diff --git a/electron/config.js b/electron/config.js
index 0eaa1bd3..05339bb3 100644
--- a/electron/config.js
+++ b/electron/config.js
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ const schema = {
             "emacsMetaKey": { "enum": [null, "alt", "meta"], default: null },
             "showLineNumberGutter": {type: "boolean", default:true},
             "showFoldGutter": {type: "boolean", default:true},
+            "allowBetaVersions": {type: "boolean", default: false},
         },
     },
 
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ const defaults = {
         emacsMetaKey: "meta",
         showLineNumberGutter: true,
         showFoldGutter: true,
+        allowBetaVersions: false,
     },
     theme: "system",
 }
diff --git a/electron/main/auto-update.ts b/electron/main/auto-update.ts
index 63252f64..a8fe37c3 100644
--- a/electron/main/auto-update.ts
+++ b/electron/main/auto-update.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { autoUpdater } from "electron-updater"
 import { app, dialog, ipcMain } from "electron"
+import CONFIG from "../config"
 
 import { 
     UPDATE_AVAILABLE_EVENT, 
@@ -10,7 +11,7 @@ import {
     UPDATE_START_DOWNLOAD,
     UPDATE_INSTALL_AND_RESTART,
     UPDATE_CHECK_FOR_UPDATES,
- } from '../constants'
+} from '../constants'
 
 
 // will reference the main window
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@ autoUpdater.logger = log
 autoUpdater.logger.transports.file.level = "info"
 
 autoUpdater.autoDownload = false
+autoUpdater.allowDowngrade = true
 
 autoUpdater.on('error', (error) => {
     window?.webContents.send(UPDATE_ERROR, error == null ? "unknown" : (error.stack || error).toString())
@@ -63,14 +65,33 @@ ipcMain.handle(UPDATE_INSTALL_AND_RESTART, () => {
     setImmediate(() => autoUpdater.quitAndInstall(true, true))
 })
 
-ipcMain.handle(UPDATE_CHECK_FOR_UPDATES, () => {
+
+export function checkForUpdates() {
+    autoUpdater.allowPrerelease = CONFIG.get("settings.allowBetaVersions")
     autoUpdater.checkForUpdates()
     // for development, the autoUpdater will not work, so we need to trigger the event manually
     if (process.env.NODE_ENV === "development") {
         window?.webContents.send(UPDATE_NOT_AVAILABLE_EVENT)
     }
+}
+
+ipcMain.handle(UPDATE_CHECK_FOR_UPDATES, () => {
+    checkForUpdates()
 })
 
 export function initializeAutoUpdate(win) {
     window = win
+
+    /**
+     * To debug auto updates (actually downloading an update won't work), 
+     * uncomment the lines below, and create a dev-app-update.yml with the content:
+     * 
+     * owner: heyman
+     * repo: heynote
+     * provider: github
+     */
+    // Useful for some dev/debugging tasks, but download can
+    // not be validated becuase dev app is not signed
+    //autoUpdater.updateConfigPath = "/Users/heyman/projects/heynote/dev-app-update.yml" //path.join(__dirname, 'dev-app-update.yml');
+    //autoUpdater.forceDevUpdateConfig = true;
 }
diff --git a/electron/main/index.ts b/electron/main/index.ts
index 981a44a3..5fd27991 100644
--- a/electron/main/index.ts
+++ b/electron/main/index.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import { WINDOW_CLOSE_EVENT, SETTINGS_CHANGE_EVENT } from '../constants';
 import CONFIG from "../config"
 import { onBeforeInputEvent } from "../keymap"
 import { isMac } from '../detect-platform';
-import { initializeAutoUpdate } from './auto-update';
+import { initializeAutoUpdate, checkForUpdates } from './auto-update';
 import { fixElectronCors } from './cors';
 
 
@@ -59,6 +59,12 @@ const isDev = !!process.env.VITE_DEV_SERVER_URL
 let currentKeymap = CONFIG.get("settings.keymap")
 let contentSaved = false
 
+// if this version is a beta version, set the release channel to beta
+const isBetaVersion = app.getVersion().includes("beta")
+if (isBetaVersion) {
+    CONFIG.set("settings.allowBetaVersions", true)
+}
+
 
 async function createWindow() {
     // read any stored window settings from config, or use defaults
@@ -203,7 +209,7 @@ ipcMain.handle('buffer-content:saveAndQuit', async (event, content) => {
 })
 
 ipcMain.handle('settings:set', (event, settings) =>  {
-    if (settings.keymap !== CONFIG.get("keymap")) {
+    if (settings.keymap !== CONFIG.get("settings.keymap")) {
         currentKeymap = settings.keymap
     }
     CONFIG.set("settings", settings)
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 9dc539d0..41d4b8d2 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
         "electron-builder": "^23.6.0",
         "electron-builder-notarize": "^1.5.1",
         "electron-store": "^8.1.0",
-        "electron-updater": "^5.3.0",
+        "electron-updater": "^6.1.7",
         "fs-jetpack": "^5.1.0",
         "prettier": "^2.8.4",
         "rollup-plugin-license": "^3.0.1",
@@ -1328,12 +1328,6 @@
         "@types/node": "*"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/@types/semver": {
-      "version": "7.3.13",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@types/semver/-/semver-7.3.13.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-21cFJr9z3g5dW8B0CVI9g2O9beqaThGQ6ZFBqHfwhzLDKUxaqTIy3vnfah/UPkfOiF2pLq+tGz+W8RyCskuslw==",
-      "dev": true
-    },
     "node_modules/@types/verror": {
       "version": "1.10.6",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@types/verror/-/verror-1.10.6.tgz",
@@ -3039,20 +3033,32 @@
       }
     },
     "node_modules/electron-updater": {
-      "version": "5.3.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/electron-updater/-/electron-updater-5.3.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-iKEr7yQBcvnQUPnSDYGSWC9t0eF2YbZWeYYYZzYxdl+HiRejXFENjYMnYjoOm2zxyD6Cr2JTHZhp9pqxiXuCOw==",
+      "version": "6.1.7",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/electron-updater/-/electron-updater-6.1.7.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-SNOhYizjkm4ET+Y8ilJyUzcVsFJDtINzVN1TyHnZeMidZEG3YoBebMyXc/J6WSiXdUaOjC7ngekN6rNp6ardHA==",
       "dev": true,
       "dependencies": {
-        "@types/semver": "^7.3.6",
-        "builder-util-runtime": "9.1.1",
-        "fs-extra": "^10.0.0",
+        "builder-util-runtime": "9.2.3",
+        "fs-extra": "^10.1.0",
         "js-yaml": "^4.1.0",
         "lazy-val": "^1.0.5",
         "lodash.escaperegexp": "^4.1.2",
         "lodash.isequal": "^4.5.0",
-        "semver": "^7.3.5",
-        "typed-emitter": "^2.1.0"
+        "semver": "^7.3.8",
+        "tiny-typed-emitter": "^2.1.0"
+      }
+    },
+    "node_modules/electron-updater/node_modules/builder-util-runtime": {
+      "version": "9.2.3",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/builder-util-runtime/-/builder-util-runtime-9.2.3.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-FGhkqXdFFZ5dNC4C+yuQB9ak311rpGAw+/ASz8ZdxwODCv1GGMWgLDeofRkdi0F3VCHQEWy/aXcJQozx2nOPiw==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "dependencies": {
+        "debug": "^4.3.4",
+        "sax": "^1.2.4"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=12.0.0"
       }
     },
     "node_modules/electron-updater/node_modules/fs-extra": {
@@ -4854,16 +4860,6 @@
         "node": ">=12"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/rxjs": {
-      "version": "7.8.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/rxjs/-/rxjs-7.8.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-F2+gxDshqmIub1KdvZkaEfGDwLNpPvk9Fs6LD/MyQxNgMds/WH9OdDDXOmxUZpME+iSK3rQCctkL0DYyytUqMg==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "optional": true,
-      "dependencies": {
-        "tslib": "^2.1.0"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/safer-buffer": {
       "version": "2.1.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/safer-buffer/-/safer-buffer-2.1.2.tgz",
@@ -5252,6 +5248,12 @@
         "node": ">= 10.0.0"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/tiny-typed-emitter": {
+      "version": "2.1.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/tiny-typed-emitter/-/tiny-typed-emitter-2.1.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-qVtvMxeXbVej0cQWKqVSSAHmKZEHAvxdF8HEUBFWts8h+xEo5m/lEiPakuyZ3BnCBjOD8i24kzNOiOLLgsSxhA==",
+      "dev": true
+    },
     "node_modules/tmp": {
       "version": "0.2.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/tmp/-/tmp-0.2.1.tgz",
@@ -5294,13 +5296,6 @@
         "utf8-byte-length": "^1.0.1"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/tslib": {
-      "version": "2.5.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/tslib/-/tslib-2.5.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-336iVw3rtn2BUK7ORdIAHTyxHGRIHVReokCR3XjbckJMK7ms8FysBfhLR8IXnAgy7T0PTPNBWKiH514FOW/WSg==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "optional": true
-    },
     "node_modules/type-fest": {
       "version": "0.13.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/type-fest/-/type-fest-0.13.1.tgz",
@@ -5314,15 +5309,6 @@
         "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/sindresorhus"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/typed-emitter": {
-      "version": "2.1.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/typed-emitter/-/typed-emitter-2.1.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-g/KzbYKbH5C2vPkaXGu8DJlHrGKHLsM25Zg9WuC9pMGfuvT+X25tZQWo5fK1BjBm8+UrVE9LDCvaY0CQk+fXDA==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "optionalDependencies": {
-        "rxjs": "*"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/typescript": {
       "version": "4.9.4",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/typescript/-/typescript-4.9.4.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 0c50cf23..0c010e80 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
   },
   "build": {
     "appId": "com.heynote.app",
+    "generateUpdatesFilesForAllChannels": true,
     "directories": {
       "buildResources": "resources"
     }
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@
     "electron-builder": "^23.6.0",
     "electron-builder-notarize": "^1.5.1",
     "electron-store": "^8.1.0",
-    "electron-updater": "^5.3.0",
+    "electron-updater": "^6.1.7",
     "fs-jetpack": "^5.1.0",
     "prettier": "^2.8.4",
     "rollup-plugin-license": "^3.0.1",
diff --git a/src/components/App.vue b/src/components/App.vue
index f7d70d77..0e0370bf 100644
--- a/src/components/App.vue
+++ b/src/components/App.vue
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@
             :languageAuto="languageAuto"
             :theme="theme"
             :systemTheme="systemTheme"
+            :allowBetaVersions="settings.allowBetaVersions"
             @toggleTheme="toggleTheme"
             @openLanguageSelector="openLanguageSelector"
             @formatCurrentBlock="formatCurrentBlock"
diff --git a/src/components/StatusBar.vue b/src/components/StatusBar.vue
index 2deb8813..7681b6b9 100644
--- a/src/components/StatusBar.vue
+++ b/src/components/StatusBar.vue
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
             "languageAuto",
             "theme",
             "systemTheme",
+            "allowBetaVersions",
         ],
 
         components: {
@@ -63,7 +64,7 @@
         >
             <span class="icon icon-format"></span>
         </div>
-        <UpdateStatusItem />
+        <UpdateStatusItem :allowBetaVersions="allowBetaVersions" />
         <div class="status-block theme clickable" @click="$emit('toggleTheme')" title="Toggle dark/light mode">
             <span :class="'icon ' + systemTheme"></span>
         </div>
diff --git a/src/components/UpdateStatusItem.vue b/src/components/UpdateStatusItem.vue
index 464b459e..a57b5ec4 100644
--- a/src/components/UpdateStatusItem.vue
+++ b/src/components/UpdateStatusItem.vue
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 <script>
     export default {
+        props: [
+            "allowBetaVersions",
+        ],
+        
         data() {
             return {
                 updateAvailable: false,
@@ -62,6 +66,14 @@
             }
         },
 
+        watch: {
+            allowBetaVersions: {
+                handler: function (newValue) {
+                    this.checkForUpdate()
+                },
+            }
+        },
+
         computed: {
             statusText() {
                 if (this.downloading) {
@@ -123,6 +135,7 @@
             },
 
             checkForUpdate() {
+                this.updateAvailable = false
                 this.checkingForUpdate = true
                 window.heynote.autoUpdate.checkForUpdates()
             }
diff --git a/src/components/settings/Settings.vue b/src/components/settings/Settings.vue
index f4c1a681..0f5763da 100644
--- a/src/components/settings/Settings.vue
+++ b/src/components/settings/Settings.vue
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
                 isMac: window.heynote.platform.isMac,
                 showLineNumberGutter: this.initialSettings.showLineNumberGutter,
                 showFoldGutter: this.initialSettings.showFoldGutter,
+                allowBetaVersions: this.initialSettings.allowBetaVersions,
             }
         },
 
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@
                     showFoldGutter: this.showFoldGutter,
                     keymap: this.keymap,
                     emacsMetaKey: this.metaKey,
+                    allowBetaVersions: this.allowBetaVersions,
                 })
             }
         }
@@ -91,6 +93,20 @@
                         </div>
                     </div>
                 </div>
+                <div class="row">
+                    <div class="entry">
+                        <h2>Beta Versions</h2>
+                        <div class="checkbox">
+                            <input 
+                                type="checkbox" 
+                                id="allowBetaVersions"
+                                v-model="allowBetaVersions" 
+                                @change="updateSettings"
+                            />
+                            <label for="allowBetaVersions">Use beta versions of Heynote</label>
+                        </div>
+                    </div>
+                </div>
             </div>
             <button 
                 @click="$emit('closeSettings')"