macOS: offer Install on Quit after an update is downloaded
Open 💬 0 comments Opened Aug 27, 2026 by greenTableWork
Feature request
On macOS, after Codex has downloaded an app update, please offer an Install on Quit option alongside an immediate restart/install option.
This would let a user continue an active session and have the pending update installed when they normally quit the app, rather than requiring an interruption at download time.
Desired behavior
- Once an update is downloaded and verified, offer:
- Install and restart now
- Install on quit
- Later
- Install on quit should apply the already-downloaded update after a normal, graceful app quit.
- If the app cannot safely quit, leave the update pending rather than risking session or work loss.
- Clearly indicate whether the app will relaunch after installation.
- Preserve the existing explicit-update and security behavior.
Feasibility research
This is feasible for a directly distributed macOS app, though it is implemented by the app updater rather than by a universal macOS preference:
- AppKit provides
applicationShouldTerminate, allowing an application to participate in and, when necessary, defer a normal quit request: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appkit/nsapplicationdelegate/applicationshouldterminate%28_%3A%29 - Electron's macOS
autoUpdateris built on Squirrel.Mac. Electron documents that a successfully downloaded update is applied on next launch and exposesquitAndInstall()for an explicit install/restart: https://www.electronjs.org/docs/latest/api/auto-updater/ - Sparkle, a widely used macOS update framework, documents the same pattern: download while the app is running, then let an external updater install after the app terminates: https://github.com/sparkle-project/Sparkle/discussions/2169
This request is specifically for direct distribution. Mac App Store apps must use the Mac App Store update mechanism: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/