Every other Tuesday night, while most of your church is asleep, Realm gets a little better. That’s our release rhythm: a new version of Realm goes live every two weeks, like clockwork.
If you’ve ever logged in on a Wednesday morning and noticed something new, a smoother screen, a feature your team asked for, or a fix for that thing that bugged you last week, that’s no accident. Here’s a look behind the curtain at how and why we release the way we do.
Why every two weeks?
Some software companies save up changes for a few big releases a year. We’ve chosen a different path. Releasing every two weeks means Realm is always fresh, always current, and always moving forward.
This approach has real benefits for your church:
- You get improvements sooner. When a feature is ready, you don’t wait months to use it.
- Changes come in manageable pieces. Small, steady updates are easier to learn than a massive overhaul all at once.
- Your feedback moves faster. Ideas and requests from churches like yours can go from conversation to production in weeks, not quarters.
- Fixes don’t sit on a shelf. When we resolve an issue, it’s on its way to you in the very next release.
What’s in a release?
Each release is a mix of three kinds of work:
- Enhancements: refinements to features you already use, making everyday tasks quicker and easier.
- Projects: larger pieces of new functionality, often delivered in stages across several releases.
- Bug fixes: yes, those too. Every piece of software has them, and we’d rather fix them quickly than make you wait.
We’re open about that last one because we believe a healthy release process is an honest one. Steady releases mean we’re always improving what’s new and polishing what’s already there.
Quality and performance come first
Releasing often never means cutting corners. Quality and performance are paramount for us, because we know Realm is where your church keeps its people, its ministries, and its stories.
That’s why every release passes through multiple layers of testing and signoff before it ever reaches production. Changes are reviewed, tested, and checked again, and a release only moves forward when the people responsible for it are confident it’s ready.
The two-week rhythm actually helps here. Smaller releases are easier to test thoroughly, and when something needs attention, it’s much easier to pinpoint.
When something slips through
Even with careful testing, no software team is perfect. Occasionally a release introduces a bug. When that happens, we move quickly.
Our team prioritizes the fix, works it through the same quality checks, and gets it resolved as fast as we responsibly can. Because we’re already set up to release often, a fix doesn’t have to wait for some distant update. If something affects your work, please let our support team know. Your reports help us find and fix issues faster.
Building alongside you
Every two weeks, our team ships something new because we believe the churches we serve deserve software that keeps getting better. Your work matters, and the tools behind it should keep pace.
Thank you for all you do for the kingdom. Know that we are constantly building and releasing software to support you, one Tuesday night at a time.
