Crucial Tracks: Changelog & Roadmap

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Changelog

April 2025

  • Initial 1.0 release
  • User profiles and authentication
  • Entry creation and management
  • Apple Music search
  • A view of all public posts - Public Tracks - find new music and people to follow!
  • Added a profile setting to default new entries to Public
  • Added an onboarding message for new users
  • Added a rotating daily prompt feature to help you write each day
  • Added a 'Use Daily Prompt' button to the new entry page
  • Bug fixes and mobile layout improvements
  • Better content support in RSS feed (markdown converted to HTML)
  • Individual URLs for public entries (a popular request!)
  • Added 40+ prompts
  • Support content
  • Add your songs to an Apple Music playlist (instructions here)
  • Added user preference for date format (MDY or DMY)
  • Added user preference for RSS title prefix - you can change the 'Crucial Track for' text to whatever you want. (Rest of title will be the date, in the format you selected for the site.)
  • Add user preference to share Apple Music playlist URL - adds the playlist link to your public profile page, to the bottom of each RSS feed item, and on the Public Tracks page.
  • Added better prompt management - site now tracks when prompts were shown so all prompts are used before one is re-used.

May 2025

  • Sharing to Bluesky and Mastodon - configure to automatically share new entries to these sites.
  • Add (optional) additional, custom text when you share to Mastodon and Bluesky.
  • Added support for passing an Apple Music song via URL to start an entry with that song on Crucial Tracks. More info here.
  • Improved the selected song UI.
  • Added RSS feed to Public Tracks page
  • Community Tracks - a weekly curated playlist from the Crucial Tracks community
  • Added profile badges for the first 100 users and posts created (10/30/60)
  • Add to Homescreen + Add to Dock - on Apple devices you can now add Crucial Tracks to your dock and/or homescreen.
  • Added user time zone support
  • Added markdown toolbar for entry content
  • Added community links to the dashboard: Public Tracks and Community Playlists
  • Improved prompt scheduling and added a Last 10 Prompts view
  • Utilize past prompts when creating entries for days in the past - the prompts from the last two weeks are available. (Select older days on the calendar widget or select a past day on the Create Entry page, then click Use Daily Prompt button)
  • Improved styling for some HTML elements
  • Added webring functionality to public profile pages
  • Added JSON feeds for profiles and Public Tracks. Complete with a song details extension that breaks out the details into fields – great for automation.
  • Added support for Song.link links for every shared song. Get to other streaming services easily!

June 2025

  • Crucial Connections - with every public post, see other users who listen to the same artist or have written about the same song.
  • JSON Export - export all of your posts in JSON format. Available on your My Entries page
  • Merch store - visit our merch store to support the site! (https://merch.crucialtracks.org)

July 2025

  • Added badges for 100, 150, 200 posts

August 2025

  • Added basic daily, scheduled reminders
  • Enhanced scheduled reminders - choose send time & site skips the reminder if you've already posted for the day.
  • Added playlist artwork to Community Tracks pages (going forward)

September 2025

  • Initial release of the Prompt Explorer - work to complete all prompts and see how other community members respond to specific prompts.
  • Theme support for public profiles - 3 light and 3 dark themes to start
  • Improved page load speed for Public Tracks page
  • Manual entries now support Bandcamp track URLs and YouTube URLs to add some snazzy fun to your posts.

Roadmap

Planned for the future

  • More flexibility with reminders (custom time and only send if you haven’t posted for the day)
  • More flexibility for posting custom tracks (I'm thinking YouTube and Bandcamp to start)
  • Enhanced prompts (see which prompts you and other users have responded to, as well as earn badges based on prompts)
  • More profile badges and challenges
  • Revamped homepage and feature page
  • YouTube walkthrough of the app and features
  • End of Year "Community Wrapped" - top shared songs, artists, and more.
  • For posts shared to Mastodon or Bluesky, add link to those Mastodon/Bluesky posts
  • Customizable profile pages (colors, background image)