This article explains how Simpplr releases work, what to expect in each environment, when releases happen, and when you should receive communication about a release. You'll also find the upcoming release schedule at the bottom.

Understanding your two environments: Sandbox and Production 

Before diving into release timing, it helps to know the difference between your two Simpplr environments.

Sandbox is your preview and testing environment. Think of it as a safe space where your App Managers and core Intranet project team can explore upcoming changes before they reach your employees in production. 

• Simpplr upgrades your Sandbox 1–2 weeks ahead of your live intranet, giving your intranet team time to review new features, test configurations, and prepare for changes.

Production is the environment your employees use every day. 

• Simpplr upgrades your Production environment on the General Availability (GA) date listed in the schedule below.

Release schedule and communications

Monthly releases

Simpplr delivers a full product release once a month. Each monthly release includes new features, enhancements, and bug fixes. 

Here’s how a monthly release works:

• Sandbox release (UAT) 

  • Simpplr first deploys the update to your Sandbox environment. 

  • This happens on the evening before the Sandbox upgrade date (between 8:30 PM – 12:30 AM PST), with no expected downtime. 

  • Release notes are published at the same time, so you can see exactly what's changing.

• Production release (GA)

  • After a validation period of 1–2 weeks, the release goes live on your Production environment on the published GA date.

  • This happens on the evening before the Production GA upgrade date (between 8:30 PM – 12:30 AM PST), overnight with no expected downtime.
    

Here's how customers get notified about monthly releases

In-app notification: App Managers are notified in their Simpplr environment via a banner that says, “What’s New.” Clicking on “What’s new” will bring you to the release notes page. 

In addition to in app notifications, we send two email communications for each monthly release:  two email notifications for each monthly release:

1. Sandbox (UAT) email notification: sent when the update reaches your Sandbox. Includes the upcoming GA date and a link to the release notes.

2. Production (GA) email notification: sent when the update reaches your Production environment. Includes the final release notes and some additional highlights and information related to a released feature.

Weekly fixes

In addition to monthly releases, Simpplr automatically rolls out weekly fixes to the Sandbox and Production environments every Monday. 

• These updates contain bug fixes only (no new features).

• Weekly fixes are not sent on monthly GA dates.  

• Weekly fixes are deployed overnight Sunday 8:30PM - 12:30AM PST with no downtime. 

You won't receive a separate notification (in app or email) for weekly fixes, but you can review them anytime in the Weekly Fixes article.

Hotfixes

Occasionally, Simpplr may deploy a hotfix outside the normal release schedule to address a critical issue. Hotfixes are small, automatic, and have minimal impact on service. They're documented in the release notes and identifiable by a number at the end of the version name — for example, 26.06-A.1.1 (the bolded digit at the end indicates a hotfix).

Best practice: what to do during a monthly release 

When your Sandbox is updated, we recommend taking a few minutes to:

1. Review the release notes to understand what’s new or changing. 

2. Test any features or configurations relevant to your team’s workflows. 

3. Prepare any employee communications about new features if needed. 

2026 monthly release schedule

All releases deploy overnight (8:30 PM – 12:30 AM PST) on the evening before the listed date.

*Note: Some releases (like 26.07 and 26.10) have a longer window between Sandbox and Production to allow for additional validation and enablement. The table above reflects the actual Production GA dates.