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by technojamin 1063 days ago
VS Code isn't actually that bad with its extension and application updates. When an extension has been updated, it'll try to load the new version in-memory (if the extension supports it), otherwise it'll add a badge to the Extensions panel icon in the sidebar, leaving a subtle reminder that you need to restart in order to get the new extension update. For updates to VS Code proper, it adds a badge to the settings icon. No popups or notifications. You can also disable auto-updating for extensions and the application if you find the badges distracting.

Now, if certain extensions try to get your attention with notifications or automatically opening release notes, that can absolutely be a problem. Extensions vary wildly in quality, since the barrier for publishing one is effectively nothing. These leaves the job of curating good, non-spammy extensions up to the developer.

1 comments

VS Code:

* Opens a welcome tab anytime you open a project

* Pops up unsolicited toast notifications for new file extensions, "we have extensions which can help you with that file type!"

* Opens "what's new" type tabs anytime it updates

* Starts the "jumping up and down" MacOS dock animation for sometimes trivial problems

I could list more examples, but suffice it to say, this is...not ideal. I love VS Code, so for fresh/unsync'ed installs I'm willing to meticulously trawl through its settings, twiddling various knobs to disable these multifarious annoyances. But hey, it's worth it (to me).

I learned to smash escape button as soon as I see something spawning in the bottom-right corner of the screen

I haven't missed anything critical yet.

> Opens "what's new" type tabs anytime it updates

this happens once a month maybe and sometimes it's actually something useful. Realistically though, it's just another ⌘W. By the way, look at the `update.showReleaseNotes` setting

> Opens a welcome tab anytime you open a project

I don't have this behavior on my computer, it's just empty file or whatever was opened last time