I had typed up this full paragraph about how "About->Check Updates" wasn't working and realised its slightly different.
It does work, but only some of the time. And it seems random.
With trying to update from 0.12.8->0.12.9 it would only alert me 1/4 of the time.
Note: I'm in Australia where the internet is terrible. I may be struggling to get the update because everyone else is too.
Download Fail
No Updates