diff --git a/electron/config.js b/electron/config.js
index 1085c4c0..05339bb3 100644
--- a/electron/config.js
+++ b/electron/config.js
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ const schema = {
             "emacsMetaKey": { "enum": [null, "alt", "meta"], default: null },
             "showLineNumberGutter": {type: "boolean", default:true},
             "showFoldGutter": {type: "boolean", default:true},
-            "releaseChannel": {enum: [null, "beta"], default: null},
+            "allowBetaVersions": {type: "boolean", default: false},
         },
     },
 
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ const defaults = {
         emacsMetaKey: "meta",
         showLineNumberGutter: true,
         showFoldGutter: true,
-        releaseChannel: null,
+        allowBetaVersions: false,
     },
     theme: "system",
 }
diff --git a/electron/main/auto-update.ts b/electron/main/auto-update.ts
index e1837a58..fc8db980 100644
--- a/electron/main/auto-update.ts
+++ b/electron/main/auto-update.ts
@@ -25,9 +25,6 @@ autoUpdater.logger.transports.file.level = "info"
 
 autoUpdater.autoDownload = false
 
-// set channel
-autoUpdater.channel = CONFIG.get("settings.releaseChannel")
-
 autoUpdater.on('error', (error) => {
     window?.webContents.send(UPDATE_ERROR, error == null ? "unknown" : (error.stack || error).toString())
     //dialog.showErrorBox('Error: ', error == null ? "unknown" : (error.stack || error).toString())
@@ -69,8 +66,7 @@ ipcMain.handle(UPDATE_INSTALL_AND_RESTART, () => {
 
 
 export function checkForUpdates() {
-    const settingsChannel = CONFIG.get("settings.releaseChannel")
-    autoUpdater.channel = (settingsChannel === null ? "latest" : settingsChannel)
+    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") {
@@ -84,4 +80,17 @@ ipcMain.handle(UPDATE_CHECK_FOR_UPDATES, () => {
 
 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 62664931..5fd27991 100644
--- a/electron/main/index.ts
+++ b/electron/main/index.ts
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ 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.releaseChannel", "beta")
+    CONFIG.set("settings.allowBetaVersions", true)
 }
 
 
@@ -212,13 +212,6 @@ ipcMain.handle('settings:set', (event, settings) =>  {
     if (settings.keymap !== CONFIG.get("settings.keymap")) {
         currentKeymap = settings.keymap
     }
-    const releaseChannelChanged = settings.releaseChannel !== CONFIG.get("settings.releaseChannel")
-
     CONFIG.set("settings", settings)
-
-    if (releaseChannelChanged) {
-        // release channel changed, check for updates
-        checkForUpdates()
-    }
     win?.webContents.send(SETTINGS_CHANGE_EVENT, settings)
 })
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 c849c223..0f5763da 100644
--- a/src/components/settings/Settings.vue
+++ b/src/components/settings/Settings.vue
@@ -16,11 +16,7 @@
                 isMac: window.heynote.platform.isMac,
                 showLineNumberGutter: this.initialSettings.showLineNumberGutter,
                 showFoldGutter: this.initialSettings.showFoldGutter,
-                releaseChannels: [
-                    { name: "Stable", value: null },
-                    { name: "Beta", value: "beta" },
-                ],
-                releaseChannel: this.initialSettings.releaseChannel,
+                allowBetaVersions: this.initialSettings.allowBetaVersions,
             }
         },
 
@@ -45,7 +41,7 @@
                     showFoldGutter: this.showFoldGutter,
                     keymap: this.keymap,
                     emacsMetaKey: this.metaKey,
-                    releaseChannel: this.releaseChannel,
+                    allowBetaVersions: this.allowBetaVersions,
                 })
             }
         }
@@ -99,12 +95,16 @@
                 </div>
                 <div class="row">
                     <div class="entry">
-                        <h2>Release Channel</h2>
-                        <select ref="releaseChannelSelector" v-model="releaseChannel" @change="updateSettings">
-                            <template v-for="rc in releaseChannels" :key="rc.value">
-                                <option :selected="rc.value === releaseChannel" :value="rc.value">{{ rc.name }}</option>
-                            </template>
-                        </select>
+                        <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>