Product Updates

Automatic Jira fix versions and labels

Any time we detect code on your release branch, and that code is linked to a Jira ticket, we check that the ticket has the correct fix version and/or label applied to it.

For example, here’s a PR (#28) that was merged into the release branch (release-0.0.2). It references ticket RA-11, but that ticket is missing a fix version and label for 0.0.2.

‍

‍

Runway will now automatically add the correct fix versions and/or labels to tickets, as specified in your app settings. In the example above, we specified both a label and fix version in Runway settings, so both were automatically added  🎉

‍

Improved checklist items

‍We’ve added markdown support, owner roles, and an improved UI. 

‍

Select build/APK on Runway

‍Choose which build to submit from a list of most recent builds, and update your selection in App Store Connect/Google Play directly on Runway.

Submit your app through Runway

‍Submit your app for review on App Store Connect or the Play Console, all without leaving Runway.

Update your Phased Release or Staged Rollout percent

‍Are you making use of phased releases? Update your phased release state (iOS) or increment your rollout percentage (Android) through Runway.

The last few weeks have been exciting ones for the Runway team – we participated in Y Combinator’s Demo Day and closed our seed round of funding 🎉 You all played a part in us reaching this milestone, so a heartfelt “thank you” from our team to yours!

App Home

‍We built App Home as a quick overview of the most important releases for your app. 

• Live release: At the top, you’ll see a summary of the release that’s currently live on the app store. Some details here include the date it was released, how long your release cycle took, and your current App Store rating.

• Next release: Here, you’ll see how close you are to being feature complete, a timeline of important events that have happened so far for that release, and key dates.

• Upcoming release: These are releases that are planned for the future, and will show the release description, the pilot slated for the release and key dates like the target kickoff.

Working branch Feature Readiness‍

We’ve heard that sometimes it’s useful to track progress towards a release before it’s actually been kicked off. So, we’ve added the ability to switch your base branch in feature readiness, so you can view progress towards the release relative to your main development branch. Just be sure to set a working branch in your App Settings if you haven’t already.

Ignore button on Feature Readiness

‍Sometimes you don’t want a piece of work to be counted towards the release, but still want to get to feature complete on Runway. We added the option to ignore an item of work so it won’t be considered in determining Feature Readiness. You can always bring back that item by clicking “Include”.

Revamped ‘Kickoff’

‍We recognize that planning for future releases is a key part of a good release process. That’s why we’ve reimagined the ‘Kickoff’ step to surface more of the important details of an upcoming release, and to give your team more flexibility to make changes as needed.

Check out some of the new features we’ve added to the Kickoff step:

Scheduling: Now, you can easily see target kickoff and release dates for a given version. If you set target dates, Runway will send your team a Slack notification before key dates as a reminder.

Edit release settings: You can also modify the details of your release, like release type (major, minor, point), release pilot, and target dates.

Release description: Add some notes or information to help you plan your release.

Create release branch: If your team uses release branches, you can now create the release branch directly from the Kickoff step. Soon, Runway will be able to automatically cut your release branch on the target kickoff date.

If you’re looking for checklist items, they have a new home up on the top right of each step:

🎉Android 

Our long-awaited launch of support for Android is finally here, bringing together release coordination across platforms. Here’s what that means:

• You can now coordinate releases for both Android and iOS apps within Runway
• We’ve added a Google Play integration which uses Google’s Play Developer API under the hood
• All of Runway’s existing features are now supported for Android apps

‍

Send us a note via Slack or email to schedule a time to get your team set up.

‍
Release notes and ‘What’s New’

‍We’ve heard time and time again that keeping release notes in a spreadsheet and copying and pasting them into App Store Connect or Google Play is a headache. We’ve built a real home for release notes in Runway, where your PM or copywriter can come to add release notes and upload them to the relevant app store, for all localizations.

Oh and of course, it works for updating Release Notes on the Play Console as well!

We also added a helpful “Feature list” button on the Metadata screen, which pulls up all the tickets that are part of the release. We think it could come in handy as inspiration when drafting release notes.