What the Launcher is for
Ilumax Launcher is one window for all fourteen Ilumax apps. It shows which apps are on this computer and at which version, installs the right build for your Mac or PC, tells you when updates are out, and opens and removes apps.
It comes free with any licence. Everything it downloads comes from ilumaxsystems.com, and every file is checked against its published SHA-256 checksum before it is installed.
It can keep running in the menu bar on a Mac, or the notification area on Windows, and go on checking for updates there.
Install and first launch
Download the Launcher from My downloads, or from the list on your thank-you page, and install it like any Ilumax app. The first time you open it, your Mac or PC asks you to confirm; the one-time steps are in Installing Ilumax apps.
The Launcher opens on a grid of every app. Until it has looked at what is on your computer, each card says Checking…. Apps show Buy until you add your licence key.
Add your licence key
- Find the licence key you saved after buying. It starts with
ILX1. - Click the gear at the top right to open Settings.
- Under Licence, paste the key into the Licence key field.
- Click Add licence, or press Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows).
- The Launcher checks the key, then shows your email address, what the licence covers and Updates until with a date. Confirmed by ilumaxsystems.com means the website has checked it too.
- Click Done. The apps your licence covers now show Install.
The key is Kept in your system’s credential store, never in a file: the Keychain on a Mac, Windows Credential Manager on a PC.
If the key is refused
- That isn’t an Ilumax licence key: part of it is missing. Copy all of it, from
ILX1.to the end, and paste it again. - This licence key isn’t valid: check that you copied all of it.
- This licence key is newer than this launcher: download the newest Launcher from My downloads.
- ilumaxsystems.com didn’t accept this licence: email [email protected] and say what happened.
- Couldn’t reach ilumaxsystems.com to confirm it: you are offline. The key is kept, and each download checks it again.
Use a different key
In Settings ▸ Licence, click Remove licence, then paste the other key. Remove licence acts at once, without asking, and takes the key out of the credential store.
Install your first app
- Find the app in the grid. Available to install means your licence covers it.
- Click Install.
- The card shows the download’s progress, then Verifying checksum… and Installing…. You can pause or cancel the download while it runs.
- When it is done, the Launcher says the app is installed, with its version, and the button changes to Open.
- Click Open. The first time you open an app, your Mac or PC may ask you to confirm it, as described in Installing Ilumax apps.
On a Mac, apps go into your Applications folder, or into the Applications folder in your home folder if the Launcher can’t write to the main one. On Windows, each app installs for your user account only, with no administrator password, and appears in the Start menu.
After that, you can also open the apps the usual way, from Applications or the Start menu.
Find your way around
- Header: Grid shows the apps as cards and Table as a table. At the right, ⟳ is Check for updates and ⚙ is Settings.
- Toolbar: tabs for All, Installed, Updates and Not installed, each with a count, then Update all, Search apps and, in the grid, Sort.
- App cards: each app’s status, version and main button, such as Install, Open or Update to a version. The … menu holds the rest: Release notes, Show in Finder or Show in Explorer, Reinstall, Hide App and Uninstall….
- App details: click a card to read the app’s description, its features and the latest release. Esc closes it.
- Footer: when the Launcher last checked for updates, and whether it is installing for macOS or Windows.
Everyday tasks
Update your apps
The Launcher checks for updates when it starts and then every few minutes. Click ⟳ to check now.
An app with a newer version shows Update available and an Update to button with the version. Click it, or click Update all in the toolbar to update every app your licence covers. Quit an app before you update it: one that is running can’t be updated.
To have updates installed as soon as they are found, turn on Automatically download and install updates in Settings ▸ Updates. To check only when you click ⟳, set Check for updates to Only when I ask.
Remove an app
- Quit the app.
- On its card, open the … menu and choose Uninstall….
- Click Uninstall to confirm.
On a Mac the app is moved to the Trash; on Windows it is removed like any installed program. Your documents and settings stay.
To take an app you don’t use out of the lists without removing anything, choose Hide App in the same menu. The Hidden Apps tab brings it back with Unhide App.
Keep getting updates: renew
Your licence includes every version released in the 12 months after you bought it. Settings ▸ Licence shows the date as Updates until, or Updates ended once it has passed. The apps you have keep working either way.
When a new version comes out after your updates have ended, the app’s card says Updates ended and offers Renew to get that version. Click it, or Renew updates in Settings, to renew on ilumaxsystems.com: a renewal adds 12 more months, at the price shown on the store.
After you renew, the thank-you page shows your newest key. The Launcher picks up the renewal itself the next time it starts; you can also click Remove licence and paste the new key.
Update the Launcher itself
When a new Launcher is out, a banner says so. Click Update and restart: the Launcher downloads the new version, replaces itself and opens again. What’s new shows what changed. If an app is still installing, it waits for that first.
Keep it running in the background
With Keep running in the tray when the window is closed turned on in Settings, as it is to begin with, closing the window leaves the Launcher in the menu bar (Mac) or the notification area (Windows). It keeps checking for updates there and, with Notify me when an installed app has an update on, tells you when one arrives.
Its icon’s menu has Show Ilumax Launcher, Check for Updates, Visit ilumaxsystems.com and Quit Ilumax Launcher. To have the Launcher start when you log in, turn on Start Ilumax Launcher when I log in.
If a download stops
Pause download stops a download and Resume download carries on from where it stopped. If your connection keeps dropping, the Launcher pauses by itself; click Resume when you are back online. If an install fails after the download has finished, Retry install checks the same file again and installs it.
Files and where things go
The Launcher has no documents of its own. It installs each app where that system expects it, and keeps each download only until the app is installed.
- Mac: apps in
/Applications(or~/Applications); downloads in~/Library/Caches/Ilumax Launcher/downloads. - Windows: apps in their own folders for your user account; downloads in
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Ilumax Launcher\downloads. - A paused download is kept for 30 days, so you can resume it later.
- A file that doesn’t match its published checksum is downloaded once more, and is never installed if it still doesn’t match.
Keyboard shortcuts
The Launcher is mostly buttons. Two keys help:
On a Mac, ⌘ is Command, ⇧ Shift, ⌥ Option and ⌃ Control.
| To | Mac | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| Add the licence key you pasted | Return | Enter |
| Close the app details or a dialog | Esc | Esc |
Tips
- Table view compares installed and latest versions at a glance. Click a column heading to sort by it; click again to reverse.
- The Updates tab lists only the installed apps that have a newer version.
- Search apps finds an app by its name or by what it does.
- If the footer says Offline: showing the release list saved on this computer, the Launcher couldn’t reach ilumaxsystems.com. It tries again at the next check.
- Buy on an app your licence doesn’t cover opens the store.
- Settings also sets the language and the appearance: Match system, Dark or Light.
Get help
Email [email protected]. Say which app and version you use, whether you are on a Mac or Windows, and what you did just before the problem.
Or go to Support: what to put in your email, and quick answers on installing, licence keys, renewals and refunds.
Lost your licence key? Email from the address you paid with, and it will be sent back to you. To download an app again, paste your key on My downloads.
Other companies’ product names mentioned in this guide are trademarks of their owners. Ilumax is not affiliated with them.