Auto-Updates on macOS

Why Keet can get stuck on a 'Shutting down' screen when it tries to update on macOS, and how to keep auto-updates working on standard (non-admin) accounts.

Keet Desktop keeps itself up to date automatically: when a new version is ready, it prepares the update in the background and applies it the next time the app restarts. On macOS, that final step can quietly fail if Keet is installed somewhere your account isn't allowed to modify.

Signs you're affected

You might be running into this if:

Keet stays on a "Shutting down" screen and never finishes restarting, or
Keet keeps asking for an administrator password whenever it tries to update.

This usually shows up on a standard (non-admin) account — for example, a child's account, a work-managed Mac, or any account that shares a computer with a separate administrator.

Why this happens

To install an update, Keet has to replace its own application file. When Keet lives in the Mac's main /Applications folder, only an administrator is allowed to change what's in there.

So when someone without admin rights runs Keet from /Applications, the update downloads fine but can't be written into place. That's what leaves the app hanging on "Shutting down" or asking for an admin password it can't get past.

This is specific to macOS, and it comes down to file permissions on the install location — not anything about your Keet profile or your rooms. Your data isn't affected, and moving the app (below) won't touch it.

How to fix it

Move Keet to a location your own account controls. The most reliable choice is your personal Applications folder, inside your home folder:

Quit Keet completely (Keet ▸ Quit, or ⌘ + Q).
Open Finder and go to your home folder (Go ▸ Home, or ⌘ + ⇧ + H).
If you don't already have one, create a folder there named Applications — its full path is /Users/UserName/Applications, where UserName is your macOS account name.
Drag Keet out of the main /Applications folder and into your /Users/UserName/Applications folder.
Open Keet from its new location.

From now on, updates apply on their own — no admin password required.

Prefer somewhere simpler? Your Desktop, or any other folder inside your home directory, works just as well. The only requirement is that your account can write to it.

If you'd rather keep Keet in /Applications

If you want Keet to stay in the shared /Applications folder, then an administrator has to be the one to update it — either by entering the admin password when Keet asks for it, or by opening Keet from an administrator account and letting it update there.

The whole point of a non-admin account is that the person using it doesn't have the admin password. If that's your situation (a child's account, say), don't wait on the password prompt — move Keet into a folder you control, as described above, so it can keep itself up to date on its own.

Setting up Keet for someone else

If you're installing Keet on another person's account — a kid's account, for instance — put it in their personal Applications folder (or another folder in their home directory) rather than the shared /Applications folder. That way their copy of Keet can update itself without needing you to step in every time.

For more on installing Keet across platforms, see Installation.

If Keet still won't update, please email us at support@holepunch.to