Apt Update Indicator – Get Notifications of Available Updates

Apt Update Indicator is a GNOME extension indicator for apt-based distributions. It lives in the system tray and has an app indicator that you can peek at to find out which apps have available updates.

Apart from available updates, it displays when there are new packages in the repository; Local/Obsolete packages; Residual config files; Auto-removable packages.

Features

• Free to download, use, and redistribute.
• Source code is available for contributions on GitHub.
• Uses pkcon refresh by default.
• Uses apt upgrade -y by default to upgrade.
• Optional update count display on panel.
• Available in 3 languages so far: English, French, and Spanish.
• Optional notification of new updates (defaults to off).

The latest version of Apt Update Indicator came with a ton of updates of which using “pkon refresh” is one of. before now, you would have either had to modify some system configuration files so that the extension could check for updates without a password, or manually enter the password each time Apt Update Indicator checked for updates.

Another important update that got released is the ability for the app to get updated via the GNOME Software or the Ubuntu Update Manager. It is also a lot more stable and memory friendly. If you’re already running the GNOME shell then you can just hit the button below.

[mks_button size=”medium” title=”Download Apt Update Indicator 1-Click Install” style=”squared” url=”https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1139/apt-update-indicator/” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow” bg_color=”#46698E” txt_color=”#fff” icon=”fa-download” icon_type=”fa” nofollow=”1″]

To install, simply clone and execute it.

$ git clone https://github.com/franglais125/apt-update-indicator.git
$ cd apt-update-indicator/
$ make install

Some people prefer using the terminal to check for upgradeable apps because all you need to do is enter a command. But I reckon it is niftier to have a tool that automatically does the checking for you; especially when it lives in your system tray.

I look forward to reading your opinions in the comments section below.