How Vernacular keeps its list of makers and apps up to date

Vernacular reads each app’s own code to decide whether it keeps working, so that never needs anything from the internet. Around the verdict it gives advice: which version of an app first ran natively, where a maker’s drivers are, and Apple’s own words on Rosetta. That advice comes from a list built into the app. From version 1.1, Vernacular keeps it up to date by itself.

What changes without an app update

• An app that now runs natively, with the version it happened in and the maker’s own page that says so.
• A maker’s driver page that moves, or a new printer, scanner or audio maker.
• Apple’s own words on Rosetta, quoted exactly, and the line under each verdict that sums them up.

What still needs an app update

• Every sentence Vernacular shows, and every verdict.
• How Vernacular reads an app or an add-on.

How it works

• Once a day, and when you open Vernacular if it’s been longer, it reads the list from GitHub.
• Signed: Vernacular only uses a list signed with the nicoleslittlebrother key built into the app. Anything else is ignored, so a list can’t be swapped for a bad one.
• Only newer: each list has a version number, and Vernacular never goes back to an older one.
• Offline: without a connection, or until the first update arrives, Vernacular uses the list it came with. Everything keeps working.
• A new list applies the next time Vernacular reads your Mac: when you open it, press Read Again, or add a folder.

Settings shows which version of the list you have, and when it was updated.

Turning it off

In Settings, turn off Keep the list of makers and apps up to date. Vernacular then never connects, except the App Store’s own purchase and restore, and keeps the list it has.

What it sends

Nothing beyond a normal web request to GitHub, the same as opening any public page. Nothing about you, your Mac or your apps. The list is public, at github.com/garethdotjoseph-bot/nlbdocs.