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Apple themselves seem to be intentionally breaking the App Store at times. From the article: > Apple used to have a button [1], just under the ratings and revi

Apple themselves seem to be intentionally breaking the App Store at times. From the article: > Apple used to have a button [1], just under the ratings and reviews section in the App Store, that said “report a problem,” which allowed users to report inappropriate apps. Based on discussions among Apple customers on Apple’s own website [2], the feature was removed some time around 2016. Why would they remove the ability for people to easily report apps? 1: https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/117773.image0.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.dummies.com/consumer-electronics/smartphones/iphone/how-to-report-an-app-problem-from-your-iphone/&tbnid=nYTbylBB3V7KUM&vet=1&docid=DgeFbTcYRiX7VM&w=267&h=400&hl=en-us&source=sh/x/im https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://www.dummies.com... 2: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6999097#:~:text=Apple%20has%20removed%20the%20feature,option%20in%20iTunes%20for%20Windows.&text=Apple%20has%20removed%20the%20feature%20or%20ability%20to%20report%20bad%20apps.,-All%20one%20can https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6999097#:~:text=Apple%2...

granzymes 5y ago
>Why would they remove the ability for people to easily report apps? Presumably for a reason. I don't work at Apple, so to spitball some possibilities: * The "report a problem" button was being misused and had worse signal than other metrics Apple added. * Legal or Public Relations pressed to remove the button because only a portion of reports were actioned (possibly because of the above point) and it was causing legal/reputational damage.
- rchaud 5y ago
  Even in this most generous possible explanation, Apple removed a quality-control check and didn't replace it with anything.
  - granzymes 5y ago
    My point is that you don't know that they didn't replace it with anything.
    - saagarjha 5y ago
      I don't see a replacement where I can tell them about scam apps, though.
- smoldesu 5y ago
  Maybe if it was something so innocuous they'd have made an official statement on it
Someone 5y ago
> Why would they remove the ability for people to easily report apps? Reasons could be: - nobody uses that button - people use the button, but mostly not for its intended purpose. I would guess a fairly generic “report a problem” button would attract lots of messages of type 2. I can see people complain there about missing features, ask support questions, etc. I would bet that, to many, it wasn’t clear that button let you send a message to Apple.
- Mathnerd314 5y ago
  If the issue was UI they could have changed the text to something like "Report scam" or "Flag app". It's probably a cost thing, they didn't want to pay a team to go through the reports.
busymom0 5y ago
Not sure about other newer "force-touch" devices but on my iPhone 6s (which is running the latest iOS 14.6), I am able to force touch a review and get a "Report concern" option along with "Helpful"/"Not-helpful": https://i.imgur.com/gaLH26P.png https://i.imgur.com/gaLH26P.png Tapping the report concern option gives me ability to report it: https://i.imgur.com/JHLC4Hp.png https://i.imgur.com/JHLC4Hp.png I am curious if the newer devices are able to long press a review to get the same option. Also not sure if something similar is available for apps?

granzymes 5y ago

>Why would they remove the ability for people to easily report apps? Presumably for a reason. I don't work at Apple, so to spitball some possibilities: * The "report a problem" button was being misused and had worse signal than other metrics Apple added. * Legal or Public Relations pressed to remove the button because only a portion of reports were actioned (possibly because of the above point) and it was causing legal/reputational damage.

rchaud 5y ago
Even in this most generous possible explanation, Apple removed a quality-control check and didn't replace it with anything.
- granzymes 5y ago
  My point is that you don't know that they didn't replace it with anything.
  - saagarjha 5y ago
    I don't see a replacement where I can tell them about scam apps, though.
smoldesu 5y ago
Maybe if it was something so innocuous they'd have made an official statement on it

Someone 5y ago

> Why would they remove the ability for people to easily report apps? Reasons could be: - nobody uses that button - people use the button, but mostly not for its intended purpose. I would guess a fairly generic “report a problem” button would attract lots of messages of type 2. I can see people complain there about missing features, ask support questions, etc. I would bet that, to many, it wasn’t clear that button let you send a message to Apple.

Mathnerd314 5y ago
If the issue was UI they could have changed the text to something like "Report scam" or "Flag app". It's probably a cost thing, they didn't want to pay a team to go through the reports.

busymom0 5y ago

Not sure about other newer "force-touch" devices but on my iPhone 6s (which is running the latest iOS 14.6), I am able to force touch a review and get a "Report concern" option along with "Helpful"/"Not-helpful": https://i.imgur.com/gaLH26P.png https://i.imgur.com/gaLH26P.png Tapping the report concern option gives me ability to report it: https://i.imgur.com/JHLC4Hp.png https://i.imgur.com/JHLC4Hp.png I am curious if the newer devices are able to long press a review to get the same option. Also not sure if something similar is available for apps?