Some of the best Mac apps serve a single purpose. Latest is another tiny app you should install that can check for and apply outstanding updates.

Update Everything With Latest

Latest is an appropriately named Mac app that can check for and update the vast majority of Mac apps. It’s free, open-source, and takes up less than 20MB of disk space once it’s installed.

Once you’ve downloaded the app and dragged the app icon into your Applications folder, launch Latest and hit the “Refresh” button in the top-right corner. All of your currently installed Mac apps will be scanned and checked for new versions.

Available updates will be listed at the top of the list on the left side of the app. From here you can click on an app to peruse the update description (when available) then click “Update” to update the app. If you’d rather get everything done at once, hit the “Update All” icon in the top-right corner of the window.

Latest can update any apps that use the Mac App Store (including iPhone and iPad apps), open-source update framework Sparkle, and the Homebrew package manager which means the vast majority of Mac apps are compatible with it. You don’t need to open the Mac App Store either since Latest will initiate the update for you.

In addition to pending updates, you can browse past updates too. At the bottom of the list will be apps that don’t have new versions available. Click on one to see the latest patch notes, when available. This is handy for checking what’s changed in a recent update that you’ve already installed.

You can swipe right on an app’s icon to quickly update it, or swipe left then use the “Open” or “Reveal” shortcuts to launch the app or find it in your Applications folder.

Why Latest Is So Useful

You might be wondering why you might need an app like Latest when the apps you use on a daily basis check for and keep themselves up to date. Where Latest really excels is in the apps that you don’t use very often.

For example, I have the open-source audio editing app Audacity installed but I very rarely open it. This means that when I need to edit an audio file, I have to deal with a notification telling me that my app is out of date, and would I like to install the latest version.

Clicking yes means a short wait while the app downloads and updates, and everything must restart before I can get on with whatever I was doing when I first opened it. I also have automatic updates disabled for the Mac App Store, and am admittedly pretty bad at remembering to update the apps manually.

This means that Microsoft OneNote is always in need of a massive update on the few occasions I actually need it. Being able to quickly deal with updates from a lightweight interface is better than ham-fisting my way around the Mac App Store.

If you too find Latest useful and want to contribute, you can report any bugs or feature requests on GitHub. If you like the sound of Latest, make sure you install Mac package manager Homebrew which is a great way to find and install Mac software. It even has a graphical interface you can use if you don’t fancy dealing with the Terminal.

Check out some of our other favorite single-purpose Mac apps that accomplish one thing very well.