While app release notes are designed to help keep users informed about updates and improvements, they’re also an excellent opportunity to exhibit brand recognition and identity.
However, they aren’t always good. Sometimes, they’re really, really bad.
Scroll through some of your favorite apps’ release notes and you’ll likely find them to be dry and boring. They give only small insights into what was updated, often writing “bug fixes” and leaving it at that.
As an app (mobile, desktop, or both), you want user stickiness. You want users to be raving fans and encourage their friends, families, or business colleagues to use your app.
To ensure user stickiness, you want them to know about your newest, coolest feature. A great way to do that is through app release notes.
Learn why app release notes are important, how to write them well, where to release them, and some of the best (and worst) ones we’ve seen.
Table of Contents
- What Are App Release Notes?
- The Importance of Good App Release Notes
- 5 Tried and True Ways To Deliver App Release Notes
- How To Write the Best App Release Notes That Bring Value to Your Users
- Best App Release Notes: Our Top 7 Picks
- Examples of Not-So-Great App Release Notes
- How Much Do Users Really Care About App Release Notes?
- AnnounceKit: The Ultimate Project Management Tool To Get Your App Release Notes Noticed
What Are App Release Notes?
App release notes describe changes to an app that are released to the public. They typically include new features, bug fixes, and performance improvements. Users may read app release notes to stay up-to-date on changes and ensure that they are using the most recent version of the app.
Today, if you pay attention to the ‘What’s New’ section on App Store release notes or Google Play Store release notes, applications have two approaches:
- They don’t care about notifying users about new changes.
- They make it funny and eye-catching.
If you view app release notes on a product’s website, they won’t be much different. Odds are if the in-app notes are poor, the release notes featured in their updates will be as well.
According to Wikipedia (aka a well-trusted source on the Internet), application release notes are technical documents that accompany software products in beta stages or enhanced or repaired. These notes explain to the customer or client the details of the particular version of the product they are using. They attempt to assist the customer in installing the update and provide confidence to the user regarding the product.
The notes can be technical or generic, depending on who your end user is. Regardless, the common rule is to include the following:
- Build number
- Additions
- Removals
- Changes
- Fixes
Who Should Write App Release Notes?
Typically, the development team or product management team writes release notes. Otherwise, a technical writing team (constantly communicating with the development team) may write them.
Product management or development teams are usually most familiar with the changes and enhancements made to software, so it makes sense that they would create the best app release notes. Not only do they have a deep understanding of the technical details of the software, but they can provide accurate and comprehensive information about the changes.
AnnounceKit makes writing app release notes easier than ever before. Use our release notes software to organize updates, add your personal touch, and engage your users before sending them to your audience.
App Release Notes For Your Brand: Quick Setup, Easy To Use
Manage release notes and product announcements from a single place.
The Importance of Good App Release Notes
A good release note can be highly beneficial for your product or company. They can:
- Enhance the user experience by providing clear information about the changes made to the product or software and how they may impact the user’s experience.
- Improve the reputation of your product or company by allowing you to demonstrate your commitment to transparency and user satisfaction.
- Reduce the load on your support team by minimizing their need to answer the same questions about known issues or feature requests.
- Allow users or organizations to plan for updates because they can see the product roadmap and know that positive changes are coming.
- Build excitement for new features or products by teasing enhancements to engage users.
5 Tried and True Ways to Deliver App Release Notes
Users should not have to sift through your app to find important release information, nor should they have to deal with pop-ups or notifications that inform them about product changes. With the right tools and processes in place, you can easily deliver app release notes through various platforms.
#1: Email
Use email to directly communicate with your users instead of waiting for them to use your product to receive important release updates. You can share upcoming updates, announce important changes, and more.
#2: Social Media
Spotlight single features that will positively impact most of your users and use these platforms to build hype and excitement around new releases and updates.
#3: Blog Posts
Use blog posts to handle longer-form content for releases that deserve or require more information or explanation.
#4: Tutorials and User Guides
Video tutorials or user guides are great ways to show how new features will work. This will help minimize confusion as users see that things look different when they use your product.
#5: Google Play Store/Apple Store
App release notes are common in Google Play and Apple’s App Store. When a user is looking to download or update an application in the app store, they can view an extensive list of release notes and see a version history so they’re well aware of any changes.
How To Write the Best Release App Notes That Bring Value to Your Users
Release notes for apps usually don’t have a technical background. Instead, they share more about how the update will affect the user’s experience.
Because of this, app release notes should be:
Relevant and Useful
Sending out app release notes about changing your secondary brand colors from “orange” to “burnt orange” is probably irrelevant to your users.
If your app is for buying used cars, and you release a new feature that allows people to get text message updates if their preferred car model, make, and year pop up in their area, that’s incredibly relevant!
If they see a notification about this update, they will likely engage with it.
And when they engage in it, they’re subconsciously being trained that “these in-app release notes notifications are valuable to me. I need to keep clicking on them.”
Entertaining To Read
If your app release notes are dull, dry, and “blah” they’re not going to make as much of an impact as you’d like.
How will you get your users excited about your app if your release notes are as lively as a dead fish?
Want to get your users excited about your product’s updates?
Sound excited.
Easy To Understand
Let’s build on the example above regarding the app for used cars releasing a new text message feature.
Product development teams can write this in two ways: one is complex and challenging to understand, while the other is simple and engaging.
- Bad: “Our app has officially been pushed through production for Version 4.1.7, enabling SMS updates for vehicle specification requirements based on user interest. If legally opted in, the user may get notified of…” (We’ll stop there because this is already pretty boring.)
- Good: “You can now receive text messages when your favorite Make, Model, or Year is listed for sale in your area! Want a 2017 Mercedes C-Class? All you have to do is opt-in for text messages, and we’ll ping you every time a 2017 Mercedes C-Class is listed for sale.”
Visible
When using apps, people usually don’t click around to search for release notes — they’re there to use the app.
So when relevant updates are ready to get pushed out, users should see them through clear in-app notifications.
Leveraging other channels, such as email, is also helpful for increasing visibility. Do you want to know how to increase the visibility of your release note even more?
AnnounceKit is a fun and easy way to publish release notes while also providing users with avenues for feedback and product roadmap navigation. Don’t hide your release notes from users.
Our product announcement tool allows you to display release notes and changelogs in a fun, easy-to-use, and engaging way. And you don’t need to know how to code it. (This means your non-coding project manager can take over, or you, as the app developer, can take a break from coding for once.)
App Release Notes For Your Brand: Quick Setup, Easy To Use
Manage release notes and product announcements from a single place.
Best App Release Notes: Our Top 7 Picks
Slack and Medium
Release notes and changelogs that exude style and humor are where it’s at.
Slack uses a conversational tone during their release notes in this update:
“For the eagle-eyed: Yes, the last release was number 3.61. This one is 19.2.1. You haven’t missed anything or been asleep for a decade. We just changed the way we number releases.”
One Medium release note says, “This week, we’re bringing you a very topical Medium update: we’ve made it easier for you to browse topics with a new carousel on the home feed and new search page.
Have you had enough of cringing at the puns in those topic sentences? Great, we can move on to the less topical items of this release. We’ve also added better deep linking support for publications and granted writers the ability to opt into curating their stories in the post editor.”
Both of these release note examples are funny and stylish. They’re easy to understand, witty, and represent their brands well. Creating good release notes is not just about letting users know you made changes; it’s letting them know why you made the changes while throwing in a bit of character.
Related article: Why do you need a product updates page?
Asana, Twitter, and Netflix
Asana, Twitter, and Netflix can make even the most mundane updates funny and exciting to read.
For example:
- Asana: “You smell that? Do you smell that? Dead bugs, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of dead bugs in the morning… (er, nothing to report except for a few generic bug fixes).”
- Twitter: “Better, faster, stronger. We cleaned up behind the curtain, so your Twitter is even better.”
- Netflix: “We’re working on the app experience. You work on what, when, and how you watch next. That’s just as important. We know you have choices. In this release, we’ve made some gallery improvements so it’s easier to find the perfect thing to watch.”
It’s up to you to decide how to announce product updates, bug fixes, and new feature releases.
But AnnounceKit helps you announce them with sophistication and suave.
From the moment you sign up, your personalized changelog page will be ready and waiting.
There is no lengthy setup process, no need for custom code, and no stress or fuss. Simply adjust the colors so it’s on brand, add your logo, and you’re off. Our app release notes feature includes:
- Customizable public changelog page
- Privacy options for internal use
- A serve changelog under your domain
- The ability to collect feedback and reactions to your posts
- Rich media content
It’s easy to create stellar app release notes when you have the premier release note tool.
Tumblr
Tumblr is known for its quirky communities, creative posts, and witty release notes.
One recent note states, “Thanks for choosing Tumblr, the place for art and artists. Unfortunately, some bugs chose to connect with others over shared interests. We have to let them go. Follow changes.tumblr.com for further updates and blog fixes.”
Tumblr doesn’t forget to recommend that users check out exactly what was changed via its changelog.
Discord
As an app that brings online communities together, Discord also brings its users into the fold with a fun, entertaining, and informative approach to release notes.
When they celebrated a recent birthday of their product, they decided to reward users (who read changelogs) with information on a giveaway celebrating their nine years on the internet.
Discord also makes its ‘What’s New’ tab apparent so that all users can keep up to date with the newest additions, fixes, and features. Their release notes even make a nod to users who tune in from time to time, leaving little notes for them like:
“P.S. If you love reading about stuff like Electron updates, Unicode rendering fixes, and tangible reductions in crash rates shown in percentages, you’re in luck: our Engineering team has collected the latest technical fixes to show how they’re always making Discord better.”
Examples of Not–So-Great App Release Notes
It is more common to see release notes that simply say, “bug fixed, performance improvement.” It seems like many companies followed Facebook’s lead and have decided that in their “league,” updating customers is not so cool.
Our purpose is not to offend some companies (looking at you, Instagram, Facebook, Uber, Google Drive, etc.) that create boring release notes. They likely have their reasons for keeping things generic and simple.
Instead, we want to inspire you to take a creative approach and make your boring ‘What’s New?’ section interesting and entertaining.
Here’s a sum of what most app release notes look like for these big-name apps:
- Google Drive: Bug fixes and performance improvements
- Microsoft Word: This month’s update is bug fixes.
- DocuSign: Bug fixes and enhancements
- Instagram: The latest version contains bug fixes and performance improvements.
Considering how many developers work with Microsoft Office or Google Drive and how fast their applications improve, none of the startups can catch up. So why do such big corporations not even bother with curating good app release notes?
They may not have to, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good strategy, especially for newer app or product developers.
Side note: Release notes, like any other business activity, must correspond to brand management. It is understandable to see the conservative, structured release notes for companies such as the Economist or DIORMAG, but you would expect at least Instagram to make theirs more exciting.
How Much Do Users Really Care About App Release Notes?
As an app developer, you might wonder if anyone actually takes the time to read your app release notes or changelogs.
The answer is yes — and the number of your users who read them might surprise you.
One Medium writer decided to do a deep dive into how many app users read release notes based on demographics. Using help from an online community willing to answer surveys for free (a subreddit called r/samplesize), they found that out of the 372 respondents, about 84% claimed they read app release notes.
Over half claimed to read them sometimes, and 33% reported reading them regularly.
While this is a small sample survey from a corner of the internet, it paints a broader picture of the importance of writing good release notes to reflect your product and brand.
AnnounceKit: The Ultimate Project Management Tool To Get Your App Release Notes Noticed
Your extra effort to create a funny and engaging product announcement can make somebody smile.
Your loyal customers will be excited to read about new features or bug fixes. After all, your business’s primary goal is to satisfy your users. Optimizing your app release notes to improve public perception of your product is an excellent way to give people what they want: a good product with great branding.
AnnounceKit allows you to streamline how you announce product features and receive feedback.
With our innovative announcement platform, you can:
- Create eye-catching widgets so your users never miss an update
- Boost user attention to important updates and product announcements
- Create a roadmap so that users can see the evolution of your product
- Receive instantaneous feedback from users
- Keep users in the loop with automatic updates submitted via email or Slack
- Target specific user segments
- Use a powerful AI assistance tool to help you create interesting release notes
- And more
Don’t miss out on an excellent opportunity to connect with users and strengthen your brand. Learn more about our release notes software and start your free trial today.
App Release Notes For Your Brand: Quick Setup, Easy To Use
Manage release notes and product announcements from a single place.
