simulator. Homebrew downloads the current build and replaces the app in your Applications folder. - Or download it from play.date. Otherwise get the current build from play.date, which is the same download Homebrew points at. Quit Playdate Simulator, open the download and put the new Playdate Simulator 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 playdate-simulatorThat 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 Playdate Simulator'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.
- Playdate Simulator is asked to quit politely if it is open, and never forced.
What Floodtide knows about Playdate Simulator
- Floodtide reads
- the Homebrew cask playdate-simulator, through its signed catalog
- Developer
- play.date
- Version the source named on 18 October 2026
- 3.1.2
- Bundle ID
- date.play.simulator
- Downloads come from
- download-cdn.panic.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 Playdate Simulator
Does Floodtide update Playdate Simulator?
Yes. Playdate Simulator is in Floodtide's signed catalog, which reads Playdate Simulator's 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 Playdate Simulator?
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 Playdate Simulator if it is running and puts the new version in place.
Will updating Playdate Simulator lose my settings?
No. Floodtide replaces the application only. Preferences, licences and documents live outside it and are untouched.