mangerlahn/latest

★ 4,609SwiftAudience · generalComplexity · 1/5Setup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((latest))
    What it does
      Scans installed apps
      Checks for updates
      Shows changelogs
      Updates apps directly
    Tech stack
      Swift
      Xcode
      Sparkle framework
      macOS
    Use cases
      Keep all Mac apps current
      Review changelogs before updating
      One-stop update dashboard
      Homebrew install
    Audience
      Mac users
      Power users
      Developers on Mac

mindmap root((latest)) What it does Scans installed apps Checks for updates Shows changelogs Updates apps directly Tech stack Swift Xcode Sparkle framework macOS Use cases Keep all Mac apps current Review changelogs before updating One-stop update dashboard Homebrew install Audience Mac users Power users Developers on Mac

Click or tap to explore — scroll the page freely

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Check all installed Mac apps for available updates in one place, covering both App Store and non-App Store apps.

USE CASE 2

Read what changed in each pending update before deciding whether to install it.

USE CASE 3

Replace the habit of manually opening individual apps or the App Store to hunt for updates.

USE CASE 4

Contribute translations of the app's text into other languages using the Weblate platform.

Tech stack

SwiftXcodeSparklemacOS

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

No configuration needed, drag the downloaded app to Applications or install via Homebrew with one command.

In plain English

Latest is a free, open-source Mac app that checks whether all your installed applications are up to date. It scans your system, compares what you have against available updates, and gives you a summary of what has changed and what is new in each pending update. You can then update apps directly from within Latest. The app works with two sources: the Mac App Store, and any app that uses a software update system called Sparkle. The README notes that Sparkle covers most Mac apps available outside the App Store, so Latest should catch the majority of what you have installed. Installation has three options. You can download a ready-to-run app file and drag it into your Applications folder. You can use Homebrew, a popular command-line package manager for Macs, by running a single install command. Or you can build the app yourself from the source code using Xcode, Apple's development environment. The project is maintained by a single developer in their spare time. It accepts contributions in several forms: translations of the app's text into other languages (managed through the Weblate platform), code contributions, and bug reports or feature suggestions through the GitHub Issues page. The developer asks that contributors open an issue before writing code for a new feature, to avoid duplicated effort. The app is free to use, and the developer accepts optional donations to support continued development. There is no paid tier or subscription.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I'm building a macOS utility in Swift and want to check for app updates using Sparkle. Show me how to integrate Sparkle into an Xcode project to detect and display available updates.

Prompt 2

How can I use Swift to scan the macOS Applications folder, read each app's Info.plist, and compare bundle versions to detect outdated apps?

Prompt 3

I want to add a language translation to the Latest app. Walk me through how the Weblate localization workflow works for a Swift macOS app and what files I need to edit.

Prompt 4

Show me how to clone the Latest repo, open it in Xcode, build it for local testing, and verify that it correctly detects a Sparkle-based app update.

Open on GitHub → Explain another repo

← mangerlahn on gitmyhub — every repo by this author, as a profile.

Verify against the repo before relying on details.