iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews • Hacker News Board

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#101

Post by SomeCallMeTim » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 6:17 AM UTC

scosman wrote: post #26

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I review every app that annoys me with a review popup, and voice my opinion about my most recent memory of the app (the annoying popup, 1 star). Seems like enough people have started doing it that app developers no longger do this that much, at least on Android. There was even an article how to properly beg for reviews. Boils down to: * Do it after you have delighted the user, not during startup. * Do it respectfully…

Please don't give an app a 1 star review just because they ask for a review. Apple and Android have made ratings incredibly important, and the vast majority of happy users never take the time to review. You get some happy users rating, and a disproportionate number of unhappy users. Asking people (at an appropriate time) is the only way to level the field. We've had a few 5.0 releases of our iOS app, but usually a fe…

>Secondly, the 3rd items you list is actually a dark pattern. If you are going to ask users to review, let them be honest. Directing 5 stars to app store and 4 or fewer to an internal system is gaming the system.

Sorry, but that particular pattern is 100% appropriate, IMO.

* If someone has a problem with my app, I absolutely don't want to send them to the reviews where they'll post a "tech support review". Yes Apple finally got off their collective behinds and caught up to Google's Play Store in that developers can respond now to reviews, but it's still a terrible venue for helping people with an app. Send them to somewhere that they can get real help, and turn their mediocre to poor review into a positive review.

* If someone has a problem with an app, the odds are roughly 7x greater that they will post a bad review. People who are frustrated are just more likely to seek out the review process to vent their spleens. There's absolutely no reason for me to attempt to be "fair" by reminding everyone to review my app; the haters will find the review button entirely on their own without my assistance.

I might send 4-5 stars to the app store, but if they rate it 3 or less, then damn straight I'm going to ask them what's wrong and not have them rate it. That's just common sense, not gaming the system.

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#102

Post by epaga » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 6:17 AM UTC

As a small indie dev (dealing with hundreds or thousands, not hundreds of thousands of customers), the best way I've found to encourage reviews is to prominently display my email address for any questions or ideas.

Then, when customers write (many of them do), I write back a nice response and then add:

P.S. If you enjoy Mindscope, would you take a minute to write a short review? It would mean a lot and helps give Mindscope visibility on the App Store.

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#103

Post by metafunctor » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 6:20 AM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #39

fattire wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, you sound like a very busy person doing important things.

It's a minor inconvenience, and my retaliation is in proportion to that.

If it's a "minor inconvenience", shouldn't you rate the app, say, 3 or 4 stars if you otherwise enjoy it?

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#104

Post by thirdsun » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 6:24 AM UTC

austinl wrote: post #22

Ensorceled wrote: post #12

What I was really hoping for is a solution to the problem of every app begging me for a review after upgrading. I get a "please review" popup pretty much every day. When I got back from Christmas vacation and synced a bunch of apps, my iPhone was painful to use for about three days and every app begged for my help. I actually review apps I use and like, I just wish I didn't have to do it every update to help keep the…

There's an unfortunate cause of excessive app rating prompts — what's shown in search results/top charts/other areas is the average of the latest version, not the overall aggregate. If you're at a company that does scheduled releases (e.g. once every three weeks), you'll need to continually ask people to review the app to keep that rating high. Otherwise you only get ratings from new users and users that are disconte…

It's a problem. I think the solution is to show two ratings: Overall and recently. The recent rating shouldn't depend on the last update but a fixed time frame like 2-3 months.

Steam does it that way and it makes sense. Quality of software changes, some of the apps have seen several major updates and redesigns - an overall rating is slow to account for those. A per-version-rating jeopardizes established good ratings for minor updates.

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#105

Post by macjohnmcc » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 6:29 AM UTC

austinl wrote: post #22

Ensorceled wrote: post #12

What I was really hoping for is a solution to the problem of every app begging me for a review after upgrading. I get a "please review" popup pretty much every day. When I got back from Christmas vacation and synced a bunch of apps, my iPhone was painful to use for about three days and every app begged for my help. I actually review apps I use and like, I just wish I didn't have to do it every update to help keep the…

There's an unfortunate cause of excessive app rating prompts — what's shown in search results/top charts/other areas is the average of the latest version, not the overall aggregate. If you're at a company that does scheduled releases (e.g. once every three weeks), you'll need to continually ask people to review the app to keep that rating high. Otherwise you only get ratings from new users and users that are disconte…

I will rate an app once if I rate it at all and after that I consider the prompting for a review to be a negative. What makes me review an app isn't the prompt it is the app itself in being exceptional good or being underwhelming.

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#106

Post by metafunctor » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 6:30 AM UTC

epaga wrote: post #102

As a small indie dev (dealing with hundreds or thousands, not hundreds of thousands of customers), the best way I've found to encourage reviews is to prominently display my email address for any questions or ideas. Then, when customers write (many of them do), I write back a nice response and then add: P.S. If you enjoy Mindscope, would you take a minute to write a short review? It would mean a lot and helps give Min…

Some people here would probably call that a "dark pattern" (I of course don't). Because, you know, it's soliciting for positive reviews from a preselected set of users.

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#107

Post by fattire » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 6:50 AM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #39

fattire wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, you sound like a very busy person doing important things.

It's a minor inconvenience, and my retaliation is in proportion to that.

That you feel the need to "retaliate" over what you deem a minor inconvenience says it all.

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#108

Post by wineisfine » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 6:51 AM UTC

Ensorceled wrote: post #12

What I was really hoping for is a solution to the problem of every app begging me for a review after upgrading. I get a "please review" popup pretty much every day. When I got back from Christmas vacation and synced a bunch of apps, my iPhone was painful to use for about three days and every app begged for my help. I actually review apps I use and like, I just wish I didn't have to do it every update to help keep the…

It's crazy Apple can't get basic funtionality like this right. Like on the web in 2001.

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#109

Post by flukus » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 6:59 AM UTC

austinl wrote: post #22

Ensorceled wrote: post #12

What I was really hoping for is a solution to the problem of every app begging me for a review after upgrading. I get a "please review" popup pretty much every day. When I got back from Christmas vacation and synced a bunch of apps, my iPhone was painful to use for about three days and every app begged for my help. I actually review apps I use and like, I just wish I didn't have to do it every update to help keep the…

There's an unfortunate cause of excessive app rating prompts — what's shown in search results/top charts/other areas is the average of the latest version, not the overall aggregate. If you're at a company that does scheduled releases (e.g. once every three weeks), you'll need to continually ask people to review the app to keep that rating high. Otherwise you only get ratings from new users and users that are disconte…

The google play store doesn't do this reset and android is still plagued by apps asking for updates.

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#110

Post by jackvalentine » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 7:02 AM UTC

SomeCallMeTim wrote: post #99

jackvalentine wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd encourage you to reconsider. Apple could fix this issue. A few vigilantes can't Apple aren't going to fix the issue without it being a problem for them. I'm making it a problem by poisoning the review well in my own little way. I think this is a considered response - it's literally the only push-back that users have against the practice. My preferred outcome would be a complete ban on asking for reviews. Edit:…

>What's your preferred user response to the practice of seemingly every single app begging for reviews? An actual, actionable response. Complain to Apple for having a broken system, but don't hurt the developers of the very apps you're F-ing using. As OP said above, Apple could fix this issue. Maybe weight recent reviews more, but don't just wipe the history for every upgrade. The profound sense of entitlement that u…

> that you're using for free

Rude assumption.

I always, as a matter of principle, buy the "remove ads" IAP if I use an app regularly. Even if I didn't it wasn't my choice to charge nothing for the app. That's on the developer. Apple doesn't owe you a living, I don't owe you a living. The state of the app store has been known for years now and you've had a long time to decline to participate.

Your problems with Apple are not my problems as a user.