If the app stores want honest reviews, they have to be the ones to request them, on a fixed schedule after someone downloads an app. Allowing the apps themselv

If the app stores want honest reviews, they have to be the ones to request them, on a fixed schedule after someone downloads an app. Allowing the apps themselves to forward users to the app store review interface is an invitation to game the system in exactly the manner mentioned. Whether grossly dishonest or slightly misleading, the mere fact that we can be arguing over how scummy the pattern may be is a symptom of the failure of the app stores to manage their own review systems. When one seller games the system to get more 5-star reviews, that's them being dishonest. When everyone has a 4.5-star rating on every product, that's the ratings system being lazy and useless. (Looking at you, in particular, Amazon.) An honest internal review would publish the results on the developer's website, and leave all the app stores out of it, no matter what the user rating might be.