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Update couldn’t be installed / app couldn’t restart / move to Applications

You might be here because: “update couldn’t be installed” · “move driftstack to your applications folder” · “update installed but the app didn’t restart” · “couldn’t reach the update server” · “the app won’t update” · “driftstack already retried once” · “unidentified developer warning when opening the app” · “how do I update the app” · “update stuck”

Short answer

The app checks for updates when it opens and every few hours, and installs a new version on its own unless a session is running; then a banner offers the update and you choose when to install it. Pressing Install & restart (or Install … now in Settings) installs the update and restarts the app even while a session is running, so finish your session first. Most install failures are about where the app is running from: if you opened it from the downloaded disk image or a quarantined download, it can’t replace itself. Move Driftstack into your Applications folder, open it from there, and update again.

Check first

  • Is the app in /Applications (or a folder on a drive), not on a mounted disk image? An app at the root of a mounted volume is treated as a disk image.
  • Are you online? “Couldn’t reach the update server. Check your connection and try again.” is a network message, not a broken app.
  • After any failure the app is unchanged; you can keep working on the old version.

Likely causes and fixes

  1. “Move Driftstack to your Applications folder, then open it again to update.” The app is running from a disk image, a quarantined “translocated” location, or a read-only folder. Drag it to Applications, quit, reopen from there, then Install.
  2. “Update X installed, but the app couldn’t restart itself. Quit and reopen Driftstack.” The install succeeded; only the relaunch failed. Quit and open the app normally.
  3. “Update couldn’t be installed. Try again.” A first failure; try once more.
  4. “… Driftstack already retried once.” The app already tried twice; a third click will likely fail the same way. Press Download in the update banner (or use driftstack.io/download) and install it over the old copy.
  5. Unidentified-developer warning on first open. Builds are not Apple-notarised. If macOS says Driftstack “Not Opened” (or that it can’t check the app): click Done, then open System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down, click Open Anyway, and confirm with Open Anyway and your password. On macOS 14 or earlier, Control-click the app in Applications, choose Open, then click Open. If macOS says Driftstack “is damaged and can’t be opened”: do not move it to the Trash. Open Terminal and run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Driftstack.app, then open Driftstack again. Only do this for a copy you downloaded from driftstack.io/download. Updates are verified with Driftstack’s own signing key instead.

If it still fails

Press Talk to a person in this chat (or open Help) and include the app version (Settings), the exact sentence, and where the app is installed. Reinstalling from the official download is safe: your sign-in, recordings and settings stay unless you sign out.