# Updates and betas

> How Canto checks for updates and installs them, beta versions, What's New, and what "Finishing the upgrade" means.

Applies to Canto 1.0 beta 3 · Updated Oct 10, 2026 · https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/updates

Canto updates itself. It checks for a newer version on GitHub, where its releases are published, downloads it in the background, and installs it the next time you quit or restart. The check sends nothing about you or your notes.

## Automatic checks

A few seconds after launch and every 6 hours, Canto asks GitHub whether a newer version exists. **Settings › Updates** shows where things stand, with one key:

| You see                     | Means                                                                                                   |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Canto is up to date         | And when it last checked                                                                                |
| *Version* is available      | A newer version exists. With automatic downloads on, it's already downloading.                          |
| Downloading *version* · 42% | It installs when you restart Canto                                                                      |
| Getting *version* ready     | macOS is checking the download before it can be installed                                               |
| *Version* is ready          | **Restart to update** installs it now; otherwise it installs when you quit. Your notes are saved first. |

When an update is ready, a short message at the bottom of the window says so, with **Restart**, and the Settings sidebar marks Updates. If a check or a download fails, Settings says so in plain words, and Canto tries again at the next check.

**Canto › Check for Updates…** opens the same page and checks right away (**Check now**).

## Update settings

In **Settings › Updates**:

* **Check automatically** (on). Off: Canto checks only when you press **Check now**. This is the same switch as **Update checks** in **Settings › Memory & privacy › What leaves this Mac**.
* **Download updates automatically** (on). A new version downloads in the background and installs when you quit Canto. Off: Canto asks before downloading. It's greyed out while automatic checks are off.
* **Get beta versions**, shown only on a beta: see below.

## Betas

Canto 1.0 is in beta. A beta is an opt-in download from [lonelyduck.io/canto](https://lonelyduck.io/canto); the stable release, 0.10.3, is on [lonelyduck.io/download](https://lonelyduck.io/download).

* **Once you install a beta, Canto keeps you on betas.** It updates to each new beta, and to the finished 1.0 when it ships.
* **A copy of 0.10 never receives a beta.** Moving to 1.0 is always your choice; read [Upgrading from Canto 0.10](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/upgrade) first.
* To leave the betas, turn off **Settings › Updates › Get beta versions**. Your copy then waits for the next finished version. Canto never installs an older version over a newer one.

A beta can have rough edges. Keep backups ([Backups, history and the Trash](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/backups)), and tell us what you find with **Help › Send Diagnostics…** (see [Getting help](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/help)).

## What's New

The first time a new version opens, Canto shows what changed in it, once. You can read it again any time from **Help › Release Notes** or **Settings › About › What's new**.

The release notes are part of the app itself, written for each version, so they're there offline too.

## Finishing the upgrade

The first launch after an update can have one-time work to do, all on your Mac: backing up and updating your notes database, turning 0.x notebooks into notes, clearing data the old sync left behind, building the search index. While it runs, the toolbar's status dot says **Finishing the upgrade**, and its panel lists each step with its figures ("41 of 72 sources") and when it's done. A catch-up of the search index says **Updating the search index**.

You can keep working meanwhile. Before Canto updates the database, it saves a copy of it; see [Upgrade copies](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/backups#upgrade-copies).

## Installing by hand

To install a version yourself, download it from [lonelyduck.io/canto](https://lonelyduck.io/canto) and drag it into Applications, replacing the copy you have. Your notes aren't in the app: they stay in your data folder and open in the new version.

Canto needs a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later. See [Install and set up](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/get-started#what-you-need).

For how LonelyDuck's apps update in general, see [Updates and betas](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/general/updates).