AppStore Update alert that doesn't apply

[stefanmaine]

This is strictly FYI .

This morning, my iMac opened with a notice informing me that at the AppStore were two updates. I clicked "install now" and a few minutes later learned that one of the updates (to Keynote) had been successfully installed, but the other, related to my Brother MFC-J805DW printer, could not be installed at this time but "try again later".

I went to the AppStore to learn what's what, and from there to Brother's website, where I discovered that the update the AppStore wants me to try again later "works only with OS X 10.10."

That surprised me because the AppStore knows that I have 11.2.3 because that's where I got it, and it knows that I have the Brother MFC-J805DW because, when I was installing the printer, Brother's website told me to go to the AppStore for its software. But now even at LaunchPad, the AppStore icon continues to display a big red one, and I suppose will forever.

The error cannot be Apple's, right? So I'm guessing that when Brother informed the AppStore of the update, they neglected to tell them of a sentence that appears on Brother's website: "Important notice: This version works only with OS X 10.10."

Well, we all make mistakes.

I thought that maybe Apple would like to know about this. Surely its millions (billions?) of Big Sur users with Brother MFC-J805DW printers would like to know it. But evidently not.

At https://www.apple.com/legal/intellectual-property/policies/ideas.html I learned "Apple and its employees and contractors do not accept, review or consider any unsolicited ideas, works, materials, proposals, suggestions, artwork, content or the like ... "

Yes, I know, Apple's law firm wrote that when, decades ago, someone suggested an idea that Apple itself thought of on its own simultaneously, and eventually incorporated, and the submitter later sued for a piece of the action. But still ...

Or is there some box somewhere into which or from which I need to place or remove a check mark?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

One, you are looking at the the IP rules and that isn't relevant to what you wanted to do which is likely provide feedback to Apple, which you would do by visiting https://www.apple.com/feedback/

Anyway, the issue with Brother's update is likely that they neglected to pin their update to a specific version.

I've gotten the "try again later" message for Fantastical that I was trying to update recently. So I just ignored it for a couple of days and tried again and it worked.

Not sure if there is a way of ignoring an app update.

 

[stefanmaine]

Thank you for the FEEDBACK link. The other came up on a Google search, and, as you say, was obviously not what I wanted.

I earned your comment about "ignoring an app update." Clearly, I do not want to do that. The frustration generated by the AppStore's advice that I "try again later" ignited cynicism. The whole thread ought to be removed, with my apologies.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

My policy is that if my printer or scanner is working perfectly with the OS that I intend to be using for the foreseeable future, I don't tempt fate by installing any sort of printer or scanner update. The potential upside isn't there, and the potential downside is too great.

I think that the days of assuming that all updates that you are offered, in general, and Apple OS updates in particular, are going to be rock solid, are long gone. It's best to wait for a use case, and feedback from others, before installing updates.

 

[stefanmaine]

I think that the days of assuming that all updates that you are offered, in general, and Apple OS updates in particular, are going to be rock solid, are long gone.

I had always assumed that Apple was synonymous with "rock solid."

http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html is a nice page. Thank you.

Finally ... Adobe Flash. I just asked Find Any File to search "Flash" ... and it replied "314 matched."
The Adobe uninstaller page (https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-mac-os.html) seems to stop at OS 10.7.

Do you know if there is an Adobe Flash uninstaller for Big Sur? Or is the Lion version likely to be, uh, rock solid?

 

[MacInWin]

My policy is that if my printer or scanner is working perfectly with the OS that I intend to be using for the foreseeable future, I don't tempt fate by installing any sort of printer or scanner update. The potential upside isn't there, and the potential downside is too great.

I think that the days of assuming that all updates that you are offered, in general, and Apple OS updates in particular, are going to be rock solid, are long gone. It's best to wait for a use case, and feedback from others, before installing updates.

There was never a software release from anyone, including Apple, that was "rock solid." Any non-trivial code is going to have miscoded sections in it where either it is a real "bug" that crashes the software or won't do what it is supposed to do, or a "feature" that is not properly documented. And in the world of operating systems, there is no practical way to accurately test software for every possible combination of hardware, both internal and external, that might exist in the real world. That is the reason Apple issues public beta versions, in the slim hope that people using the beta will actually report back for them from the messy real world. So, to assume that an update to anything is "rock solid" is just foolish. That is why a backup before changing anything is not just a good idea, but essential.