Release Notes and Changelogs
Wouldn’t it be great if an app you used informed you on what has changed when there is a new update for it? At least you would know why you were updating. Oh, wait a minute, almost every app details the new features, bug fixes, and improvements they implemented. This is what we call release notes or changelogs (or patch notes for video games). If you look in the update tab of the app store, you will be able to see the most recent release notes for the current version. Problem is, some of them are not that detailed: I’m looking at you Spotify.
Spotify: A Case Study on Release Notes
Ever since I first downloaded the Spotify app, virtually every update they have pushed has come with the same changelog: “Bug fixes and improvements in this version include: Fixed stability and performance issues.” As you can see, the message is not very informative for us as users. Back when Spotify was still relatively new, I remember I tried to ctrl-f my playlist to find a specific song, but it didn’t work. A few weeks (or months) later, I tried the same shortcut again and a search box appeared! Of course, it had the functionality we would all expect from ctrl-f, but this feature addition was not mentioned in any of the numerous updates I had done since the last time I tried. I could understand if the change was a bug fix that was too technical for the average user to care, but changes about features, no matter how subtle, should be documented in the changelog for that release. Otherwise, how can we know when super useful features are added, like ctrl-f?
I Googled around to see if I could find a history of release notes for each Spotify update in existence. I was led to this page on Spotify’s forums: it provides links to forum posts for each platform of the Spotify app (e.g. iOS, Android, Desktop, and Web Player). After perusing through these posts, it is clear that they are no longer updated with the release notes for every update: they stop in late 2015, almost three years ago! When the posts first started (early 2013), their release notes were a lot more detailed. For example, take a look at this update for iOS back in October 2013:
Looks like the first inception of Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist, tailored to the music you listen to, came out during this update. This update also coincided with a refreshed logo and the ability to edit your own playlists! Now, these are the kinds of release notes I would still expect from Spotify today, not just generic “bug fixes and performance improvements” every update. However, I understand that a big reason why the release notes are so concise now is because there really aren’t that many new features being added to the established platform that is Spotify. Back when they were first getting into the music streaming business, their application was lacking a lot. At this point, they already have a large amount of features anyone could ever want, so it’s hard to continue adding new features. I am thinking this is the main reason their release notes are so spare nowadays.
Regardless, even though they are not pumping out as many new features, they could still put a little more effort into their release notes for each update. For example, give a simple, brief explanation of what bug fix they patched and how it helps Spotify be better. For performance improvements, they could detail how much faster a certain part of the app is thanks to their optimization. This little bit of extra effort can go a long way in communicating updates to the user base and providing more clarity: or maybe I’m the only one who looks at release notes, and no one else cares as much.
Spotify Voice Release Notes
Over the development of Spotify Voice, I have kept a list of new features I added in almost every major update. I tried to be as specific and clear as possible when writing these down. I never intended for them to be “release notes” per se, rather, just notes for myself on the progress of my app. Looking back at the notes now though, I see that they could be compiled into a release notes format. So, here are some of the (unfiltered) release notes for the updates I have done in the past:
July 3rd, 2018:
- play/pause button only toggles its appearance for now
July 27th, 2018:
- Integrated the cache button functionality with the Play New Music Friday
- Play New Music Friday now adds the songs from New Music Friday into a ‘s_voice nmf cache songs’ playlist and plays from that playlist
- Songs are removed from the ‘s_voice nmf cache songs’ playlist when skipped/disliked’
- To come: remove songs after liking as well
- Name of playlist song was added to is now shown, instead of its ID, upon liking
- Refactored some duplicate code and cleaned up some code
September 2nd, 2018:
- Changed the cache playlist name from ‘s_voice nmf cache songs’ to ‘spotify_voice’
- Changed device lookup from my personal computer to look for active devices
September 27th, 2018:
- When a New Music Friday playlist has more than 100 songs, Spotify Voice will now be able to add all 100+ songs
September 28th, 2018:
- Songs are now removed from spotify_voice when “liked”
October 27th, 2018:
- Headless Spotify playback (no need to have Spotify open for Spotify Voice to work anymore)
- Shuffle playback when playing spotify_voice playlist
At the end of the day, I like reading about what’s new in an update for an app. The less generic the release notes are, the better we can understand what actually changed and how it affects the app. Plus, I think it is fun to read about all the new changes to your favorite apps, and it’s a good way to document the differences between each update.
