Hi, So I’ve been using 1Password to manage my software licenses in the local vault. Why local? Because their file management is terrible in 1Password Family – files are attachments and they fill search with dummy results. So, was wondering if there is standalone, supported software license manager? Turns out, I still have bunch of non-subscription software, which require license key… and keeping everything in email… isn’t working. Too bad, License Keeper died couple years ago…
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I use DEVONthink for this. It’s probably overkill if that’s the only thing you’d use it for.
AirTable might be a good option, as this appears to be a fairly straight forward database application.
I’ve though about using Devonthink, but… is there a way to add custom fields, so I could create License code/license file field?
Thanks.
DT supports templates for documents, so you could create a form with pertinent info.
DT also supports smart templates, which support scripting.
I haven’t used either. When I get an email with a receipt and/or license code, I just have MailMate save them to DEVONthink, where I put them in my Receipts/Software group. If I need the code later, I can quickly search for the program name and find the license code.
DT has OCR, so all this can also happen if the license code is in a PDF.
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O don’t have any problems with the 1password vaul sync.
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I don’t think I’ve had any problem adding items in 1Password or managing attachments there, aside from the unwieldy ness of my accumulated notes. I have a text file with registration info for all my apps going back a decade which I kept originally in Devonthink, then moved to EagleFiler (which I switched to a couple of years ago) but this thread has me considering making it a Secure Note inside 1Password.
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I use 1Password and don’t mind the search issue, but I also keep my licenses in folders such as ~/.config/license/APPNAME/
(My ~/.config/ folder is synced between my Macs using Resilio Sync.)
In the folder I keep either the file, if it has one, or the registration information.
I’m in the process of figuring out how to automate registration of my apps, either by using defaults write or copying files to their required locations.
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MacUpdater is my preferred app for checking for updates. It’s a one-time fee of $/€9.99.
A new app in this category is Latest which is free.
Both of them are much better than MacUpdate Desktop which is $20/year.
(For the truly nerdy, you can use my tjluoma/di: [D]ownload and [I]nstall Mac apps scripts for the command-line, but it only checks the specific apps that I’ve written scripts for.)
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Clean My Mac has update functionality too.
I’m a big fan of MacUpdater as well. It works very well and on those rare occasions where there’s an issue the developer usually has it fixed before I get a chance to tell him about it. Worth every penny.
Thank you for the suggestions @tjluoma. I’m trying the app “Latest” right now. Although, I much prefer to update apps via the terminal which is why I love Homebrew and the terminal command: “brew cask upgrade.”
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I like the command line as well, which is why I made the di scripts, but brew is a much saner choice for 99.999% of the population 