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Apple's hostile App Store rating system

lapcatsoftware.com

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Re: Apple's hostile App Store rating system

#51

Post by lapcat »

Marsymars wrote: post #24

> Apple could mitigate this problem by emailing App Store customers at some point after purchase with a request to rate the app, so that app developers don’t need to request reviews. I don't think the fix to "users don't want nags to review apps" is to email users nags to review apps.

> I don't think the fix to "users don't want nags to review apps" is to email users nags to review apps.

That's why I said "mitigate" rather than "solve". I personally would abolish the whole system.

The advantage of an email, though, is that it doesn't interrupt your workflow while you're using the software.

Re: Apple's hostile App Store rating system

#52

Post by done_lurking »

PaulHoule wrote: post #9
spacedcowboy wrote: post #2

Just because “everyone does it” doesn’t mean you get a pass to do it too. Nagging the user to “rate my app” is pure self-interest at the expense of user-experience. I rate any app that nags (ie: more than thrice) me to rate it too. OTOH if I genuinely like some software I’m happy to rate it highly. Bottom line: It’s not my job to help sell your software - that’s your job. As for trying to get Apple in on the “screw w…

This! Personally I feel overwhelmed by dialog boxes and other trash content that gets in the way of content I need to see to do my tasks. I want to see somebody punished whenever something appears. I'd like to see the EU legislators who gave us these GDPR popups treated like war criminals and jailed if they leave the EU (e.g. they've cost us billions in productivity) I'd like to see harsh treatment for those discrimi…

> that stupid anime girl who is on way too many open source web sites

I assume you're referring to https://github.com/TecharoHQ/anubis. As I understand, this is a tool for blocking bot traffic and is sometimes used as DDOS protection. In my experience it's less obtrusive than Cloudflare, and it's open source and competes with Cloudflare's near monopoly on DDOS protection. I don't think we should be discouraging people from protecting their sites from unwanted traffic.

Re: Apple's hostile App Store rating system

#53

Post by dado3212 »

datakan wrote: post #34
loremium wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Negative reviews inflate genuine good software just because positive reviews are simply not written usually. people like to complain and not to give positive feedback if things work as expected.

> because positive reviews are simply not written usually This is objectively false when you can go to the App Store right now and see that most apps are above a 3.0 meaning more than half rate them positively. People are happy to give good reviews to the ones that deserve it.

Most apps are above a 3.0 because they implement the "nagware" to prompt normal happy users to leave reviews, rather than just relying on people reviewing out of the goodness of their hearts. Unfortunately this makes nagging table stakes to not end up with an abysmally low score.

Re: Apple's hostile App Store rating system

#54

Post by ptmkenny »

In Settings -> Apps -> App Store, I have “In-App Ratings and Reviews” toggled off. Nevertheless, I still occasionally get shown a review prompt, even for paid apps. You can bet I leave a one star review in this case; I paid for the app, and I opted out of reviews. If you want to ask me to leave a review without respecting my time and stated preference, you deserve one star.

Re: Apple's hostile App Store rating system

#55

Post by econ »

Nice catch: Building something for one purpose then [gradually] end up using it for something else.

For software you probably want a feedback box baked in.

If there should be something like star ratings it should probably be baked into the app and allow the user to change it at any time.

You probably get better numbers by measuring how long the application remained installed and how many minutes it was used in total.

As a user I would be interested in the volume of instant uninstalls. For games you want many hours of usage, for simple tools a very low number could be attractive.

OT: You had me imagine a music store with in-song purchases. Give the buyer all instrument tracks so that they can adjust the volume of each, buy extra instruments and singers, crowd source new instruments. Seems fun.

Re: Apple's hostile App Store rating system

#56

Post by cosmotic »

lapcat wrote: post #49

Author here. A few things to keep in mind: 1) I'm criticizing the system because crowdsourced song reviews are a very poor fit for software. Although I personally get frustrated with some dumb reviews, overall my software is highly rated and well reviewed. 2) Some of the comments are making baseless speculations about my software, without having used it. One commenter says I'm trying to "avoid being called out for ma…

Baseless? You posted all the evidence people need in the form of a screenshot and acknowledgement. People hate the nagging and support the only recourse they have to stop it.

Re: Apple's hostile App Store rating system

#57

Post by lapcat »

spacedcowboy wrote: post #2

Just because “everyone does it” doesn’t mean you get a pass to do it too. Nagging the user to “rate my app” is pure self-interest at the expense of user-experience. I rate any app that nags (ie: more than thrice) me to rate it too. OTOH if I genuinely like some software I’m happy to rate it highly. Bottom line: It’s not my job to help sell your software - that’s your job. As for trying to get Apple in on the “screw w…

> As for trying to get Apple in on the “screw what the user wants to do, there’s STARVING INDY DEVELOPRS that need ratings!”, I don’t think I’ve come across anything so self-serving recently.. Wow.

I think you misunderstood the post. I would like to abolish the entire crowdsourced rating and review system. I don't want to request ratings at all. However, if Apple insists on having crowdsourced ratings and reviews in the App Store, then I think it would be better to have Apple-initiated email requests that don't interrupt the workflow of users instead of apps requesting reviews while users are using them.

Re: Apple's hostile App Store rating system

#58

Post by protimewaster »

ceejayoz wrote: post #47
protimewaster wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are developers not users too? In my mind, people using the App Store to post apps are also users of the App Store.

I'd bet 90% of people implementing a nag screen go "ugh, a nag screen" when they're in user context on the App Store just like the rest of us.

I more meant that, from Apple's perspective, somebody who downloads an app from the App Store is a user, and somebody who posts an app is also a user. Different use cases, obviously, but they're both users. If they prioritize users, both groups should be included.

Re: Apple's hostile App Store rating system

#59

Post by datakan »

dado3212 wrote: post #53
datakan wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because positive reviews are simply not written usually This is objectively false when you can go to the App Store right now and see that most apps are above a 3.0 meaning more than half rate them positively. People are happy to give good reviews to the ones that deserve it.

Most apps are above a 3.0 because they implement the "nagware" to prompt normal happy users to leave reviews, rather than just relying on people reviewing out of the goodness of their hearts. Unfortunately this makes nagging table stakes to not end up with an abysmally low score.

Citation needed. This just sounds like you're saying it because you feel like its true.

Re: Apple's hostile App Store rating system

#60

Post by econ »

spacedcowboy wrote: post #2

Just because “everyone does it” doesn’t mean you get a pass to do it too. Nagging the user to “rate my app” is pure self-interest at the expense of user-experience. I rate any app that nags (ie: more than thrice) me to rate it too. OTOH if I genuinely like some software I’m happy to rate it highly. Bottom line: It’s not my job to help sell your software - that’s your job. As for trying to get Apple in on the “screw w…

Not to excuse nag screens but I think the real question is: How should discovery work?

Riding the wave of success doesn't say much about quality. How could one even begin to measure quality?

I might enjoy and use an application for decades. That only makes me ignorant about the alternatives.

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