And sometimes they do actually add a feature... but they'll mention it within the app itself despite the app updates not mentioning it. Or even more funny is how often I'll see a news article talking about the new feature, but then it never even gets mentioned in the release notes anywhere.
Nowhere else in society do we allow such self-serving laziness and unethical negligence (looking at you, purposely destroying backwards compatibility of APIs) at a professional level. Most other professions have steep legal consequences if they hide their actions or inactions.
Not only nobody reads them, but Apple forces you to translate them into languages even less than nobody read. It'd be an improvement if they only required English text.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chime-mobile-banking/id8362152...
"Choose your own update notes adventure! Pick only one: A, B, or C.
A. The holidays are coming up and we've been busy planning a celebration of bug bashes and performance enhancements, so get merry and smash that update button.
B. Shorter days, longer nights, colder temps. You know what helps the Winter blues?
Instant gratification. Tap update, watch that progress bar fill up, and feel the dopamine flow.
C. Whoever made up the mistletoe thing was crazy. You know what's not? Updating your app."
This... also serves no useful purpose.
Rev number go up!
While I'm morally tempted to do the same, many of the apps guilty of this are the major ones one uses, and as time goes by, I somehow find myself with less and less time on my hands, so I have to be selective with the things I want to do right and proper. Thus, by means of inaction, I indirectly contribute to the circle of enshittification, and there is no stopping it.