App updates got boring. In the past, updates almost always brought new features to your Android phone, but nowadays they mostly deliver bug fixes and changes only in the background.
Also, larger features are released only on the servers part and as part of a/b testing. Despite this, many people still like to know what an app update brings, in case the developers care to fill in useful details. If you’re one of those people, those days may be numbered as Google has moved to remove changelogs from the Play Store on the web.
Google
04 Jan
economy and market
04 Jan
Android Police founder Artem Russakovskii noticed the lack of changelogs on all the apps he checked on the Play Store on the web, and there was no trace of them. For example, the Google app only offers the old “About this app” section and a note about the last update, but without further changelog details. Despite this, the Google app still shows its generic changelog on the Play Store for mobile phones.
It is worth noting that this is not an isolated incident. As noted, the changelogs are gone for everyone using the Play Store on the web, while remaining available on mobile phones. Bearing in mind that changelogs are usually no longer filled with useful information, this might not be a huge loss, but it’s a bummer for developers who still fill the section with useful information for the few people who care.
In March 2022, the company temporarily removed the “Updated In” section from app listings along with the “What’s New” section. After user response, Google was forced to backtrack on this decision.
Removing the latest updated information makes it difficult to judge whether an app is still in active development or not. It remains to be seen if Google will stick with this decision or if it was an accidental release that affected a lot of people.
