Setup guide: install App Updater and your apps

About 10 minutes. You install one small program, and it installs and updates everything else.

Before you start

What you need: a Windows 10 or 11 PC, and an internet connection. Flowstated apps are Windows programs.
Access is by invitation. App Updater gets the apps from the Flowstated release server, and each PC has to be approved there. Send the Flowstated admin your computer name (Settings → System → About → Device name) and which apps you want. They will give you a sign-in for step 4. Without that, App Updater opens but shows no apps for your PC.

Step by step

Download App Updater

Download the zip from the button below and save it somewhere easy, such as your Downloads folder.

Download App Updater

Unpack it to a permanent folder

  1. Right-click the zip and choose Extract All….
  2. Pick a folder you will keep, for example D:\Apps\App Updater. If you only have a C: drive, any folder you own works. Do not run it from inside the zip.

You should see three files: AppUpdater.exe, Launch-AppUpdater.bat and bootstrap.ps1.

Start it with Launch-AppUpdater.bat

Double-click Launch-AppUpdater.bat, not the exe directly. It checks that the .NET 10 Desktop Runtime is installed, and if it is missing it installs it quietly for you, then starts App Updater. The first start can take a minute.

Windows may show a blue Windows protected your PC screen because the app is new and unsigned. Choose More info, then Run anyway. Your antivirus may also ask you to confirm. Only do this for a zip you downloaded from this site or received from the Flowstated admin.

Sign in to the release server

  1. In App Updater open the Status page.
  2. Choose NAS sign-in… and type the account name and password you were given. Windows stores it in its own Credential Manager.
  3. If you are away from the home network, the admin will also ask you to install Tailscale (free) and join their network first.

When it works, the Status page shows the release source as reachable.

Choose your apps

Press Choose my apps…. Tick the apps you want and press Install ticked. App Updater picks a folder on your biggest non-system drive, installs each app, and adds it to the list. Apps that were approved for your PC may also install on their own the next time App Updater starts.

Open your apps

Start each app from its entry in App Updater, or from the shortcut it creates. Every app has a short first-run screen for language (English or French) and colours. You can change both later in its settings or the footer bar.

Keep everything up to date

  • Open App Updater now and then. Apps with a new version say Update available, with a short list of changes.
  • Press Update on one app or Update All. The old version is backed up first, and the new download is checked against its fingerprint before it replaces anything.
  • Something went wrong with a new version? Pick the previous version and press Roll Back.
  • An app acting strangely? Use Full reinstall on it.

New app versions are released on Thursdays, so most updates appear then.

First app: Remote Desktop

On the PC being controlled (the host)

  1. Open Remote Desktop and go to the Host tab.
  2. Turn on Allow incoming connections. If a line appears asking to open the port, press Open port and approve the one administrator prompt.
  3. Copy the pairing text and send it to the person who will connect.

On the PC doing the controlling

  1. Open Remote Desktop and go to the Connect tab.
  2. Paste the pairing text and press connect.
  3. You now see their screen. Use it to control the mouse and keyboard, or send files either way.
Both PCs must be on the same home network, or both on Tailscale. The app refuses connections from the open internet on purpose, so there is nothing to forward on the router.

Questions and problems

App Updater opens but the app list is empty

Your PC has not been approved yet, or the sign-in in step 4 was not accepted. Send the admin your computer name and retype the password in NAS sign-in.

It says it cannot reach the release server

Check you are on the home network, or that Tailscale is running and connected. Then restart App Updater.

Windows or my antivirus blocked the file

The apps are new and not signed with a paid certificate, so some antivirus programs flag them by mistake. If the zip came from this site or the admin, allow it or add an exclusion for the App Updater folder, then try again.

Does it install anything on my C: drive?

App Updater chooses your biggest non-system drive for apps and their data. The .NET runtime installs in its normal Windows location.

How do I uninstall an app?

Untick it in Choose my apps… and confirm. App Updater removes it for you.

I want French

Every app has an EN/FR switch in its footer or settings. The rose builds are French by default.