Updating your Mac apps with Greypaint.

Install and run the first check

1. Download Greypaint and drag it into your Applications folder.
2. Open it. It reads every app in Applications and checks each one against its developer's own update source.
3. When it's done you see one number, how many updates are waiting, and a list of them. Critical updates, the ones developers mark as security fixes, come first.

Greypaint also lives in the menu bar, with the same count. The 14-day trial has every feature. Update checks run on your Mac, and sharing anonymous update results with us is optional and off unless you turn it on.

Allow App Management

macOS only lets an app replace other apps when you allow it. The first time Greypaint needs to, click Allow App Management and turn Greypaint on in the window that opens. If you skipped it, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → App Management and turn on Greypaint. Without it, macOS blocks the update and Greypaint tells you so.

Update all, or one app at a time

1. Click Update all, or Update next to a single app.
2. Each update is checked before it goes in: it has to come from the same developer, and macOS has to accept it. If either check fails, nothing is installed.
3. The list clears as each app finishes. Installs keep going if you close the window.

Apps that are open

Greypaint never quits an app on its own. If one is open, you choose Quit and Update or Update When I Quit It, which installs as soon as you quit the app.

App Store apps

They're counted in the same list. Greypaint downloads and installs the update itself, with progress. This is in beta, and macOS may ask for your admin password. If an update fails, choose App Store and the App Store opens on that app's page, where you click Update.

Command-line tools

Under Tools are Homebrew formulae and global npm, pnpm and uv packages, updated the same way, without opening Terminal. If a Homebrew cask needs your password, Greypaint opens Terminal for Homebrew to ask. Greypaint never sees it.

Automatic updates

In Settings → Updates, choose how much Greypaint does by itself:

When it checks and installs

Check for updates runs Hourly, every 6 hours, Daily or Manually. Then decide when installs may happen:

1. Install when I quit the app: a waiting update installs when you quit that app.
2. Wait for Wi-Fi and power: automatic installs pause on Low Data Mode, on a phone hotspot, or when the battery is below 20%.
3. Only during quiet hours: installs wait for the hours you pick. Critical updates don't wait.

Rolling back a version

With Keep the previous version on, Greypaint saves the old copy before each update.

1. Click the app in Greypaint to open its details.
2. Choose Roll back.
3. Pick Roll back app only or Roll back with its settings. If you turned on data backup for that app, you can bring its data back too.

Undo rollback puts the newer version back.

Ignoring an app

Some apps you'd rather update yourself, or keep on an old version. Open the app's details and choose Ignore, or select several on Apps. Greypaint stops offering their updates. Ignored apps stay listed in Settings, where you can restore them.