Just a small positive note amongst the gloom of NDAs, app rejections and approval delays: Apple have today changed how the customer reviews system works for App Store applications: you now must have downloaded or purchased the app before you’re allowed to post a review on it. Here’s what it looks like if you try to review an app you’ve not actually used.
Since the App Store is the only way to get the apps in the first place, I think this is a strong positive step, and should help make the app reviews much more useful and representative to customers (and less depressing/frustrating for developers).
The wheels may be turning slowly, but they are turning – and I do believe that Apple is listening to our complaints.
(Thanks to my friend Neil for noticing the change this morning. His own app, Escape Pod, has received some frivolous reviews on the US store.)
[...] for App Store applications must now be filled out by someone who has actually purchased the application in question, making it more difficult for developers to pump up their own application with [...]
[...] in other Apple-related news, the App Store changed its review policy so that only owners of each app could give it a review. Makes sense! [Apple Insider, Matt [...]
[...] in-car adapter for connecting a cell to a PMP or equivalent. And in other Apple-related news, the App Store changed its review policy so that only owners of each app could give it a review. Makes sense! [Apple Insider, Matt [...]
That’s all well and good, but they haven’t removed the old reviews from people who weren’t users. So, in three letters, BFD. The system is still “poisoned” by scads of useless reviews.
[...] in other Apple-related news, the App Store changed its review policy so that only owners of each app could give it a review. Makes sense! [Apple Insider, Matt [...]
[...] in other Apple-related news, the App Store changed its review policy so that only owners of each app could give it a review. Makes sense! [Apple Insider, Matt [...]
[...] for App Store applications must now be filled out by someone who has actually purchased the application in question, making it more difficult for developers to pump up their own application with [...]
[...] required to purchase the application before posting a review. Matt Gemmell alerted the blogosphere with a post titled: Apple is Listening. But I’m not sure they [...]
[...] in other Apple-related news, the App Store changed its review policy so that only owners of each app could give it a review. Makes sense! [Apple Insider, Matt [...]
[...] in other Apple-related news, the App Store changed its review policy so that only owners of each app could give it a review. Makes sense! [Apple Insider, Matt [...]
[...] in other Apple-related news, the App Store changed its review policy so that only owners of each app could give it a review. Makes sense! [Apple Insider, Matt [...]
[...] recent cancellations of books) will perhaps never be clear. Nonetheless, it confirms Matt Gemmell: “Apple is listening”. Perhaps they sometimes do so too late, but at least they do at [...]
Apparently Apple listened to my bug report about being unable to review non-app content after clicking on an app’s “Write a Review” link. Yea! :D
[...] in other Apple-related news, the App Store changed its review policy so that only owners of each app could give it a review. Makes sense! [Apple Insider, Matt Legend] [...]