diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c25063b..11438ff 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,13 @@ instead carried by the app description, the git tag, the release, and this file.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [1.0.0-rc.1] - 2026-10-17
+
+Release candidate for 1.0.0; the app version is 0.9.7. Only bug fixes until 1.0.0. Tested on a
+production instance (about 1 TB, 150,000 files): full and incremental backups and a verify on
+SFTP and SMB (Hetzner Storage Box) and S3 (OVH), a deep verify on SFTP, and partial restores from
+SMB and S3 checked against checksums.
+
 ### Added
 - The admin page asks for feedback, with a link to a short "Experience report" form on GitHub:
   which location, setup and size you used, and how it went.
@@ -281,6 +288,7 @@ and not implemented yet.
 - See the "Storage backend experiences" section of the README for provider-specific quirks found
   so far (e.g. Hetzner Storage Box sub-accounts).
 
+[1.0.0-rc.1]: https://github.com/dillardblom/ng_backup/releases/tag/v1.0.0-rc.1
 [0.9.6-beta.7]: https://github.com/dillardblom/ng_backup/releases/tag/v0.9.6-beta.7
 [0.9.5-beta.6]: https://github.com/dillardblom/ng_backup/releases/tag/v0.9.5-beta.6
 [0.9.4-beta.5]: https://github.com/dillardblom/ng_backup/releases/tag/v0.9.4-beta.5
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b6a11e5..83df76a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ installations and hosted Nextcloud. (Choosing SMB as a storage backend is the on
 see "Storage backend experiences" below — that requirement comes from files_external, not from
 ng_backup, and applies to any Nextcloud app that writes to an SMB share.)
 
-**Status: beta (0.9.6).** Tested thoroughly, usable alongside your current backup, but not yet a
-drop-in replacement for it. See "Known limitations" below, `PLAN.md` for the design and
+**Status: release candidate for 1.0.0 (1.0.0-rc.1, app version 0.9.7).** Tested thoroughly, usable
+alongside your current backup, but not yet a drop-in replacement for it. See "Known limitations" below, `PLAN.md` for the design and
 `docs/HOWTO.md` for a step-by-step guide from setup to a tested restore.
 
 License: AGPL-3.0-or-later.
diff --git a/appinfo/info.xml b/appinfo/info.xml
index 12118f4..c317bdb 100644
--- a/appinfo/info.xml
+++ b/appinfo/info.xml
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@
     <id>ng_backup</id>
     <name>NG Backup</name>
     <summary>Encrypted, incremental backups of your Nextcloud with restore from the web interface</summary>
-    <description><![CDATA[Beta: scheduled, encrypted, incremental backups of the database, config and data
+    <description><![CDATA[Release candidate for 1.0.0: scheduled, encrypted, incremental backups of the database, config and data
 directory to S3, SFTP, WebDAV, FTP, SMB or a local path, with restore of files and folders, of
 single users (via user_migration) and of the whole server onto a fresh installation. Tested
 thoroughly and usable alongside your current backup, but not yet a drop-in replacement for it.
 See the README for known limitations and the recovery kit before relying on it.]]></description>
-    <version>0.9.6</version>
+    <version>0.9.7</version>
     <licence>agpl</licence>
     <author mail="dillard.blom@ensembia.com">Dillard Blom</author>
     <namespace>NgBackup</namespace>