why do i need to update the app so i can see changes. Whats the point of a change log then? I have auto updates off cause it a hassle to revert back to an earlier version if I dont like the changes. I know for a fact the ig update is for their new stupid map feature and AI shit. I will not update unless it stops working completely. Is it so hard to say what specific bug was fixed and what exactly do you mean by performance.
why cant it be detailed like this
I can understand a banking app such as Chime* wanting to obfuscate whatever bugs or potential exploits they’ve come across and patched - to prevent users on older versions from being targeted; but the rest of those examples are utterly bullshit.
I put forward Duolingo as another egregious example of this bullshit:
People still use duolingo?
Ahow many updates receives an app, is now considered a “good” metric somehow now. So now if dependabot pushes a PR, it’s a new release on the app stores (of course without testing)
The algorithms on the app stores now consider the app “active” and push the app “up” in ranking
There was a certain billionaire bragging about his app getting 3 vibe-coded updates a day while the competition “only” got 3 a week
So, they can’t write a real change log. What can they write? “Dependabot updated leftpad from 1.1.3.2 to 1.1.3.3” “untested: updated Gradle from 8.14.2 to 8.14.3” “200mb update to change a comma in the Hungarian translation”
I think a lot of times they don’t want you to know what’s been updated. For instance, pointing out all the bugs you’re fixing might make your app look like it’s always full of bugs. Or the security fix might draw attention to issues that exist for currently outdated apps.
Not saying it’s a good reason, but maybe that’s their thought process.
My bank’s app recently went like “We’ve implemented a feature if you use our widget, and also one hidden feature.” Like fucking just tell me what the fuck that’s about? I’m not looking for easter eggs in my fucking bank app.
Youtube also does this. Basically it says “To see list of changes, look in the app guide” or something like that; no morons, I want to know what you changed BEFORE updating.
Even Google does the same with almost every app like Maps, Files, Chrome.
Google does a lot of A/B testing, so listing new changes may be pointless as the new features may be available only to select few.
Also developers have no incentive to document changes. It’s a hassle to compile a list of changes since last release, and people don’t read the Changelog for every release, especially with auto updates on.
I’d be great if they could at least use an LLM to compile the Changelog
You dont need an llm, and it doesn’t need to be a developer. Devs are more than capable of writing down words that a human can understand, and if the project is big there will be a manager who has the context to provide a short summary.
However all of that requires company effort.
Developers very seldom communicate in a way that pleases their company leadership. There’s a reason support, sales and marketing people have jobs. If companies didn’t need them, they would cut them to save cost.
However, the developer should be able to put down their changes and whomever is in charge of communications should be using the change log as a chance to communicate to end users the changes in a friendly way. Not this nonsense. LLM could do it but it, but it’s best to have it written by a person.
This seems like roughly what I said except discounting the idea that a changelog, marketing communication, sales communication, and support are all wildly different. I don’t want some dumbass in sales or marketing who can barely add two numbers together without a calculator trying to explain that Firefox fixed several crashes in the latest release. Similarly I wouldn’t want a developer trying to psychologically manipulate you into buying something you don’t need – that’s why you hire sociopaths.
Wow, tell me how you really feel about sales people. Jeez.
I think it’s a universal experience if you’re an engineer who does customer facing work. Every salesperson I’ve worked with has been either extraordinarily stupid or a sociopath who overpromises something that doesn’t exist so they can get a commission, regardless of the fact that the thing they sold doesn’t work and sometimes cannot work. They are a scourge upon this planet and if they all disappeared overnight the world would almost certainly be a better place.
Marketing otoh I just don’t have a lot of respect for. Sure, they lie and use made-up phrases and barely know the product they are marketing in a lot of cases, but they’re company-approved lies so you’re usually not on the hook for making their lies a reality. The salespeople have to bend those lies into a bullshit “solution” first before it personally impacts you. Plus marketing folks don’t have commission, so they aren’t as personally invested in feeding some made up shit to any given random asshole group lead or director, which is refreshing.
I mean, I am an engineer who does customer-facing work… it’s not been my experience that sales and marketing people are this bad. I suppose maybe I just work for an exceptionally chill company, but wow, that really sucks.
I’m sure you’re just venting, but be sure to monitor your attitude going into work because this kind of resentment, if held at all times, will drive you insane.
Who the hell uses Google Files for anything but a bad file picker?
That’s an example I gave. I use Solid Explorer.
Solid choice.
I created a folder using Simple Gallery but it couldn’t see it. I created a couple more with the same issue. Google Files saw them just fine. Simple Gallery does see them now. I’m guessing that the issue had something to do with the Android 16 upgrade though I didn’t update the app and there wasn’t a follow-up update to the upgrade.
People who use defaults, what do you mean?
“Fixed errors in the French translation” might only appear in the French change log.
changelogs should be legally mandated on app stores
That Chime one is the sloppest AI slop I’ve seen today.
- more ads
- more pointless notifications
- taken out that one thing you actually liked and put it behind a paywall
The meal planning app that I use got bought out by Samsung and they did this. Put a load of ads in and then advertised a “+” version that got rid of ads. The ads were just advertising the “+” feature. 12 months later they said they were going to remove the ads for everyone.
Facebook is one of the worst:
The app must be so fast that it has transcended to a higher plane of existence if it gets faster every update.
For apps with generic update messages that also have source control and changelogs available: check to see how often the updates are just a manifest version bump and nothing more. Way greater than zero.
Most version revs for apps are just to reset review count and bury negative reviews with “review of an older version”.
It’s all gamification of walled gardens. Walled gardens that need to die.
Is that an iOS thing? On Android versions don’t reset reviews, and there is no “review of older version” message.
Play store does the same game. Google always sucks worse these days, sadly. Not pro-Apple, just use Linux.
I’ve never seen that happen, in fact bad reviews about problems in my apps keep being shown at the top of the list, even though the problems were solved years ago and the reviews are about a very early version.
“Mariah thawing”
That’s grim
She needs to be defrosted from her summer stasis in time to sing about Christmas.
Though in all seriousness, it’s sad to think that enough people saw that AI slop of an update summary and thought, “Yep, that sounds better than anything I could’ve come up with. Let’s run with it.”
Patch notes:
- A bunch of stuff you won’t like it need
“performance improvements and bug fixes”
… which is also almost verbatim what it says at the bottom of the “good” example…
… in a addition to a link where they explain their “improvements and bug fixes” in greater detail without character limits. So yes it is a “good” example.
