(Un)voluntarily funny: Can app release notes be funny?
Some app developers show a sense of humor in the release notes. However, update notes are increasingly becoming a laughing stock for other reasons.
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When a reader recently read the update notes for the classifieds app in the Play Store, he couldn't believe his eyes: "Do you smell that? Do you smell that too? 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 a few general bug fixes)," it said. Seeking advice, he turned to heise online: "Does no one else read the changelogs or has the app manufacturer been hacked?"
In fact, this is probably a somewhat quirky but rare example of humor in release notes. If you read articles and discussion threads online from ten years ago, you will notice that in the early years of the App Store and Play Store, there were even more of these creative update notes. Increasingly, however, the "What's new" fields are being misappropriated as a playground for the marketing department to ensnare app users, but not to make them laugh. There are now other reasons why it's funny.
Those who still write funny things
Among those who still write amusing texts in the version history is the Slack app. "It's absolutely no problem if you change your mind. Unfortunately, it looked like the app had a problem with this, which it demonstrated by abruptly crashing after a rating was changed in the list function," it says in version 24.07.40. "We've fixed bugs, improved performance and drank way too much coffee," YouTube also regularly tries with a touch of fun.
"We've been busier than Batman after yet another Arkham breakout", write the developers of Wordpress in one of the update notes –. Humor is also a tradition among the developers of blogging software. "It's the same Tumblr, just without the bugs" is how the developers of Tumblr characterize those versions of the app that do not contain any new features.
Better fun than nothing at all
Where many users can't take a joke, however, is with the increasing number of apps that only publish generalities in the release notes –, which also includes some apps with funny descriptions. "Small changes and improvements" in a 17-gigabyte update are rather unintentionally funny. If you want to know what has been changed, you won't find this kind of taciturnity funny.
The providers' regulations actually provide for more details. Apple, for example, states in its guidelines that new functions and changes should be clearly described. However, the iPhone manufacturer leaves a loophole open when it states that simple bug fixes, security updates and performance improvements can also be described in general terms. Google explicitly stipulates for its Play Store that advertising should be avoided.
Apple and Google do not specify whether release notes can also be funny. It is therefore apparently up to each app developer to decide whether to formulate their update notes in a sober or tongue-in-cheek manner. Whether this goes down well with users is another question, of course.
(mki)