diff --git a/scripts/check-whats-new.mjs b/scripts/check-whats-new.mjs
index cabb60cd1..5b74c9688 100644
--- a/scripts/check-whats-new.mjs
+++ b/scripts/check-whats-new.mjs
@@ -44,13 +44,13 @@ assert.match(
 );
 
 /** One run of the effect, with the store and the network faked. */
-async function run({ seen, version, app, offline, storeUser }) {
+async function run({ seen, version, app, offline, storeUser, joined }) {
   const store = { value: seen };
   const shown = [];
   const fetched = [];
 
   const fn = new Function(
-    "getUserValue", "setUserValue", "fetch", "setEntry", "version", "AbortController", "SEEN_KEY", "CHANGELOG_URL", "storeUser",
+    "getUserValue", "setUserValue", "fetch", "setEntry", "version", "AbortController", "SEEN_KEY", "CHANGELOG_URL", "storeUser", "hasJoinedAnything",
     `return (async () => { const cleanup = (() => ${body})(); await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 0)); return cleanup; })();`,
   );
 
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ async function run({ seen, version, app, offline, storeUser }) {
     SEEN_KEY,
     CHANGELOG_URL,
     storeUser === undefined ? "user_1" : storeUser,
+    () => joined ?? false,
   );
 
   return { seen: store.value, shown, fetched };
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ const LINE = { version: "1.10.3", date: "2026-09-08", line: "Joining voice waits
 
 // A fresh install announces nothing, and records so the next update does.
 {
-  const r = await run({ seen: null, version: "1.10.3", app: [LINE] });
+  const r = await run({ seen: null, version: "1.10.3", app: [LINE], joined: false });
   assert.deepEqual(r.shown, [], "a fresh install is greeted with a what's-new modal");
   assert.deepEqual(r.fetched, [], "a fresh install fetches the changelog for nothing");
   assert.equal(r.seen, "1.10.3", "a fresh install did not record its version");
@@ -233,6 +234,31 @@ assert.deepEqual(
   assert.equal(readableDate("not-a-date"), "not-a-date", "a bad date renders as Invalid Date");
 }
 
+/* An install that has joined a server and has nothing recorded ran a build
+   where the recording never happened. It is not new. GRYT-1102. */
+{
+  const r = await run({ seen: null, version: "1.10.3", app: [LINE], joined: true });
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    r.shown,
+    [LINE],
+    "an install that has joined servers was treated as fresh, so the release that fixed this says nothing",
+  );
+  assert.equal(r.seen, "1.10.3", "it showed the line without recording the version");
+}
+
+// And the two cases are told apart by what the helper actually reads.
+{
+  const fn = new Function(
+    "getUserValue",
+    block(source, "function hasJoinedAnything(): boolean {", "hasJoinedAnything")
+      .slice(1, -1)
+      .replace("<Record<string, unknown> | null>", ""),
+  );
+  assert.equal(fn(() => null), false, "no servers entry reads as having joined something");
+  assert.equal(fn(() => ({})), false, "an empty servers entry reads as having joined something");
+  assert.equal(fn(() => ({ "host:1": {} })), true, "a joined server reads as a fresh install");
+}
+
 /* ── it waits for the per-user store ─────────────────────────────────────── */
 
 // Read on mount, the store is empty every launch: a fresh install that says
diff --git a/src/components/whatsNew.tsx b/src/components/whatsNew.tsx
index 8381a3606..bfe147422 100644
--- a/src/components/whatsNew.tsx
+++ b/src/components/whatsNew.tsx
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ interface Entry {
   note?: boolean;
 }
 
+/** Whether this install has ever joined a server, which a fresh one has not. */
+function hasJoinedAnything(): boolean {
+  const servers = getUserValue<Record<string, unknown> | null>("servers", null);
+  return !!servers && Object.keys(servers).length > 0;
+}
+
 /**
  * What changed, the first time somebody opens a version they have not seen. The
  * hand-written changelog lines, not the release body of commit subjects.
@@ -39,9 +45,9 @@ export function WhatsNew() {
     const seen = getUserValue<string | null>(SEEN_KEY, null);
     if (seen === version) return;
 
-    /* A fresh install has nothing to compare against. Announcing the version
-       somebody just chose to install reads as a bug, so record and stay quiet. */
-    if (seen === null) {
+    /* Nothing recorded: a fresh install, or one that ran 1.11.0 or 1.11.1 and
+       never got to write it (GRYT-1101). Only the first should stay quiet. */
+    if (seen === null && !hasJoinedAnything()) {
       setUserValue(SEEN_KEY, version);
       return;
     }