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iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

developer.apple.com

131–140 of 222 posts

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#131

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…

I've said this for 5+ years... iOS should optionally prompt for user reviews, not the app. As in, there should be an API for requesting reviews.

Only that API should be able to control going to the app store review page.

This would greatly cut down on fake apps, as the users would actually have to use the app to leave a review.

Also, usage data should be correlated against a review. If the user doesn't really use the app, then the review should be quite low priority or filtered out. This would cut down on fake reviews and also PO users who use the app once, leave a trashy review, and leave. Those messages are better directed as PMs to the developer.

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#132

10 years & wow we can reply to reviews. I guess 4 billion in app store profits can pay for a feature now & then. Now how about tackling fake reviews?

> Now how about tackling fake reviews?

From apples point of view, why?

If an app gets fake positive reviews, it will sell more, and give Apple higher income.

If an app gets fake negative reviews, the developer will just bump the version, the reviews will be forgotten, and there will be no negative effect to Apple.

Like the old SNL sketch, Apple doesn't care. They don't have to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHgUN_95UAw

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#133
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…

I've done a similar thing, but getting people to review is like pulling teeth.

We've tried plenty ways to make this happen:

1. append a footer in the email asking for a review Finding: People ignore it.

2. include custom copy in the emails asking for a review People say yes yes, and then most do nothing.

3. The annoying rate us with stars popup and redirect to appstore. People rate 5 stars inapp, and then close down the AppStore before they apply a rating

Getting reviews is hard for b2c - but the real issue at work is the amount of friction AppStore imposes. I've tried to leave reviews and it asks me to re-sign in to the AppStore, minimum character requirements (can't just leave 5 stars).

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#134

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…

the entire apple ecosystem is a non-stop barrage of notices, warnings, and requests, from all apps and the OS.

even if you try to turn it all off, they still come at you relentlessly. it's exhausting.

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#135
post #60
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When an app nags me for a review, it really gets in the way and hinders my usage of it. A bad review is a totally legitimate response to that. If this is your only solution to biased reviews, then you have no solution, you just have a way to move the problem around some. If you don't want silly one-star reviews complaining about the prompt, don't interrupt people when they're trying to get something done.

No one said nag. People seem to be be assuming the worst possible behaviour. Asking once with a "Don't ask again" and "Later" option is pretty standard. The original post said a popup is annoying enough to deserve a 1-star review. I strongly disagree and if you enjoy free apps, it's one of the few ways to really thank the developer.

I've never ever seen a "Don't ask again" option in the ios apps i use. And therefor i also leave 1 star ratings once in a while for apps that keep annoying me with this question (and interrupting my workflow.)

i think it's the only effective thing i can do, the message is: stop wasting my time

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#136
post #38
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When an app nags me for a review, it really gets in the way and hinders my usage of it. A bad review is a totally legitimate response to that. If this is your only solution to biased reviews, then you have no solution, you just have a way to move the problem around some. If you don't want silly one-star reviews complaining about the prompt, don't interrupt people when they're trying to get something done.

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

That is not relevant, it's about respect. A develop should respect "not interrupting a users workflow".

From the Dev prospective it's just a minor inconvenience/1 app, from the users perspective it may be 100 apps and the problem becomes a real pain in the ass. And there is no way to opt out.

Then the 1 star review makes sense, doesn't it?

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#137

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…

I've said this for 5+ years... iOS should optionally prompt for user reviews, not the app. As in, there should be an API for requesting reviews. Only that API should be able to control going to the app store review page. This would greatly cut down on fake apps, as the users would actually have to use the app to leave a review. Also, usage data should be correlated against a review. If the user doesn't really use the…

As long as you can link to the app store, apps can beg for reviews.

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#138
post #24

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…

I really dislike that last technique in your list. Attempting to select only the people who like the app is an obvious thing to do as a developer, but as a user it seriously hurts the usefulness of reviews.

But one-star reviews just because the app asked for a review doesn't hurt the usefulness of reviews?

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#139
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No one said nag. People seem to be be assuming the worst possible behaviour. Asking once with a "Don't ask again" and "Later" option is pretty standard. It is pretty standard, and it turns out that I have more than a hundred apps installed that all do it. I too routinely give one-star ratings to try and de-incentivise this kind of thing. I'm sorry that you don't seem to have an alternate way of going about getting…

No one dismissed your complaint. I presented the developer point of view. If you honestly think that a single popup makes an app deserve of a 1 star rating regardless of anything else, I disagree. It's like being a single issue voter. It's also more damaging than you know to the app developers who's work you are using (in most cases for free) and I'd encourage you to reconsider. Apple could fix this issue. A few vigi…

[deleted]

Re: iOS and MacOS Developers Can Now Respond to Reviews

#140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI, some people rate apps down when the apps beg for for reviews like that.

austinl's comment: > 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. implies that the best response to such antisocial behavior is to give any pestering app one star. They're mining this dark pattern for publicity.

Pretty much. I downvote any app spamming me.
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