How to check updates only in a major release version in Android Studio?

Question

I use the Android Studio stable build ('3.5.3' currently) for my primary dev purposes. Along with it, I've also side-loaded Android Studio '4.0' to test out all the new features it promises. I want this installation to be updated to the latest canary. However, when I 'Check for Updates...' in this installation it shows an update for version '3.5 Beta 5'.

The build number is higher as compared to '4.0 Canary 4' but, wouldn't this be a downgrade for me? I was under the impression that major release versions would have their builds numbered accordingly to avoid this scenario. How do I update my AS 4.0 installation to the latest 4.0 canary?

OS: macOS Mojave 10.14.6

Answer 1

It looks like your Android studio is configured to check for updates for the Beta Channel - you can see it is informing you that there is a new Beta release.

You can set the channel that it checks for updates in the settings.

On a Mac this is under 'Appearance & Behaviour' in the preferences, accessed via the 'Andri Studio' Menu at the top:

Regardless of the version you have currently installed, you can ask it check for updates on any channel which can lead to confusing messages as you have seen.

At the time of writing (Android studio 4.1.1) if you ask for updates on a channel that it less stable than your current channel you will get a warning message displayed, but if it the same channel or a more stable one you will not see any warning. See below an example of the warning if check for updates is on the 'Canary' channel when the current version is the 'Beta' channel: