FileHippo App Manager: software update checker

FileHippo App Manager is a free program for the Windows operating system by software site FileHippo which informs you about outdated software running on the computer.

Version 2.0 has been released as a beta version back in September 2015 and while there is still no sight of the final version of the program, it is fairly stable already.

The program's been designed to improve how software updates are handled on Windows machines. Since Windows itself offers no options to update installed software (apart from apps downloaded from Windows Store), it is up to the user or system administrator to keep software up to date.

Software updates may fix security issues or bugs, or introduce new features.

FileHippo App Manager

The program needs to be installed and will run on startup of the system unless you disable the option during installation. The installer itself is clean and does not come with third-party offers but the program itself is ad-driven with a banner ad displayed at the bottom of the window.

FileHippo App Manager scans the system for installed software on start, and checks reported versions against an online database to find out if updates are available. Please note that beta updates are included by default and that you can disable this with a click on "display options" and the unchecking of "include beta updates" there.

All programs for which updates are available are then listed in the interface. The information that FileHippo App Manager displays is fairly limited. It displays the program name, version, and install size, and the version of the update, and when the program was last updated on the PC.

Options provided are to download the update and run the installer afterwards, or to ignore it. New versions are downloaded from FileHippo servers and the installer is run right afterwards.

Installations are not silent however which means that you need to handle the installation of each program manually that is downloaded this way.

You will notice as well that you can only run updates of programs individually and not in bulk. If FileHippo App Manager detected 20 out of date programs that you all want to update, then you will have to repeat the download and installation process for each application individually.

You can ignore updates in the program as well. This can be useful if you don't want a program to update, for instance if it is a commercial program that you would have to buy a new license for to continue using it after the update.

Software installers are downloaded on the system and stored in the "My Filehippo Downloads" folder under Documents by default. This is useful as you don't need to re-download the installer should the installation fail, and may also be of use if you need to update multiple machines.

Settings

You find several useful features in the settings. First, you may change the downloads folder there and switch the interface language and theme as well.

What may be more interesting than that is the option to add custom scan locations there as well which can be useful if you have installed programs in custom locations.

Closing Words

FileHippo App Manager 2.0  is available as a beta currently and while it ran stable during tests, it is held back by missing functionality.

There is no option to batch install updates or run updates silently. Compared to established programs like SUMo, it comes up a bit short in terms of programs it detects that updates are available for.

Now You: How do you handle software updates on Windows?