Comments on: Apple's mobile-app review system needs overhaul

The company's very basic user review system for iPhone and iPod Touch applications is in need of some help. We look at what could be done to fix it. Start with a great iTunes feature.

[techgeekdude]

I agree with Josh to a certain degree. I see a lot of reviews where people clearly don't understand the review process...one-star reviews where they say rave about the app is all too common which drags down the overall ratings. There are some who are clearly idiots who give bad ratings simply because the price went down and they feel jilted at having paid a higher price. I think an Amazon-like breakdown would help significantly. The other problem with Apple's review process is that when you delete an app from your device, it automatically asks you to rate it. In my mind, this is completely flawed. Chances are if you're deleting an app from your device, you're probably not satisfied with it so why create that situation in the first place. On top of that, it only allows you to give it a starred rating. You can't even add comments.

Is there a perfect user review system? Definitely not. Reviews on Amazon have their share of issues as well and it's no different than what's found on iTunes. The part I don't agree with Josh on is allowing devs to rebut, and this has more to do with Apple. I support devs wholeheartedly and get ticked off with people who unfairly write negative reviews on the wrong merits. If an app stinks, then fine, but often, I find reviews just completely offbase. However, if you allow devs to rebut, I just don't think Apple is capable or willing to do this in the right way. Many devs have taken to the blogs and forums asking for user feedback, and I think that's the better way to do this at least until Apple gets its act together.

[Sporlo]

in response to your comment about the rate-after-deletion, maybe other people use it differently than me, but I don't see it as a way to "rape" it. Sure, on average it'd probably lower it's rating, but a lot of the time I'll delete apps simply because I'm not using them often enough, but they are still quality programs.

[Sporlo]

Definitely a good point. I used to pay attention to reviews of apps, but at some point I just got fed up with them and now I base my judgement off the app's description and screenshots (which I find more helpful than the description a lot of the time; I'm always wary of massive advertising of one's own app in the description...).

I think there should (in addition to the purchase/download requirement added) a certain time that a user must use an app before reviewing it. I've found my opinion often changes from the first minute to the next couple of days.

I do like the addition of the prompt of allowing users to rate an app after they delete it. It's a good way to lower the rating of apps that suck, but are still popular simply because it's at the top of a list of something.

[techgeekdude]

I like your idea of creating a "review waiting period". It's easy to get caught up in the hype of a new app, and feelings change as you use an app more. I do know that early reviews can have an impact on whether an app succeeds so that may be an issue. In regards to rating apps upon deleting, I guess we agree to disagree.

[f00br]

The "Developer response " feature also exists at the newegg.com and .ca sites. Certain vendors of products often respond to customers' reviews, especially to comment on negative ones.

[billmosby]

First, I'd like to see the average star rating computed correctly. My modest little App, "Crater Naut", currently has 6 reviews totaling 24 stars. Divided by 6, the average should be 4. But it's 3.

Plus, my only 1-star rating was issued by someone who wanted to buy it but thought it wouldn't run on a first-generation iPod Touch, due to my initial carelessness in specifying platform and software requirements.

Beyond that, I would also like to see the improvements mentioned in this article.

[alberto20--2008]

I have a similar complaint as well. I have two apps and both show an average rating lower than they should.

In one case, of the the first 3 reviews received, one was with 5 stars, and two of them with 1 star each (from clueless users who thought they were downloading a game and were disappointed when they realized their mistake). The average was set to 2 stars even though the two 1-star reviews were clearly biased. But the worst part is that this 2-star average has not changed after 3 more 5-star reviews were added and one of the 1-star ones was removed (probably because of the offensive words it contained). The average should be instead 4.2 (4 would be accurate enough), not 2. That's less than half the correct number of stars!

My other app shows 3 1/2 but should show 4 1/2 according to the very easy and straightforward manual calculation.

I'm concerned that the lower than actual average may be discouraging users from considering the apps. I'm also frustrated by the apparent lack of any email or feedback page by which one could submit related questions or complaints like these to the App Store.

[Jesse Chan]

Sometimes a review is negative for an older version of the app and sentiment changes after an app update or price change. All of a sudden you have positive reviews, but for a possible customer it's hard to know what others' are reviewing against -- app update or price update. It would be useful to have the app version, price, and date next to each user review. This would provide better context to readers to know "what is actually" being reviewed.

[AceofThumbs]

I have a suggestion that could clean up old reviews and prevent mistakes in future reviews in the App Store.

If the review is scanned for keywords that are positive and keywords that are negative, this could be used to validate the star rating. In other words, a review that uses the words: great, nice, good, etc. should have a star rating of 3 or more. A review containing the words: bad, sucks, awful, etc. should have 3 or less stars. If there is a mix of positive and negative, there wouldn't be any expectation of what the rating should be.

For existing reviews, any that don't seem to make sense could be excluded from the rating calculation. For new reviews, validation would be done immediately and a pop-up could point out the discrepancy to the reviewer and ask for confirmation of the star rating.

Of course, subtlety such as sarcastic remarks would be difficult to read correctly, but this is less likely to be a problem. Most reviews off more obvious praise or criticism.

[krolek222]

This article is reads like a craigslist rant; well, at least the first few hundred words did. I couldn't make it any further--low tolerance for whining. I mean, really, is this high priority on any person's list these days?

[CyStarkman]

The Appstore review system is curious.

It was a mostly good idea to remove the ability to review something you had not purchased. There was I observed too many cases where a genuinely good app was simply not understood by people and perhaps because of price it was abused out of existence. The weather section had some great examples of this, pro apps, for pilots etc, being ridiculed.

Something that Josh gets wrong though is developer response. Developers do respond, both in the review system and on their app description page. In fact I have read quite a few fired up developers going into to fight against their (potentially) users. It may not be an 'official this is the developer' channel but it is happening.

I disagree that it isn't working though and considering Josh, as with the rest of the media continues to simply miss the significance of the AppStore, which includes the way the review system is working says to me that the Appstore while far from perfect is ahead of the curve.

[vbringi08]

I would like to know about the functionality of the iphone vs blackberry. Which has better features for the financial news, I know bberry connects to Etrade Pro, as a feature, does the iphone have a similar link or just browsing, how can i trade on the go is my basic question.? I do acknowledge that I have positions in both RIMM and AAPL, full disclosure is impt.)

[vbringi08]

so if you think about the blackberry, it has much better features, right, and it is good for day traders like myself, don't have one yet since I sit staring at live quotes all day, I do have to disclose i have positons in RIMM and AAPL, but not looking for stock info, but what phone would meet my needs the best?