Why Should Take "What's New" Seriously

For personal APP, it may pay more attention to the writing of “What’s New” to attract more users to download and upgrade.

If you work for a large company, the content source might be a product manager or operations.

So how to write What’s New better? We often see some novel serialization or small humor, which is very interesting.

But in any case, I advise everyone to show your artistic talents on the basis of writing real and updated content.

Because we have been rejected for violating the "Performance - Accurate Metadata" clause.

The background of the story is a time when the Chinese New Year is approaching.

Therefore, this release shows the style of the prosperous Chinese New Year.

As usual, I got the “What’s New” from the product manager.

Guess what I got, a Chinese poem, and only this Chinese poem.

The content is roughly as follows:

爆竹声声送祝福，
红红火火迎新年；
**春节不打烊，
恭贺新春开门红。

simple translation:

The sound of firecrackers sends blessings,
Welcome the New Year with prosperity;
** are not closed during the Spring Festival,
Congratulations on a good start to the Chinese New Year.

Doesn’t seem to rhyme, though, and I don’t question the qualifications of a product manager’s level of poetry, even though it took her about half an hour to write it.

The mood of the holidays made me relax my vigilance, pack it, fill in the content, and submit it for review.

After that, I received a rejection message from Apple, as follows.

Guideline 2.3.12 - Performance - Accurate Metadata

We noticed you have included nondescript, temporary, or incomplete information in your app’s “What’s New” text.
The “What’s New” text should inform users what has changed in your app since the last update.
This includes new features and product changes, but also bug fixes, security updates, and performance improvements.

Next Steps
To resolve this issue, please revise your app’s “What’s New” text to include clear descriptions of any significant changes, including new features or product changes.
If your update simply addresses bug fixes, security, or other performance updates, stating so generically in your app’s “What’s New” text is sufficient.
For example, “Bug fixes and performance improvements” would be appropriate in that case.

I have to admit that this is the first time I have received such a rejection message. And I’m ashamed that Apple relentlessly walks us through how to write “What’s New”.

At the end of the story, we used the usual “What’s New” like “fix the problem, optimize the experience”, and we decided not to add the poem that didn’t rhyme.

So, to sum it up. You can show your artistic talent in “What’s New” and also bring novel experiences to users. But please remember, you must express your talent after clearly expressing the real content of this upgrade.