only show update service errors when asking explicitly

fixes #61467
fixes #60966

src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.darwin.ts

@@ -44,7 +44,10 @@ export class DarwinUpdateService extends AbstractUpdateService {
 
 	private onError(err: string): void {
 		this.logService.error('UpdateService error:', err);
-		this.setState(State.Idle(UpdateType.Archive, err));
+
+		// only show message when explicitly checking for updates
+		const message: string | undefined = !!context ? err : undefined;
+		this.setState(State.Idle(UpdateType.Archive, message));
 	}
 
 	protected buildUpdateFeedUrl(quality: string): string | undefined {

src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.linux.ts

@@ -73,7 +73,10 @@ export class LinuxUpdateService extends AbstractUpdateService {
 						}
 						*/
 					this.telemetryService.publicLog('update:notAvailable', { explicit: !!context });
-					this.setState(State.Idle(UpdateType.Archive, err.message || err));
+
+					// only show message when explicitly checking for updates
+					const message: string | undefined = !!context ? (err.message || err) : undefined;
+					this.setState(State.Idle(UpdateType.Archive, message));
 				});
 		}
 	}

src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.win32.ts

@@ -172,7 +172,10 @@ export class Win32UpdateService extends AbstractUpdateService {
 					}
 					*/
 				this.telemetryService.publicLog('update:notAvailable', { explicit: !!context });
-				this.setState(State.Idle(getUpdateType(), err.message || err));
+
+				// only show message when explicitly checking for updates
+				const message: string | undefined = !!context ? (err.message || err) : undefined;
+				this.setState(State.Idle(getUpdateType(), message));
 			});
 	}