Firefox/Features/Lessen App Update Displayed UI

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Feature Status ETA Owner
Lessen the display of App Update UI In Progress. 2011-07-01 Robert Strong

Summary

To reduce update fatigue, don't display application update notifications and user interface unless necessary.

Twelve hours after an update is downloaded the user is told to restart Firefox by the display of the application update user interface. Instead of always notifying after twelve hours and possibly interrupting the user the notification should only be displayed when it is important for the user to apply the update (e.g. when the update contains an important security fix the user should be notified).

If there is a pending update it is applied during startup and the updater dialog is displayed. Over the last year there have been several improvements to the updater that have made it apply updates significantly faster. When the update is applied quickly the updater dialog should not be displayed.

Team

  • Feature Manager: Robert Strong
  • Lead Developer: Tim Taubert
  • QA: TBD
  • UX: Alex Limi
  • Security: Lucas Adamski

Release Requirements

  • Needs to lessen the amount of times the user sees user interface associated with an application update
  • The decision when the notification should be displayed must be controlled remotely (the update xml) and have a default amount of time
  • Needs to pass a security review
  • Needs to have tests

Next Steps & Open Issues

  • bug 353804 - Automatic update does not check for newer versions before resuming an update download on startup - Tim Taubert - in progress
  • bug 659425 - get average session length from crash stats and Test Pilot studies - Robert Strong - in progress
  • bug 657472 -'Tune' the time to wait before displaying the update been downloaded / restart notification and provide ability to override in the update xml - Tim Taubert. Waiting on bug 659425
  • bug 659181 - 'Tune' when the updater dialog is displayed - Robert Strong. Currently working on what 'quickly' means as it relates to when the dialog is displayed.

Related Bugs & Dependencies

  • bug 481815 - Provide a Windows service to update applications without asking Administrator password
  • bug 394984 - Unable to update on mac if admin user is not the same admin user as the person who installed firefox
  • bug 529746 - App update should request elevation when the user doesn't have privileges to update

Risks

  • AUS will need to be updated (see bug 459972 for existing work to AUS that has as of yet been completed).

Use Cases

  • Users that seldom restart Firefox
  • Users that use builds that update often when compared to Release builds (Aurora, Nightly)

Designs

  • TBD

Test Plans

  • TBD (QA)

Goals

  • Lessen application update user fatigue by lessening the times when the application update user interface is displayed to the user.

Non-Goals

  • Implementing a background method for updating the application (bug 481815)
  • Avoid having to ask for administrator password (bug 481815)
  • Preparing an update asynchronously to a copy of the application (bug 307181)
Retrieved from "https://wiki.mozilla.org/index.php?title=Firefox/Features/Lessen_App_Update_Displayed_UI&oldid=312272"