SC is not updating

I could not update my sc since version 17. Using SC self it shows update is finishing and it showed me version 20 (most recent). However none of new features was there so I spoke to support and they told me to update manually. it means downloading zip uploading zip to the host. Most terrible part is setting up permissions on all folders because the default permissions from SC are wrong.
Folders should be 755 and files 644 i believe. (except gdlibid folder). so there are manu nuances with the permissions and some features are still not working for me (saving changes to templates).

I really appreciate if updating feature will work automatically or at least it will show the error and not just quit like everything is ok.

I use to have the same problem and hated updating manually. When an update comes out now, I swap from Chrome to Firefox and can update without any glitches. Your mileage may vary, but it works for me (knock on wood, it has so far).