diff --git a/lib/main-app.js b/lib/main-app.js
index f25d07d2..7a31d282 100644
--- a/lib/main-app.js
+++ b/lib/main-app.js
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ const electron = require('electron')
 const app = electron.app
 const Menu = electron.Menu
 const ipc = electron.ipcMain
-const GhReleases = require('electron-gh-releases')
+const GhReleases = require('electron-gh-releases') 
+const isDev = require('electron-is-dev') //isDev is True if running in development mode. Overide by setting ELECTRON_IS_DEV environment variable to 1
 // electron.crashReporter.start()
 var ipcServer = null
 
@@ -35,6 +36,10 @@ const updater = new GhReleases(ghReleasesOpts)
 // Check for updates
 // `status` returns true if there is a new update available
 function checkUpdate () {
+  if (isDev){ //Prevents app from attempting to update when in dev mode.
+    console.log("Updates are disabled in Development mode, see main-app.js")
+    return true
+  }
   if (process.platform === 'linux' || isUpdateReady) {
     return true
   }
@@ -94,12 +99,12 @@ app.on('ready', function () {
 
   // Check update every day
   setInterval(function () {
-    checkUpdate()
+    if(!isDev) checkUpdate()
   }, 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24)
 
   // Check update after 10 secs to prevent file locking of Windows
   setTimeout(() => {
-    checkUpdate()
+    if(!isDev) checkUpdate()
 
     ipc.on('update-check', function (event, msg) {
       if (isUpdateReady) {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 95b4ecd7..568d3852 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
     "codemirror-mode-elixir": "^1.1.1",
     "electron-config": "^1.0.0",
     "electron-gh-releases": "^2.0.4",
+    "electron-is-dev": "^1.0.1",
     "escape-string-regexp": "^1.0.5",
     "file-uri-to-path": "^1.0.0",
     "file-url": "^2.0.2",