App Ops Desk · Issue #12
What’s New is an ops document
What’s New is not marketing fluff you dash off after upload. It is the public record of what changed — and reviewers, customers, and future-you read it when something goes wrong.
One action this week: Draft What’s New before archive day. If you cannot describe the change in three honest bullets, the release scope is not clear yet.
What belongs in What’s New
- User-visible behavior changes
- Permission / privacy behavior changes
- Pricing / subscription changes customers will notice
- Fixes for issues people actually reported
What does not: internal refactors, dependency bumps with no user effect, false “performance improvements.”
Failure modes
- “Bug fixes and improvements” covering a login redesign
- Notes written for a build you later replaced
- Omitting a new sensitive permission
- Overpromising features still behind a flag
- Leaving last version’s notes in place by accident
Template
What’s New — 1.6.0 • • • If this is a hotfix: say what broke and that it’s fixed. If this is permissions-related: say why you ask.
Freeze rule
What’s New freezes with metadata (Issue #3). Changing it after “the binary is done” is allowed for honesty fixes; not for endless polish.
Bottom line
Write What’s New when the scope is real. Honest short notes beat poetic lies when support tickets arrive.
Resources hub → Reading order and jump-by-symptom links. Join the App Ops Desk waitlist Weekly release ops for people who ship alone.