The iPhone AppStore’s review system has been criticized since day one. In the beginning, Apple allowed anyone with an iTunes account to leave a review of any iPhone application, even if they had never used the app. Harsh reviews, sometimes left by competing developers, dragged down some iPhone applications’ overal rating, while artificially inflating others. But, with Apple having recently purged all non-user reviews, the iPhone maker is set on improving the App Store’s rating system.
Apple is adding new functionality to the AppStore that should help improve rating accuracy. The App Store now supports sorting of reviews by application version. Bugs that affected previous versions of an application would likely have drawn lower ratings, potentially hiding the value of the current version of the application. Users can now see reviews and overall ratings for applications for the “current version” or “all versions.”
When finished overhauling the review system, Apple Insider reports that Apple will allow users to filter reviews by cateogry – Most Helpful, Most Favorable, Most Critical, Most Recent. The move should make future application reviews more useful to AppStore customers.
[Via: AppleInsider]