electron-builder Targets: mac vs. mas

Question

What is the difference between the 2 electron-builder targets for Mac OS X: mac vs mas? I understand that mas is for distribution in the Mac App Store, and mac is for distribution outside of it.

1. Is the mas package able to auto-update when a new version is published as a Github release? Or must the update be done through the Mac App Store?

2. How do you decide which mac targets to use, do they all have a specific use case?

   • pkg
   • dmg
   • zip

Thank you for clearing up my confusion!

Answer 1

Interesting Question!!.

1. Is the mas package able to auto-update when a new version is published as a Github release? Or must the update be done through the Mac App Store?
   • No mas is not able to auto update coz, it is targeted for the Application Store. We need to manually update it in the app store
2. How do you decide which mac targets to use, do they all have a specific use case? pkg / dmg /zip
   • DMG is the format where app is installed in OS level i.e it can be accessed through any user. you simple drag and drop the app is the application folder
   • PKG is like a app installer, where there are steps of installation. Main advantage of PKG is that it gives us option to install the app at a user level which means app can be install for a specific user only just like window OS. Example in the picture below.