What What's New actually is (and is not)

In App Store Connect, What's New is the release-notes text shoppers see for the current version. It is not the full description, not promotional text, and not a substitute for a support article. It should answer one question in the user's language: what changed in this version that matters to me?

  • Visible on the product page for the live version — high attention for active users considering an update.
  • Editable with each version submission (and with metadata updates when Apple allows).
  • Indexed less aggressively than title/subtitle/keywords for discovery, but still part of how the listing feels local.
  • Often copied from a GitHub changelog — which is usually too technical and too English.

Treat What's New as marketing copy for returning users, not as an engineering changelog dump. Localize the marketing version; keep the engineering changelog in your repo.

Why literal translation fails for release notes

Release notes are short, dense, and full of product jargon. Literal translation produces three common failures: awkward grammar in languages with different word order, over-long lines that wrap badly on mobile, and feature names that were never localized the same way as in the UI.

  1. Start from the user benefit of each change, not from the ticket title.
  2. Use the same feature names that appear in the localized UI and screenshots.
  3. Drop internal tickets, PR numbers, and "misc bug fixes" filler unless a fix is user-visible and specific.
  4. Rewrite bullets so each locale has native rhythm — short verbs, clear nouns, no English calques.

If your Japanese UI says one term for a feature and your Japanese What's New invents another, users notice. Align release notes with the localized product strings you already shipped.

Character limits, formatting, and storefront quirks

Apple's What's New field allows a generous character budget compared with subtitle or promo text, but that does not mean you should paste a novel. Long notes get skimmed. Dense walls of text look worse after localization expands German or Finnish copy.

  • Prefer 3–6 short bullets over one paragraph.
  • Lead with the change users will feel first (new feature, major fix, pricing/plan change).
  • Avoid emoji spam and ALL CAPS — they read as low-trust in many markets.
  • Test wrapping on a phone-width preview; a line that looks fine in English may break mid-phrase elsewhere.
  • Keep legal or pricing disclosures accurate per region; do not invent claims the binary does not support.

Count and review after localization. Expansion ratios differ by language; a tidy English list can become a scroll marathon in another storefront.

ASO angle: what release notes can (and cannot) do

What's New is not a replacement for title, subtitle, or the keyword field. Do not stuff it with ranking keywords at the expense of clarity. Use it to reinforce benefits you already own in metadata and screenshots, and to give searchers who already found you a reason to update.

  • Title / subtitle / keywords: primary discovery slots — protect those first.
  • What's New: conversion and retention copy for people already on the page or updating.
  • Promotional text: temporary hooks you can refresh without a new binary when Apple allows.
  • Screenshots: visual proof; release notes should not contradict caption claims.

When a major feature launches, mirror the same benefit language across subtitle (if you change it), promo text, screenshot captions, and What's New. Consistency beats keyword stuffing.

Workflow: localize What's New with every version

Build a repeatable checklist so release notes never ship English-only "just this once."

  1. Freeze the English source bullets the day you cut the release candidate — no last-minute engineering jargon.
  2. Mark which bullets are user-facing vs internal; delete internal ones from store copy.
  3. Hand each locale a brief: audience, tone, and the glossary terms that must match the UI.
  4. Rewrite (do not only translate) What's New for every active storefront you care about.
  5. Native-review top revenue locales; spot-check the rest for glossary and length.
  6. Paste localized What's New in App Store Connect in the same pass as other version metadata.
  7. After approve, spot-check the live product page on at least one phone per priority locale.

If you already localize screenshots and listing metadata with App Store Localizer (https://asolocalization.com), add What's New to that same locale checklist so release notes never lag behind captions and subtitle.

Templates that travel across locales

Use a stable structure so translators and reviewers know where to put each idea:

  • Bullet 1: headline feature or the reason this update exists.
  • Bullets 2–4: supporting improvements users will notice (speed, reliability, UI polish).
  • Optional last bullet: a single clear ask (rate the app, try the new flow) — only if it fits the culture of that market.
  • Never open with "Bug fixes and performance improvements" alone; lead with something concrete.

Example English skeleton (rewrite per locale, do not translate word-for-word): "New: [feature]. Faster [workflow]. Fixed [user-visible issue]. Improved [stability area]."

Keep a shared glossary of feature names per locale next to your screenshot caption sheet. What's New, UI, and captions should never invent three different names for the same button.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Shipping English What's New in non-English storefronts for "speed."
  • Translating ticket titles ("Fix NPE in HomeVC") instead of user outcomes.
  • Mismatched feature names vs localized UI strings.
  • Past dumps of 20 bullets nobody will read on a phone.
  • Updating screenshots for a launch but leaving release notes stale or English-only.
  • Promising features in What's New that are gated or unavailable in that country.

Any one of these makes a polished localized listing feel unfinished the moment a returning user opens What's New. The fix is process: freeze source, rewrite per locale, glossary check, paste with the rest of the update.

Ship release notes like the rest of your listing

Localized What's New is one of the cheapest upgrades you can make on an update day. You already did the hard work of building the version — spending an hour rewriting release notes for your top storefronts protects that investment.

When you run screenshot and metadata localization in one pass at https://asolocalization.com, keep What's New on the same locale checklist. Native release notes plus native captions beat an English changelog every time.