diff --git a/src/chrome/TitleBar.tsx b/src/chrome/TitleBar.tsx
index e9681db20..8955f7409 100644
--- a/src/chrome/TitleBar.tsx
+++ b/src/chrome/TitleBar.tsx
@@ -171,7 +171,10 @@ class TitleBar extends React.Component<Props, StateFromProps> {
         {isAutoUpdaterEnabled() ? (
           <AutoUpdateVersion version={this.props.version} />
         ) : (
-          <UpdateIndicator launcherMsg={this.props.launcherMsg} />
+          <UpdateIndicator
+            launcherMsg={this.props.launcherMsg}
+            version={this.props.version}
+          />
         )}
         {config.bugReportButtonVisible && (
           <Button
diff --git a/src/chrome/UpdateIndicator.tsx b/src/chrome/UpdateIndicator.tsx
index 23f7e4641..dd24c0cf0 100644
--- a/src/chrome/UpdateIndicator.tsx
+++ b/src/chrome/UpdateIndicator.tsx
@@ -7,7 +7,15 @@
 
 import {LauncherMsg} from '../reducers/application';
 import {colors, FlexRow, Glyph, styled} from 'flipper';
+import Tooltip from '../ui/components/Tooltip';
+import isProduction from '../utils/isProduction';
+import {
+  checkForUpdate,
+  VersionCheckResult,
+} from '../utils/publicVersionChecker';
+import {reportPlatformFailures} from '../utils/metrics';
 import React from 'react';
+import {shell} from 'electron';
 
 const Container = styled(FlexRow)({
   alignItems: 'center',
@@ -16,6 +24,11 @@ const Container = styled(FlexRow)({
 
 type Props = {
   launcherMsg: LauncherMsg;
+  version: string;
+};
+
+type State = {
+  versionCheckResult: VersionCheckResult;
 };
 
 function getSeverityColor(severity: 'warning' | 'error'): string {
@@ -27,8 +40,12 @@ function getSeverityColor(severity: 'warning' | 'error'): string {
   }
 }
 
-export default class UpdateIndicator extends React.Component<Props> {
-  render() {
+export default class UpdateIndicator extends React.PureComponent<Props, State> {
+  state = {
+    versionCheckResult: {kind: 'up-to-date'} as VersionCheckResult,
+  };
+
+  renderMessage(): React.ReactNode {
     if (this.props.launcherMsg.message.length == 0) {
       return null;
     }
@@ -44,4 +61,56 @@ export default class UpdateIndicator extends React.Component<Props> {
       </Container>
     );
   }
+
+  renderUpdateIndicator(): React.ReactNode {
+    const result = this.state.versionCheckResult;
+    if (result.kind !== 'update-available') {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    const container = (
+      <Container>
+        <span onClick={() => shell.openExternal(result.url)}>
+          <Glyph
+            color={getSeverityColor(this.props.launcherMsg.severity)}
+            name="caution-triangle"
+          />
+        </span>
+      </Container>
+    );
+    return (
+      <Tooltip
+        options={{position: 'toLeft'}}
+        title={`Update to Flipper v${
+          result.version
+        } available. Click to download.`}
+        children={container}
+      />
+    );
+  }
+
+  componentDidMount() {
+    if (isProduction()) {
+      reportPlatformFailures(
+        checkForUpdate(this.props.version).then(res => {
+          if (res.kind === 'error') {
+            console.warn('Version check failure: ', res.msg);
+            throw new Error(res.msg);
+          }
+
+          this.setState({versionCheckResult: res});
+        }),
+        'publicVersionCheck',
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+  render(): React.ReactNode {
+    return (
+      <>
+        {this.renderMessage()}
+        {this.renderUpdateIndicator()}
+      </>
+    );
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/utils/publicVersionChecker.tsx b/src/utils/publicVersionChecker.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b21f057e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/publicVersionChecker.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2018-present Facebook.
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ * @format
+ */
+
+import os from 'os';
+import config from '../fb-stubs/config';
+
+const getPlatformSpecifier = (): string => {
+  switch (os.platform()) {
+    case 'win32':
+      return 'windows';
+    case 'linux':
+      return 'linux';
+    case 'darwin':
+      return 'mac';
+    default:
+      throw new Error('Unsupported platform.');
+  }
+};
+
+/**
+ * @param resp A parsed JSON object retrieved from the update server.
+ */
+const parseResponse = (resp: any): VersionCheckResult => {
+  const version = resp.version;
+  const platforms = resp.platforms;
+
+  if (!version || !platforms) {
+    return {kind: 'error', msg: 'Incomplete response.'};
+  }
+
+  const platformSpecifier = getPlatformSpecifier();
+  const platform = platforms[platformSpecifier];
+  if (!platform) {
+    return {kind: 'error', msg: `Unsupported platform: ${platformSpecifier}.`};
+  }
+
+  return {
+    kind: 'update-available',
+    url: platform,
+    version,
+  };
+};
+
+export type VersionCheckResult =
+  | {
+      kind: 'update-available';
+      url: string;
+      version: string;
+    }
+  | {
+      kind: 'up-to-date';
+    }
+  | {
+      kind: 'error';
+      msg: string;
+    };
+
+export async function checkForUpdate(
+  currentVersion: string,
+): Promise<VersionCheckResult> {
+  return fetch(`${config.updateServer}?version=${currentVersion}`).then(
+    (res: Response) => {
+      switch (res.status) {
+        case 204:
+          return {kind: 'up-to-date'};
+        case 200:
+          return res.json().then(parseResponse);
+        default:
+          return {
+            kind: 'error',
+            msg: `Server responded with ${res.statusText}.`,
+          };
+      }
+    },
+  );
+}