It’s both a mistake or a transfer to do away with changelogs altogether
App updates have change into boring. Previously, new releases would nearly at all times convey new options to your favourite Android cellphone, however today, they largely provide bug fixes and adjustments within the background solely. Greater options are as an alternative launched in server-side rollouts and as a part of a/b exams. Lots of people nonetheless recognize realizing what an app replace brings, if builders care to fill in useful particulars. These days could be counted, as Google was noticed eradicating changelogs from the Play Retailer on the internet altogether.
Android Police founder Artem Russakovskii spotted the lack of changelogs on all apps he checked on the Play Retailer on the internet, and there wasn’t any hint left of them. For instance, the Google app solely presents the “About this app” part of previous and a be aware when it was final up to date, however with none additional changelog particulars. In distinction to that, the Google app nonetheless reveals the nice previous (albeit generic) changelog on the Play Retailer for telephones.
This isn’t an remoted incident, both. From what we are able to collect, changelogs are gone for everybody utilizing the Play Retailer on the internet, whereas they continue to be obtainable on telephones. Provided that changelogs typically aren’t crammed out with useful info anymore, this won’t be an enormous loss, nevertheless it’s a bummer for these builders who nonetheless fill out the part with useful info for the few those that care.
This isn’t Google’s first assault on changelogs. Again in March 2022, the corporate quickly eliminated the “final up to date” part from app listings together with the “What’s new” part. After backlash and media protection, Google was compelled to backtrack on this resolution.
Eradicating the final up to date info makes it significantly laborious to gauge whether or not an app remains to be beneath energetic improvement or not, so the one optimistic factor about this 12 months’s change is that this element is now extra outstanding. It stays to be seen whether or not Google will stick with its weapons this time or if this was an unintentional rollout affecting many individuals.
We’ve reached out to Google for clarification and are awaiting a response.
