CNET TechTracker app - 1.0 beta 3

My initial posting was overly generous in retrospect, after having some new "experiences" with it, and having tried another app that worked in nearly every way better than TechTracker does.

First thing that ticked me off was how, a week or so after updating 30+ apps, I got 30+ emails from CNET requesting that I post a review of the apps I updated. That was 30+ emails/spam that I had to whack out of my inbox. I wasn't happy about that at ALL!

Secondly, there were a number of suggestions I had that TT is sorely lacking in, most especially the lack of an exclusions list and addressing the tediousness of updating more than a couple apps. As someone else mentioned, TT also only scans for apps in /Applications, and it certainly does not check Preference Panes.

Today, I was trying out an app called AppFresh. It isn't listed here on VersionTracker, presumably because they use the database from a competing website (osx.iusethis.com). AppFresh is EVERYTHING that TechTracker should have been. It scans for apps no matter where they are; widgets; plug-ins; pref panes; even system updates. All these items are listed inside the app; you can check for updates within this app; exclude items of your choice (either permanently or for the current available version); it will even update the apps for you, or help you find the updater if it can't do it automatically.

AppFresh, like TechTracker, does occasionally show updates available for some apps that may really be upgrades or new versions, rather than a "update", and sometimes shows an app needs updating even though you have the current version. This is NOT a deficiency in TT or AF. These apps get their version info from the embedded plist inside the app they are looking at, and the developer of that app is at fault for failing to update the list properties correctly. At least with AppFresh, you can exclude such apps. No such option with TechTracker. I've also found that AppFresh has a large number of apps it can't assess because osx.iusethis doesn't have those apps in their database... a failure of their developers to list them there. Hopefully more developers will pick up on this and start listing them there as well. I've exorcised TechTracker from my system because I just don't see it getting much better, and certainly not to the level AppFresh is at now.

I'm with the prior reviewer. I had hoped this could be a clearinghouse for all the shareware/freeware apps I need to keep track of. Instead, it's proven to be inaccurate and intrusive--unable to keep good track of correct updates, and unable to be customized as to when and what you want to keep track of. There is a distinct difference between updates and upgrades, and for a lot of these apps, the level I'm at is the level I want to stay at.

There are no preferences to adjust as to: frequency of the TechTracker's appearance, what apps you want to keep track of, which you'd like to opt out of, etc. The implementation appears not very Mac-like, and it has become more of an annoyance than a help.

With most new apps including a "Check for update..." menu item under the Apple menu these days, the usefulness of this particular app is questionable for me, at best.