Rixoffice keeps itself current without you visiting a download page. A built-in auto-updater checks for releases, tells you when one is ready and installs it in the background, so the version you run stays fresh with roughly one decision per year instead of one download per month. This page explains the machinery, the channel choice and what an update does to your files.
How the updater works
The updater inside Rixoffice is built on electron-updater, the standard mechanism for desktop apps of this kind. In practice:
- The app checks for new releases periodically while you work.
- When a new version is found, you get a notification rather than a forced interruption.
- The update downloads in the background.
- You apply it by restarting the app when convenient — the new version is ready the next time it launches.
You never download installers by hand. The only exceptions are the very first install and switching platforms, both of which start at the download page or our SourceForge mirror hub. Because downloads happen in the background, an update never costs you the middle of a writing session — the app stays on your current version until you choose to restart.
Downloads also pause and resume cleanly, so an interrupted connection does not corrupt anything or force a restart of the download. The next check picks up where the previous one left off.
The flow is intentionally quiet. There is no modal dialog blocking the editor while a progress bar fills, no restart countdown you have to cancel. An update arrives the way a good colleague would deliver one: a note, applied whenever you get to it.
Choosing an update channel
Settings includes an update channel picker:
- Stable — the default. You receive tested releases, which is right for most people and all production work.
- Earlier channel — when one is offered, it delivers new features sooner in exchange for meeting rougher builds.
The channel choice lives next to the update controls in Settings, and you can switch between channels whenever you like; the next check picks up releases from the new channel. A sensible split for teams: stay on stable for machines that produce deliverables, and let one curious machine run the earlier channel so you know what is coming.
Checking manually
Prefer to drive? Open Settings, go to the updates section and press Check for updates. The app queries the release source immediately and either starts a download or tells you that you are current. Manual checks are useful right after a release announcement or when a colleague mentions a feature you do not see yet.
Updating per platform
| Platform | Update behavior |
|---|---|
| Windows | Background download and in-app install on restart |
| macOS | Background download and in-app install on restart |
| Linux | The updater notifies you of new releases and points to them; install the new package the same way you installed the first |
On Linux, distribution packaging varies, so the app keeps you informed and hands you the release rather than replacing files under your package manager's feet. If you installed via apt or dnf, your package manager remains the tool of record, and the in-app notice simply tells you when it is worth running.
File associations also survive updates. The formats you registered during first install — set on Windows during setup, adjustable any time from Settings — keep pointing at Rixoffice, so double-clicking a .docx behaves the same after an update as before.
Your files are never touched
This is the part worth internalizing: updates replace the application, not your work. Documents, workbooks, decks and PDFs live in your own folders. Settings, provider keys and preferences live in your user profile. An update swaps out the app binary and leaves all of it exactly where it was. There is no migration step and no import after updating.
That separation of app and data is also why updating is safe to do casually — there is no scenario in which installing the new version touches a file you created.
For administrators this matters as much as for individuals: a fleet of machines can update on their own schedules without a migration checklist, because there is nothing to migrate. The app is stateless with respect to your documents; it holds preferences, not files.
Updates and offline work
Checking and downloading requires a connection, but nothing else does. If you work offline for a week — on a flight, in a cabin, in a secure environment — the app simply checks again when you are back. Editing, AI via Ollama and local files are unaffected the entire time. The updater defers to your work rather than interrupting it, which is the same offline-first philosophy that governs everything else in Rixoffice.
The practical routine that falls out of all this is unremarkable in the best way: update when you happen to be online, ignore the subject entirely when you are not, and never once structure your work around a download. For software, being boring about updates is the goal.
If a release ever misbehaves on your machine, the recovery path is the same one that got you here — the previous installer from the download page sits alongside the channel switch in Settings, so downgrading is a documented move rather than a forum quest.
What to explore next
- Installing on Windows — the first install and file associations.
- Offline mode — what works with no connection at all.
- AI provider setup — the settings you configure once and keep across updates.