Best App Release Notes: Examples, Best Practices, and a Simple Template

The best app release notes tell users what changed, why it matters to them, and what to do next, in plain language. They are short, relevant, easy to understand, and visible inside the app rather than buried in the store listing. This guide shows real app release notes done well (Slack, Medium, Asana, Twitter, Netflix), done badly (Uber, Google Drive, Instagram), and the best practices that separate the two.

Most app release notes are bad. It seems like half of them are literally "fixed bugs," and as you will see below, some well-known brands ship updates exactly like that.

As an app (mobile, desktop, or both), you want user stickiness. You want users who become raving fans and bring their friends, family, or colleagues along. For that, users need to know about the newest feature you just released, and release notes are one of the best ways to tell them.

You will likely push those updates out through a release notes app like AnnounceKit. Below, we cover what app release notes are, what they should include, and the best and worst examples we have seen.

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Why Facebook's App Release Notes Caused Drama on Reddit

Release notes are a contentious topic. Companies should keep a changelog because users rely on it. A big debate started when Facebook decided to keep its app release notes generic and stopped notifying users about bug fixes and product updates.

Drama followed.

A developer from the Facebook release team argued that:

• Writing release notes is a tedious task.
• Features are usually not released to everyone at once. There is no point in writing a release note for a feature you cannot use yet.
• There are logistical hurdles, such as translating release notes into many languages for hundreds of millions of people.
• Users do not bother to read about new updates and features anyway.

The engineer closed the Reddit post with this: "Release notes are useful for small applications with a few changes each release but are useless for large, complex applications with hundreds of developers. We're not trying to keep secrets from you. There are just simply better ways of telling you what's interesting when those features are ready for you."

Today, if you pay attention to the "What's new" section in App Store release notes or Google Play Store release notes, apps take one of two approaches:

1. They do not bother to notify users about new changes.
2. They make it funny and eye-catching.

Before we look at both approaches, let's define what a release note is and the structure most teams agree on.

What Should App Release Notes Include?

According to Wikipedia, application release notes are technical documents that accompany software in beta or software that has been enhanced or repaired. They explain to the customer the details of the version they are using. They help the customer install the update and give the user confidence in the product.

Depending on who your end user is, the notes can be technical or generic. Either way, the common rule is to include the following five parts. Notes for the App Store or Google Play follow the same idea: say what is new, what is fixed, and what users should do after updating.

A simple mobile app release notes template

• Build number: the version this note applies to.
• Additions: new features in this release.
• Removals: anything that is gone.
• Changes: anything that now works differently.
• Fixes: bugs that are resolved.

Firefox has great technical release notes. If you feel stuck, we have another article with release notes templates you can copy. And if you are unsure whether your app needs an app changelog or release notes, see our guide to changelogs vs. release notes.

App Release Notes Best Practices

Most app users do not have a technical background. They care about how the update affects their experience, not how it was built.

In-app release notes have to be relevant, entertaining, easy to understand, and visible. Here is what each one means in practice.

Keep them relevant and useful

Sending out app release notes about changing your secondary brand color from "orange" to "burnt orange" is not relevant to your user. Only share information that is useful to them.

If your app is for buying used cars, and you release a feature that sends text message updates when a preferred make, model, and year pops up nearby, that is incredibly relevant. Users who see a notification about it are likely to engage.

And when they engage, they are subconsciously learning that "these in-app release notes are valuable to me, I should keep clicking on them."

Make them entertaining to read

If your app release notes are boring, dry, and "bleh" (the best word we could think of), they will not make the impact you want. A little personality goes a long way, as the Slack and Asana examples below show.

Write them so anyone can understand

This depends on your users' technical competency, but in most cases notes should be written in plain language.

Take the used car app and its new text message feature. There are two ways to write it. One is complex and hard to read. The other is simple and engaging.

Bad: "Our app has officially been pushed through production for Version 4.1.7 which now enables SMS updates for vehicle specification requirements based on user interest. If legally opted in, user may get notified of..." (We will stop there. It is that boring.)

Good: "You can now receive text messages when your favorite Make, Model, or Year is listed for sale in your area! You 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 new 2017 Mercedes C-Class is listed for sale."

Make them visible in the app and beyond

People using an app are not clicking around looking for release notes. They are using the app. So when a relevant update ships, users should see it through clear in-app notifications.

Other channels, such as email, also help increase visibility. The same note can go out as an in-app notification and an email, so users see it wherever they are. You can also try video release notes as another format.

You can see these best practices in action in our collection of release notes examples.

Your customers want to know what's new before they hit the download or update button. Reddit users disagreed with Facebook's decision:

"There's nothing "contentious" about release notes. People want to know what's new, and Facebook has a terrible reputation for sneaking in really horrible "features" that do nothing but serve their own needs and strip people of their privacy."

The purpose of this post is not to offend companies like Instagram, Facebook, Uber, or Google Drive that write boring release notes. They have their own reasons to keep things generic and simple. Instead, we want to inspire you to take a creative approach, change your boring "What's new" section, and make it interesting to read. Here are some of the best app release notes we have found.

Best App Release Notes: Our Top Picks

Slack and Medium

Medium: "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.

Done cringing at the puns of those topic sentences? Great, we can move onto the less topical items of this release. We've also added better deep linking support for publications and granted writers the ability to opt in the curation of their stories in the post editor."

Slack: "For the eagle-eyed: Yes, the last release was numbered 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."

Why do you need a product updates page? For the same reason these notes work: people want to know what's new, and a dedicated page gives them one place to find it.

Asana, Twitter, and Netflix

These apps have something fun to tell you. They show that even a small bug fix can be delivered in a way that makes you smile.

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 is up to you to decide how to announce product updates, bug fixes, and new feature releases. When a release is big enough, you can treat it as a mini product launch rather than a single note, and our new feature announcement examples show how that looks.

The Worst Mobile App Release Notes

It is far more common to see a plain "bug fixes, performance improvements." Many companies seem to have followed Facebook's lead and decided that, in their league, updating customers is not cool.

• Google Drive: Bug fixes and performance improvements
• Microsoft Word: This month update is bug fixes.
• Adobe Acrobat: IMPROVED: Performance and stability.
• DocuSign: Bug fixes and enhancements
• Instagram: The latest version contains bug fixes and performance improvements.

Consider how many developers work at Uber or Google Drive, and how fast their apps improve, at a pace no startup can match. Why don't such big corporations even bother?

Uber Eats vs. Uber

Uber Eats:

We update the Uber eats as often as possible to make it faster and more reliable to you. Here are couple of the enhancements you'll find in the latest update:

- Improvements to delivery experience
- Squashed some bugs

Sounds nice, doesn't it? Now have a look at Uber's "What's new":

We update the Uber eats as often as possible to make it faster and more reliable to you. Here are couple of the enhancements you'll find in the latest update:

Localization improvements.

Dear Uber, you are a great company. But you can do better!

Side note: release notes, like any other business activity, must match your brand management. Conservative, structured release notes from The Economist or DIORMAG are understandable. But you would expect at least Uber to make something more exciting.

• The Economist: Various bug fixes and performance improvements.
• DIORMAG: Minor update.

The apps whose product update announcements are hilarious will make your day. Let's appreciate the work they put in each week to draw your attention to their developers' hard work. You can manage product updates easily too.

Is announcing product updates the best strategy on its own? No. As the examples above show, an announcement only works when the note is relevant, clear, and visible. Our guide on how to craft the best product updates covers that side.

How to Update App Release Notes Easily With AnnounceKit

AnnounceKit's release notes tool makes the process a little easier.

Without AnnounceKit, your app release notes process might feel like this:

Once you use AnnounceKit, it feels more like this:

Click the link above the GIFs to check out the features, or jump into the free version below. No strings attached.

Writing a release note can be a complicated task, but it shows customers you care. Updating app release notes frequently can improve your customer engagement.

The extra effort you put into a funny and engaging product announcement can make somebody smile. Your loyal customers will be excited to read about a new feature or a bug fix. After all, every business's main goal is to keep users satisfied one way or another. Or do you disagree?