diff --git a/.github/workflows/start-release-train.yml b/.github/workflows/start-release-train.yml
index f9cb9c39..37830df1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/start-release-train.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/start-release-train.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ on:
         description: 'Date of the final release. Will be used for CHANGELOG.md (format YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. 2023-02-27)'
         type: string
         required: true
+      dry_run:
+        description: 'If true, the workflow will not create a PR'
+        type: boolean
+        required: false
+        default: false
 env:
   LC_ALL: en_US.UTF-8
   LANG: en_US.UTF-8
@@ -43,8 +48,10 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           branch_name="release/v${{ inputs.version_number }}"
           echo "branch_name=$branch_name" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "$branch_name"
 
       - name: Create Release Branch
+        if: ${{ !inputs.dry_run }}
         run: |
           # Delete the release branch if already exists, useful in case we need to re-run this workflow
           git push origin --delete ${{ steps.branching.outputs.branch_name }} || true
@@ -53,26 +60,60 @@ jobs:
       - name: Bump changelog version
         run: |
           sed -i'.bak' "s/\[Unreleased\]/\[${{ inputs.version_number }}\] \(${{ inputs.release_date }}\)/g" CHANGELOG.md
+          awk 'BEGIN {count=0} /## \[/ {count++; if (count == 2) exit} {print}' CHANGELOG.md
 
       - name: Bump package.json version
         run: |
           yarn version --new-version ${{ inputs.version_number }} --no-git-tag-version
 
-      - name: Update Podfile.lock
+      - name: Restore Pods cache
+        id: pods-cache-restore
+        uses: actions/cache/restore@v3
+        with:
+          path: |
+            .cocoapods-cache
+            example/ios/Pods
+          key: pods-${{ hashFiles('example/ios/Podfile.lock') }}
+          restore-keys: pods-
+
+      - name: Set up CocoaPods
+        run: |
+          pod repo remove trunk
+          pod repo add bitmovin https://github.com/bitmovin/cocoapod-specs.git || pod repo update bitmovin
+        working-directory: example/ios
+        env:
+          CP_HOME_DIR: ${{ github.workspace }}/.cocoapods-cache
+
+      - name: Install pods to update Podfile.lock
         run: |
           yarn bootstrap
+        env:
+          CP_HOME_DIR: ${{ github.workspace }}/.cocoapods-cache
+          NO_FLIPPER: 1
+
+      - name: Save Pods cache
+        if: steps.pods-cache-restore.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        uses: actions/cache/save@v3
+        with:
+          path: |
+            .cocoapods-cache
+            example/ios/Pods
+          key: ${{ steps.pods-cache-restore.outputs.cache-primary-key }}
 
       - name: Commit changelog version bump
+        if: ${{ !inputs.dry_run }}
         run: |
           git add CHANGELOG.md package.json example/ios/Podfile.lock
           git commit -m "chore: prepare release ${{ inputs.version_number }}"
           git push origin ${{ steps.branching.outputs.branch_name }}
 
       - name: Create PR
+        if: ${{ !inputs.dry_run }}
         run: |
           gh pr create \
           --base "main" \
           --title "Release ${{ inputs.version_number }}" \
-          --body "Release ${{ inputs.version_number }}"
+          --body "Release ${{ inputs.version_number }}.\n\nPlease review and merge this PR to continue the release process." \
+          --reviewer "${{ github.actor }}"
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}