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As an indie developer my single biggest gripe with the app store (after the obviously asinine review process) is the resetting of visible app reviews any time a

As an indie developer my single biggest gripe with the app store (after the obviously asinine review process) is the resetting of visible app reviews any time an app is updated. This is an incredibly expensive tax on shipping app updates which creates a strong disincentive to not incrementally improve your product and a strong incentive for sleazy developers to buy fake reviews when they do ship an update. I detest this part of the app store. DETEST.

djrogers 10y ago
The other option is for a single bug in a single release to stay in your app reviews in perpetuity. Why would you want that, rather than give prospective customers the option to look at current vs old reviews? Also, I would quibble with your description of it as 'resetting of visible app reviews' as the old reviews are still visible, they're just one tap away...
- kybernetyk 10y ago
  In a high volume market like the iOS app store this behavior might be OK. It shouldn't take too long to get back a few reviews to display a N stars rating. (Just guessing, have no iOS apps in the store). But in a low volume market like the Mac App Store it takes anywhere from a few weeks to months to get 5 reviews after an update. (Or even years in non US stores). I made the experience that updating a well reviewed Mac app leads to a drop in sales until you get back to at least 5 ratings. (You need at least 5 ratings to display the average rating in search results and category lists in the Mac App Store). This is a big incentive to keep updates back until it is really necessary to release them.
  - chillacy 10y ago
    Yup. For that reason I've stopped releasing often and now have a beta program independent of the app store that people can opt into from the app itself.
- pbarnes_1 10y ago
  You don't understand. Every bug fix release resets your stars + ratings. No stars = no downloads. Simple as that. They need an option when releasing a build: reset reviews (major release) or leave reviews intact (minor release).
- joshschreuder 10y ago
  What about as a solution: - show the version the user reviewing was on - allow the developer to reply to the review to say the bug was fixed in version x.x
- rtpg 10y ago
  This is solved in the Android app store with "user was using older version" Exactly this situation happens and it's fine because people mention it. "In the latest update, X happens" Plus developers can respond to reviews and mention that the issue was fixed

djrogers 10y ago

The other option is for a single bug in a single release to stay in your app reviews in perpetuity. Why would you want that, rather than give prospective customers the option to look at current vs old reviews? Also, I would quibble with your description of it as 'resetting of visible app reviews' as the old reviews are still visible, they're just one tap away...

kybernetyk 10y ago
In a high volume market like the iOS app store this behavior might be OK. It shouldn't take too long to get back a few reviews to display a N stars rating. (Just guessing, have no iOS apps in the store). But in a low volume market like the Mac App Store it takes anywhere from a few weeks to months to get 5 reviews after an update. (Or even years in non US stores). I made the experience that updating a well reviewed Mac app leads to a drop in sales until you get back to at least 5 ratings. (You need at least 5 ratings to display the average rating in search results and category lists in the Mac App Store). This is a big incentive to keep updates back until it is really necessary to release them.
- chillacy 10y ago
  Yup. For that reason I've stopped releasing often and now have a beta program independent of the app store that people can opt into from the app itself.
pbarnes_1 10y ago
You don't understand. Every bug fix release resets your stars + ratings. No stars = no downloads. Simple as that. They need an option when releasing a build: reset reviews (major release) or leave reviews intact (minor release).
joshschreuder 10y ago
What about as a solution: - show the version the user reviewing was on - allow the developer to reply to the review to say the bug was fixed in version x.x
rtpg 10y ago
This is solved in the Android app store with "user was using older version" Exactly this situation happens and it's fine because people mention it. "In the latest update, X happens" Plus developers can respond to reviews and mention that the issue was fixed