For backup purposes I'd rather recommend another remote.

Did you already check the preferences, page "Tools"?

You may help us by providing a sample file that covers all edge cases.

For MacOS the mnemonics are disabled because they are unusual on that platform.

Please have a look into the repository settings. There you can find the option Always fetch new commits, tags and branches from submodules. Is that what you are searching for?

Did you already try Repository | Add Worktree in the Log or Working Tree window?

This is intended behavior. SmartGit tries to keep the selected files selected, even if their state changes. Workaround: hide unchanged files.

The next 24.1 preview release will have this option set to `false` by default as the current behavior is not really predictable without closely looking at the repository grouping.

What SmartGit version you are using? Note, that Windows on ARM ist not (yet) officially supported.