diff --git a/.config/i3/bar.sh b/.config/i3/bar.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 75ff82f..0000000
--- a/.config/i3/bar.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-
-/usr/local/bin/i3status | while : 
-do
-    read line
-    if echo "${line}" | grep -Pq '^\{"version":\d\}$' ; then
-        echo $line
-    elif echo "${line}" | grep -Pq '^\[$' ; then
-        echo $line
-    else
-        echo -n "["
-        line=`echo "${line}" | sed 's/^,\{0,1\}\[//' | sed 's/\]$//'`
-        NB_UPDATES=`/sbin/checkupdates | /sbin/wc -l`
-        NB_UPDATES_COLOR="#40AA40"
-        if  [ $NB_UPDATES -ge 25 ] ; then
-            NB_UPDATES_COLOR="#FF0000"
-        elif [ $NB_UPDATES -ge 10 ] ; then
-            NB_UPDATES_COLOR="#FF8C00"
-        fi
-        echo -n "{"
-        echo -n "\"name\":\"updates\","
-        echo -n "\"full_text\":\"pending updates: ${NB_UPDATES} \","
-        echo -n "\"color\":\"${NB_UPDATES_COLOR}\","
-        echo -n "\"markup\":\"pango\""
-        echo -n "},"
-        echo "$line]" || exit 1
-        echo -n ","
-    fi
-done
diff --git a/.config/i3/config b/.config/i3/config
index 86616e3..9a0f11c 100644
--- a/.config/i3/config
+++ b/.config/i3/config
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ bindsym $mod+r mode "resize"
 # finds out, if available)
 bar {
     tray_output primary
-    status_command "sh ~/.config/i3/bar.sh"
+    status_command "/usr/local/bin/i3status"
     position top
     separator_symbol " | "
     colors {
diff --git a/.config/i3status/config b/.config/i3status/config
index 374411c..91803a7 100755
--- a/.config/i3status/config
+++ b/.config/i3status/config
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ general {
         markup = "pango"
 }
 
+order += "read_file PENDING_UPDATE"
 order += "ipv6"
 order += "wireless _first_"
 order += "ethernet _first_"
@@ -73,3 +74,8 @@ cpu_usage {
     degraded_threshold = 50
     format_above_degraded_threshold = "CPU > %usage"
 }
+
+read_file PENDING_UPDATE {
+    format = "pending updates: %content"
+    path = "/run/user/1000/pending-updates"
+}
diff --git a/.config/systemd/user/pending-update.service b/.config/systemd/user/pending-update.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fa0ba8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.config/systemd/user/pending-update.service
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Write the number of pending updates in /run/user/%U/pending-updates
+
+[Service]
+ExecStart=/bin/sh -c 'checkupdates | wc -l > /run/user/%U/pending-updates'
diff --git a/.config/systemd/user/pending-update.timer b/.config/systemd/user/pending-update.timer
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9271fee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.config/systemd/user/pending-update.timer
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Write the number of pending updates in /run/user/%U/pending-updates every 10min
+
+[Timer]
+OnBootSec=1s
+OnUnitActiveSec=10min
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=default.target