Software Pet Peeves. Developers: Listen Up!
When an application update notification pops up on my screen, I want to be given the choice to first quit the application (if it’s currently open) BEFORE the update takes place.
It’s incredibly frustrating to begin the update process and get caught in a scenario where the update needs the application to quit, but the application can’t quit because it’s in use.
This Faustian Circle of Hell scenario happened to me this morning when I was using the Mac App Store to perform an update on Clipboard History. The app was already open and the updater informed me that I needed to quit the app. Only I couldn’t, because the app was in limbo, pinwheeling with the beach ball of death. I couldn’t abort the app install from the Mac App Store. Force quitting the Mac App Store didn’t help either. Ultimately, I had to reboot the whole machine using some terminal-fu.
I really shouldn’t have to do this, guys.
Is it really too difficult to standardize on implementing a “Quit before Update” option as part of the update process? Pretty please?
–Krishna
These beautiful and intelligent people wrote
Tell me what you think!
Jose A. Gonzalez
May 13, 2011 at 10:44 amI think I’ve bumped into that before. Maybe that’s why my apps-store is not working. Trying to install something else lately, it just hangs there, and if it were critical, I’d look deeper into it. But you are right, that same scenario in Windows is in my history, I just didn’t expect to hear about it in OSX.
James
May 13, 2011 at 11:41 amI like the non-App store OMNI Group app update process. It has an install and relaunch button.
Mike
May 13, 2011 at 11:59 amI am imagining a new PCW strip now where Gramps is trying to figure out what the terminal-fu command is for rebooting and Bob comes up behind him and pushes the power button.
eidolon
May 15, 2011 at 12:20 pmoption+command+escape