Autocomputing '26 keeps itself up to date. You will not be asked to download anything, restart anything, or sign in again. This chapter explains what happens out of sight, how it keeps you safe, and what to do if an update does not arrive.
When the app starts, after you sign in, it checks for a newer version behind its loading screen, and again every four hours while it runs. If there is one, the loading screen shows each stage, CHECKING FOR UPDATES..., DOWNLOADING UPDATE... with the percentage done, INSTALLING UPDATE... and RESTARTING TO UPDATE..., and the new version opens, still signed in. An update found while you are working is downloaded quietly and put in place the next time the app starts.
To check at once, choose Check for updates from the gear menu, or Check now on the Updates tab of the Autocomputing '26 app. A newer version installs and restarts at once.
Updates are automatic on every account in 1.0-beta, and Automatic updates is shown locked on; the Registry records this under Gridtop\Updates (chapter 33), as the End User License Agreement describes (§5).
Every update is signed by Autocomputing. Before anything new runs, the app checks the signature, then the whole package, then every file in it, against what we published; an update that fails any check is set aside and never used.
After an update is installed, the new version must pass a short self-test as it starts. If it does not, the app returns by itself to the version you had, kept on your computer for that purpose, and sets the failed one aside. A version that has already been running is given a second chance: only if it fails to start twice is it set aside.
Updates come on two channels: Stable, for everyone, and Beta, which brings new versions sooner. Choose Beta updates in the gear menu to receive both; the app always takes whichever is newer.
If the app seems to stay on an old version, look at update.log, at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autocomputing Gridtop\update.log (paste the path into File Explorer's address bar). It records when the app last checked, what it found, and, if an update was set aside, why. Send it with a report (35.2), and we will see at once what happened.
