Burnish
Finds updates anywhere
Each app is checked against the best source it has: its developer's own feed first, the App Store, then Homebrew's catalogue, however you installed it.
New in 0.5.0-beta: Opens like any other app
Every app on your Mac, kept current.
Burnish finds updates for apps from anywhere (direct downloads, the App Store, Homebrew) and installs them carefully, right from your menu bar. Free and open source.
Or with Homebrew
brew install --cask enigmaticzee/tap/burnishSigned with a Developer ID and notarised by Apple.
Version 0.5.0-beta · macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon and Intel · Free
Finds updates from
- Mac App Store
- Sparkle feeds
- Electron
- Tauri
- Homebrew · 3,400+ apps
- GitHub Releases
- Microsoft AutoUpdate
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- Setapp
- JetBrains Toolbox
Careful by design
An updater replaces other apps on your Mac, so it should be the most careful app you own.
Never guesses
Not sure which app is which? It asks instead of raising a false alarm.
Checked on every build: 50 apps, 0 false alerts, 5 of 5 real updates found. Last run 1 November 2026, against Homebrew's list from 1 November 2026. How it's measured →
Hallmarks on every update
See where each update comes from and the checks it must pass: the developer's signature, the checksum, the same team as your copy, Gatekeeper. One fails, nothing changes.
Put Back, anytime
Every old version goes to the Trash, never deleted, or waits 30 days in Burnish's own folder if you like. Changed your mind? One click brings it back.
Quiet in your menu bar
One check a day, at most one notification. Minor updates can install themselves after a wait you choose; major ones always wait for you.
Private, properly
No account, no analytics, no crash reports. The only requests are the ones it takes to ask for updates, and they're all listed.
Eight promises
Every install keeps all eight, or it doesn't happen and you get the developer's download page instead.
- Only trusted sources. The app's own feed or Homebrew's data, over HTTPS.
- The developer's signature. If the app pins a signing key, the update must be signed with it.
- The published checksum. The download must match it exactly.
- The same developer, built for your Mac. Same team, same bundle ID, your Mac's chip, and Gatekeeper agrees.
- No installer runs on its own. Packages open in Apple's Installer, so you see every step.
- No force-quitting. Apps are asked politely. Unsaved work? You decide.
- Nothing deleted. The old version goes to the Trash, and Put Back returns it.
- Your password stays yours. When admin rights are needed, macOS asks you itself.
What's new
Opens like any other app.
The short version
- Burnish is signed with a Developer ID and notarised by Apple, so it opens with no warning.
- The app wears its own colour now: brass toggles, seals and a gradient progress bar.
- The accuracy numbers on the website come from a Homebrew sample that refreshes itself every month.
Read the full notes
- Notarised by Apple. Every release is now signed with a Developer ID and checked by Apple's notary service before it's published, with Apple's ticket stapled to the download. Download, drag, open: no "Open Anyway", no Terminal command. If you installed an earlier beta the hard way, there's nothing to undo; this update arrives through Burnish like any other, signed with the same update key as before.
- Brass, not blue. Toggles, menus, the hallmark seals and the Show all link take Burnish's own colour, matched to the website in light and dark, and progress bars draw the same brass gradient as the website's hero. A finished install gets a brass seal.
- A ledger that stays current. The Never guesses numbers on the website are measured against a sample of Homebrew's list. A job now re-cuts that sample on the first of every month and runs every test against it, so the date on the card stays within a month of today with nobody touching it.
Install in a minute
-
1
Download and drag
Download Burnish.dmg, open it and drag Burnish into Applications.
-
2
Open it
It's signed with a Developer ID and notarised by Apple, so it opens like any other app: no warning, nothing to allow.
-
3
Let it update apps
Turn on App Management when Burnish asks. Finding updates works without it; installing needs it.
Where your data goes
Nowhere it doesn't have to. These are the only places Burnish talks to:
- Homebrew's app listAt most once a day. Nothing about your apps.
- Apple's App Store lookupYour App Store apps' bundle IDs. You can turn it off.
- Each app's own update feedAnd the download itself, when you update.
- GitHubFor apps whose downloads live there, community match fixes and feeds, and Burnish's own updates.
Questions
Is it safe to let an app replace other apps?
That's what the eight promises are for. Every check runs before your app is touched, each one has an automated test that feeds it a bad file and proves the install is refused, and the old version always goes to the Trash.
Will it fight with Homebrew?
No. Apps you installed with Homebrew are shown but left to brew upgrade, unless you ask Burnish to run it for you.
What about App Store apps?
Burnish finds their updates and hands them to the App Store: several at once open the Updates page, where Apple's Update All does them together.
Can it update apps without asking?
If you turn it on. Minor updates for apps that aren't open install once they've been out a few days, security fixes right away. Major upgrades, which may be paid, always wait for you, and each app can have its own rule.
Why does it say "Can't check" for some apps?
Some apps have no public update source. Burnish says so rather than guessing, and tells you when a developer's own updater looks after the app instead.
Does it cost anything?
No, and it never will: no account, no subscription, no ads. It's MIT licensed, so you can read every line.
Who's behind it, and is there support?
One person, in their spare time. Burnish updates itself, so fixes arrive on their own, and issues on GitHub are read in batches rather than answered quickly. Settings → Privacy → Save Diagnostics writes a file with everything a report needs, and nothing leaves your Mac unless you attach it.
Ring the bell.
Your apps, kept current, without the dozen update windows.
Download Burnish 0.5.0-beta