Developer Admits “Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements” Is a Template He Wrote in 2016 and Never Changed

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Veteran mobile developer Aaron Mitchell, 38, admitted Tuesday that the phrase “Bug fixes and performance improvements,” which has appeared in the release notes of every update to the popular food delivery app Dashly since 2016, is a template he wrote on his first day at the company and has never once revised.

“It was supposed to be temporary,” Mitchell said. “My manager told me to write something for the App Store description. I typed ‘Bug fixes and performance improvements’ because I didn’t know what else to say. I figured I’d come back and write something real later. That was 1,847 updates ago.”

According to Mitchell, the template has been copied and pasted into every Dashly release note for nearly a decade, including updates that added new features, redesigned the entire app, introduced a subscription program, removed popular features, and in one case, briefly broke the app for 11 million users.

“We completely rebuilt the app in 2021,” Mitchell said. “New interface, new menus, new everything. The release notes said, ‘Bug fixes and performance improvements.’ We added an AI assistant in 2024. ‘Bug fixes and performance improvements.’ In 2025, we accidentally shipped an update that charged every user’s credit card $1 for no reason. The release notes said, ‘Bug fixes and performance improvements.’”

Mitchell said the phrase has become so ingrained in the company that other departments now use it for everything.

“HR used it for a layoff announcement,” he said. “Marketing used it for our new logo. When our CEO got divorced, his lawyer’s press statement literally said, ‘Bug fixes and performance improvements.’”

The confession has sparked a wave of similar admissions from developers across the tech industry. A developer at a major social media company confirmed that their release notes template, “We update the app regularly to make it better for you,” was written by an intern in 2014 who has since left the company. A developer at a banking app admitted their notes, “Thanks for using our app! We’ve made some improvements,” were written by a chatbot and “haven’t been read by a human since.”

“Nobody reads release notes,” said software industry analyst Dr. Karen Liu. “So nobody writes real ones. It’s a vicious cycle. Users used to get excited about updates because the notes told them what was new. Now the notes are just a polite way of saying, ‘Something happened. Don’t worry about it.’”

Dashly’s CEO released a statement defending the practice. “Our release notes accurately describe the purpose of every update,” the statement read. “Every update includes bug fixes, performance improvements, or both. Sometimes it also includes other things. But those are bonus things.”

Mitchell said he plans to finally rewrite the template, but admitted he’s nervous.

“What if I change it and something breaks?” he said. “It’s been working for ten years. I don’t want to mess with it.”

At press time, Dashly had released an update that removed the ability to tip delivery drivers, with release notes reading, “Bug fixes and performance improvements.”