Updates

From version 0.2.0 on, Scaffold updates from inside the app. There is nothing to download by hand and nothing to reinstall.

You choose whether it checks

On first launch Scaffold asks “Check for updates automatically?”

• Yes: it asks this website whether a newer version exists when it starts, at most once a day.
• No: it never checks on its own. Press Check for updates now (Settings, Updates) whenever you want to look.

When an update is there, Scaffold tells you, and nothing installs until you press Update now. Your notes and settings are not touched: they are files in your vault, and an update only replaces the app. You can change your answer any time in Settings, Updates.

How the download is checked

• Windows: the new installer’s signature is checked against a key built into the app before it runs. A file that fails the check is not installed.
• Android: the APK’s size and SHA-256 must match what this website published, or it is deleted. Android itself also refuses an update that is not signed with Scaffold’s release key.
• Scaffold only ever offers a newer version, never an older one.

What the check sends

The check is an ordinary request for a small file on this website. It carries no account, no notes, no device identifier and no usage data. Like any web request, the website’s host can see your IP address in its normal logs (see Privacy). This check is the only network request Scaffold makes without you asking for it, and only if you said yes.

On Android

Updates install over the existing app and keep your notes. Android shows its own install prompt, and the first time it may ask you to allow Scaffold to install apps (Settings, Install unknown apps). That is what the “install apps” permission is for.

Still on 0.1.x?

Versions before 0.2.0 cannot update themselves, so one manual step is needed:

1. Download 0.2.0 for Windows or Android.
2. Install it over your existing app. Do not uninstall first.

On Android this matters a lot: uninstalling the app deletes the vaults stored in its storage. Installing over it keeps them. After that, every update arrives inside the app.