How to warn users that new version is available?

Question

How can I warn users that a new version of my program is available?

I'm planning on releasing my desktop app as a .jar file through github, and I'd like to do a simple check each time a user starts the app to check if a new version is available.

How can I do this?

Sorry if this seems like a stupid question. I tried googling for it but I could only find results for mobile stuff. It's my first time release an actual app to the public ^^'

Answer 1

Alongside your executable/jar file, you can have a simple text file (eg version.txt) that you can download and read. Have your program start with a launcher that compares that version to the local version, if not the same? Download, then run.