I apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outdated version of ARC. As an AI, I don't have access to real-time information, so I recommend reaching out to the Synthiam support team directly for the most up-to-date information on the release of the updated free version of ARC. They will be able to provide you with the most accurate information and assist you with any concerns you may have. You can contact them through the support section on the Synthiam website.

We’ve experienced many complaints when the free version was updated from teachers and educators. We have tried to coordinate with our hardware partners so they would notify their customers of a pending update. Due to pushback from many educators, we have had to continue delaying for update of the free version. Unfortunately we do not have an expected date because of this. Instead, we’re considering removing the notification of new versions for the free version so no one is interrupted. If that is the case, we will be able to schedule it for sometime in the next 2-3 months after the terms of use is updated.

Haha yah schools hate updates and there’s been many of them post on here to express their feelings. So I think it’s a good choice since the free version seems to suit their needs. We have no one asking for free to be updated, so it hasn’t been a priority. Allows us to focus on keeping the Pro version rock’n :)

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We’ve experienced many complaints when the free version was updated from teachers and educators

That’s a tough one because I can understand the concerns of educators. It’s a lot of work to keep their computers running - plus they’re always under staffed. Free isn’t free is it costs them several man-hours to update all the PCs.

so if they’re happy with the current free version, we let it ride :)

Thanks for the insight @DJ.

I don't think an annual update is asking too much from educators. There are some useful new features that don't exist in the free version because it is Feb 2022. Educators aren't forced to download and install the latest version are they?

They’re not forced, but there’s a popup. Feedback from educators and their complaint posts on the forum say it confuses the students and disrupts the lesson. I think the ideal situation would be to remove the update notice in the free version. Also, the main reason we had delayed the update was feedback from an education partner that really really really didn’t like the updates. There may be features and fixes but it doesn’t seem to affect the schools usage.

That doesn’t mean the update won’t happen - just not sure when but I’ll let you know when I find out.

I have no skin in this game at all but I do have a couple thoughts. *First, it sounds like the solution of removing the notice is a good one. I'm a "Personal Responsibility' kind of person. Leave it up to the user to check for updates and don't force one if everything is working as is. I know I don't want popups in ARC stopping my robot from starting up. I'm not to happy with that feature in my ARC Pro version (even though I can set it to delay for a number of months).  *Second, on the other hand, I think we as a society are going to far in trying too protect other people from (safe) struggle and adversity. Going through that process is the best way to learn (IMHO). These people complaining about deleing with a pop up are kids and teachers sitting in a classroom learning to deal with learning a computer program and problem solving. I don't accept the complaint that this "confuses the students and disrupts the lessen". The teacher should make it part of the "lesson" and teach them to push the "Skip" button and move ahead. Problem solved, lesson learned. Now we can deal with this the next time it happens. Then the teacher needs to update the software. I was married to an elementary school teacher for along time. She worked around these issues all the time and spent some personal time each week working on her work related issues. Much like DJ does here on the forum with us.   *Third, there is nothing wrong with making a process better. Refer to my first thought. LOL.

Thanks @DJ for all you do!

Dave thanks for that feedback. I’ll add an option to disable the check entirely for checking for new versions in the pro :)

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I’ll add an option to disable the check entirely for checking for new versions in the pro