diff --git a/updates.go b/updates.go
index 63b2378..c33247b 100644
--- a/updates.go
+++ b/updates.go
@@ -1,105 +1,106 @@
 /*
  * Copyright © 2018-2019 A Bunch Tell LLC.
  *
  * This file is part of WriteFreely.
  *
  * WriteFreely is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
  * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License, included
  * in the LICENSE file in this source code package.
  */
 
 package writefreely
 
 import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 )
 
 // updatesCacheTime is the default interval between cache updates for new
 // software versions
-const updatesCacheTime = 12 * time.Hour
+const defaultUpdatesCacheTime = 12 * time.Hour
 
 // updatesCache holds data about current and new releases of the writefreely
 // software
 type updatesCache struct {
 	mu             sync.Mutex
 	frequency      time.Duration
 	lastCheck      time.Time
 	latestVersion  string
 	currentVersion string
 }
 
 // CheckNow asks for the latest released version of writefreely and updates
 // the cache last checked time. If the version postdates the current 'latest'
 // the version value is replaced.
 func (uc *updatesCache) CheckNow() error {
 	uc.mu.Lock()
 	defer uc.mu.Unlock()
-	latestRemote, err := newVersionCheck(uc.currentVersion)
+	latestRemote, err := newVersionCheck()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	uc.lastCheck = time.Now()
 	if CompareSemver(latestRemote, uc.latestVersion) == 1 {
 		uc.latestVersion = latestRemote
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
 // AreAvailable updates the cache if the frequency duration has passed
 // then returns if the latest release is newer than the current running version.
 func (uc updatesCache) AreAvailable() bool {
 	if time.Since(uc.lastCheck) > uc.frequency {
 		uc.CheckNow()
 	}
 	return CompareSemver(uc.latestVersion, uc.currentVersion) == 1
 }
 
 // LatestVersion returns the latest stored version available.
 func (uc updatesCache) LatestVersion() string {
 	return uc.latestVersion
 }
 
 // ReleaseURL returns the full URL to the blog.writefreely.org release notes
 // for the latest version as stored in the cache.
 func (uc updatesCache) ReleaseURL() string {
 	ver := strings.TrimPrefix(uc.latestVersion, "v")
 	ver = strings.TrimSuffix(ver, ".0")
 	// hack until go 1.12 in build/travis
 	seg := strings.Split(ver, ".")
 	return "https://blog.writefreely.org/version-" + strings.Join(seg, "-")
 }
 
 // newUpdatesCache returns an initialized updates cache
-func newUpdatesCache() *updatesCache {
+func newUpdatesCache(expiry time.Duration) *updatesCache {
 	cache := updatesCache{
-		frequency:      updatesCacheTime,
+		frequency:      expiry,
 		currentVersion: "v" + softwareVer,
 	}
 	cache.CheckNow()
 	return &cache
 }
 
 // InitUpdates initializes the updates cache, if the config value is set
+// It uses the defaultUpdatesCacheTime for the cache expiry
 func (app *App) InitUpdates() {
 	if app.cfg.App.UpdateChecks {
-		app.updates = newUpdatesCache()
+		app.updates = newUpdatesCache(defaultUpdatesCacheTime)
 	}
 }
 
-func newVersionCheck(serverVersion string) (string, error) {
+func newVersionCheck() (string, error) {
 	res, err := http.Get("https://version.writefreely.org")
 	if err == nil && res.StatusCode == http.StatusOK {
 		defer res.Body.Close()
 
 		body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(res.Body)
 		if err != nil {
 			return "", err
 		}
 		return string(body), nil
 	}
 	return "", err
 }
diff --git a/updates_test.go b/updates_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2cb9f92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/updates_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+package writefreely
+
+import (
+	"regexp"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestUpdatesRoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
+	cache := newUpdatesCache(defaultUpdatesCacheTime)
+	t.Run("New Updates Cache", func(t *testing.T) {
+
+		if cache == nil {
+			t.Fatal("Returned nil cache")
+		}
+
+		if cache.frequency != defaultUpdatesCacheTime {
+			t.Fatalf("Got cache expiry frequency: %s but expected: %s", cache.frequency, defaultUpdatesCacheTime)
+		}
+
+		if cache.currentVersion != "v"+softwareVer {
+			t.Fatalf("Got current version: %s but expected: %s", cache.currentVersion, "v"+softwareVer)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Release URL", func(t *testing.T) {
+		url := cache.ReleaseURL()
+
+		reg, err := regexp.Compile(`^https:\/\/blog.writefreely.org\/version(-\d+){1,}$`)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Test Case Error: Failed to compile regex: %v", err)
+		}
+		match := reg.MatchString(url)
+
+		if !match {
+			t.Fatalf("Malformed Release URL: %s", url)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Check Now", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// ensure time between init and next check
+		time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
+
+		prevLastCheck := cache.lastCheck
+
+		// force to known older version for latest and current
+		prevLatestVer := "v0.8.1"
+		cache.latestVersion = prevLatestVer
+		cache.currentVersion = "v0.8.0"
+
+		err := cache.CheckNow()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Error should be nil, got: %v", err)
+		}
+
+		if prevLastCheck == cache.lastCheck {
+			t.Fatal("Expected lastCheck to update")
+		}
+
+		if cache.lastCheck.Before(prevLastCheck) {
+			t.Fatal("Last check should be newer than previous")
+		}
+
+		if prevLatestVer == cache.latestVersion {
+			t.Fatal("expected latestVersion to update")
+		}
+
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Are Available", func(t *testing.T) {
+		if !cache.AreAvailable() {
+			t.Fatalf("Cache reports not updates but Current is %s and Latest is %s", cache.currentVersion, cache.latestVersion)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Latest Version", func(t *testing.T) {
+		gotLatest := cache.LatestVersion()
+		if gotLatest != cache.latestVersion {
+			t.Fatalf("Malformed latest version. Expected: %s but got: %s", cache.latestVersion, gotLatest)
+		}
+	})
+}