How do I update the desktop app?

Where the update button is on each platform, and how to check which version you are actually running.

Windows, and macOS 12 and 13

These run the same app, and that app updates itself. It never does so without being asked.

1. Open Settings in the desktop app.
2. Scroll to About. The Version row is the version you are running right now.
3. Press Check for updates.
4. If a newer version exists, the row turns into an Install button. Press it to start the download.
5. The percentage is shown while the file comes down. When it finishes, the app offers to restart, and the new version is in place after the restart.

Nothing downloads on its own. The app also asks the release server quietly, at most once every six hours, and when it finds something a strip appears across the top of the window with the same Install button. One press is enough: further presses do nothing while a download is running.

macOS 14 Sonoma and newer

That build comes from the Mac App Store and carries no updater of its own. Updates arrive through the store together with the rest of your Mac apps. Settings, then About, says so and links to the store page. The same section shows the version and the build number.

Linux

The Linux app is not published yet, so there is nothing to update. Until it ships, hours are recorded in the web app as manual time entries.

If the version does not change

• Update checks only run in an installed app. A copy started from a development build never finds an update, by design.
• After the restart, open Settings and read the Version row again. That number comes from the running app, not from the release page.
• A downloaded update is applied at the next start. If you closed the app instead of restarting it, the version changes the next time you open it.

Which app belongs on which computer is in the desktop app comparison. What happens to your records while an update is pending is the same as any other interruption, and is covered in what happens if your computer goes offline.