diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 18ef772f..e09bc968 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -220,12 +220,13 @@ The available dependency groups can be found in the `pyproject.toml` file.
 0. Run `update-po.sh` to generate new translation files (which will be eventually updated by translators). Commit and push the changes to the master branch.
 1. Checkout the latest commits from the `master` branch
 2. Run `python3 -m safeeyes` to make sure nothing is broken
-3. Update the Safe Eyes version in the following places (Open the project in VSCode and search for the current version):
+3. Update the Safe Eyes version. Run `./update-version.sh "version.number.number" "New version with shiny new feature"`. 
+To manually change the version number, update the following places (Open the project in VSCode and search for the current version):
     - [pyproject.toml](https://github.com/slgobinath/SafeEyes/blob/master/pyproject.toml#L4)
     - [pyproject.toml](https://github.com/slgobinath/SafeEyes/blob/master/pyproject.toml#L35)
     - [io.github.slgobinath.SafeEyes.metainfo.xml](https://github.com/slgobinath/SafeEyes/blob/master/safeeyes/platform/io.github.slgobinath.SafeEyes.metainfo.xml#L56)
     - [about_dialog.glade](https://github.com/slgobinath/SafeEyes/blob/master/safeeyes/glade/about_dialog.glade#L74)
-4. Update the [changelog](https://github.com/slgobinath/SafeEyes/blob/master/debian/changelog) (for Ubuntu PPA release)
+4. Update the [changelog](https://github.com/slgobinath/SafeEyes/blob/master/debian/changelog) (for Ubuntu PPA release). *This is automated* if you use the `./update-version.sh` script mentioned above, but you may want to manually add more lines to describe what's new in this release.
 5. Commit the changes to `master`
 6. Create a pull-request from `master` to `release`
 7. Merge the PR to release **with merge commit** (Important to merge with merge commit)
diff --git a/update-version.sh b/update-version.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..fae19062
--- /dev/null
+++ b/update-version.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+usage() {
+    echo "Usage: $0 \"version.number\" \"release-message\""
+    exit 2
+}
+
+if [ "$#" -ne 2 ]; then
+    usage
+fi
+
+version="$1"
+message="$2"
+
+# Validate version format (allow x.y or x.y.z)
+if [[ ! "$version" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?$ ]]; then
+    echo "Warning: Version '$version' does not match the standard format x.y or x.y.z."
+    echo "Please validate the version number manually."
+    read -p "Do you want to continue? [y/N]: " confirm
+    if [[ ! "$confirm" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
+        echo "Aborted by user."
+        exit 10
+    fi
+fi
+
+CHANGELOG="debian/changelog"
+METAFILE="safeeyes/platform/io.github.slgobinath.SafeEyes.metainfo.xml"
+PYPROJECT="pyproject.toml"
+
+if [ ! -f "$CHANGELOG" ]; then
+    echo "Error: $CHANGELOG not found." >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+if [ ! -f "$METAFILE" ]; then
+    echo "Error: $METAFILE not found." >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Build maintainer from Git config (do not read debian/control)
+# Prefer git user.name and user.email; fall back to sensible defaults
+name=$(git config user.name || echo "Unknown")
+email=$(git config user.email || echo "unknown@example.com")
+maintainer="$name <$email>"
+
+
+# Dates
+rfc_date=$(date -u '+%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S +0000')
+iso_date=$(date -u '+%Y-%m-%d')
+
+# Determine distribution string from existing changelog first entry, fallback to 'noble'
+dist=$(sed -n '1,120p' "$CHANGELOG" | grep -m1 '^safeeyes (' | sed -n 's/.*) \([^;]*\);.*/\1/p' || true)
+if [ -z "$dist" ]; then
+    dist="noble"
+fi
+
+# Safety checks: do not add duplicate entries
+if grep -qF "safeeyes ($version)" "$CHANGELOG" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "Changelog already contains an entry for version $version; aborting." >&2
+    exit 3
+fi
+if grep -q "version=\"$version\"" "$METAFILE"; then
+    echo "Metainfo already contains a release element for version $version; aborting." >&2
+    exit 4
+fi
+
+# Update pyproject.toml version and Downloads URL if file exists
+if [ -f "$PYPROJECT" ]; then
+    # Replace version = "..."
+    sed -i "s/^version = \".*\"/version = \"$version\"/" "$PYPROJECT"
+    # Set Downloads to canonical GitHub archive URL for this version
+    # Use a stable URL: https://github.com/slgobinath/SafeEyes/archive/v<version>.tar.gz
+    sed -i "s#^[[:space:]]*Downloads = \".*\"#Downloads = \"https://github.com/slgobinath/SafeEyes/archive/v$version.tar.gz\"#" "$PYPROJECT" || true
+    echo "Updated $PYPROJECT"
+fi
+
+# Update glade about dialog label if present
+GLADE_ABOUT="safeeyes/glade/about_dialog.glade"
+if [ -f "$GLADE_ABOUT" ]; then
+    # replace 'Safe Eyes x.y.z' inside <property name="label">...<
+    sed -i "s/\(<property name=\"label\">Safe Eyes \).*\(<\/property>\)/\1$version\2/" "$GLADE_ABOUT" || true
+    echo "Updated $GLADE_ABOUT"
+fi
+
+
+
+# Prepend changelog entry (Debian format)
+tmpfile=$(mktemp)
+cat > "$tmpfile" <<EOF
+safeeyes ($version) $dist; urgency=medium
+
+  * $message
+
+ -- $maintainer  $rfc_date
+
+EOF
+
+cat "$tmpfile" "$CHANGELOG" > "$CHANGELOG.new" && mv "$CHANGELOG.new" "$CHANGELOG"
+rm -f "$tmpfile"
+echo "Updated $CHANGELOG"
+
+# Insert release element as the first child under <releases>
+# Keep indentation consistent with project file (8 spaces for release lines)
+awk -v ver="$version" -v iso="$iso_date" '
+/^[[:space:]]*<releases>[[:space:]]*$/ { print; printf "        <release version=\"%s\" date=\"%s\" />\n", ver, iso; next }
+{ print }
+' "$METAFILE" > "$METAFILE.new" && mv "$METAFILE.new" "$METAFILE"
+echo "Updated $METAFILE"
+
+echo "Updated $CHANGELOG and $METAFILE"
+
+exit 0