UX: New Version notification should happen AFTER user uses the app, not before

[shadowfoxish]

I absolutely love when applications check for an update and let me know there is a new version ready to download. It is important to keep software up to date, especially on windows systems where the OS provides basically no support for it.

However, I don't think any user opens an app with the intention to update it right then and there. Usually, we're in a hurry to do something, get in and get out. We ignore the update warning because we're busy or don't want to be interrupted by what sometimes can be a long or distracting process. We do our thing, leave the app for a while or close it right then, but forget to take the update! Then the next time we start, we're nagged again about an update again. Starts to become notification fatigue.

It's not uncommon for apps to follow this UX, but it's really not great and probably results in more deferrals than installs.

Better approaches exist:
1) If you must check for an update at start up...
1a) Let the user defer it "Do the update when I close FileZilla".
1b) Show an icon in the notification area that a new version is available.
2) Notify the user of the update passively in the UI.
2a) When the user clicks on the notification, prompt for the update.
2b) When the user closes the application, prompt for the update.
2c) Wait for the app to become idle for a while, then prompt for an update.
2d) Do nothing. The user has been alerted and will deal with it when they choose.

Some examples of upgrades/notifications that are unobtrusive in popular software:

• Firefox and Chrome auto update in the background when the browser is closed, and then perform the update work immediately on subsequent launch.
• Visual Studio Code performs updates in the background when you close the application.
• SourceTree shows an update notification in the header/notification area, but does not bother the user with it.