App store overall ratings are wrong

[docprego]

Check out this app called ImageShack. iTunes shows its overall rating as 2.5 stars, yet it has 7 reviews with none being lower than 4 stars.

Is Apple calculating this average based on all those old reviews that were removed before they required people who own the apps to do the reviews? Or is the app store calculation process just incorrect?

I usually won't bother with an app under 3 stars so this caught my attention.

 

[mkrishnan]

Check out this app called ImageShack. iTunes shows its overall rating as 2.5 stars, yet it has 7 reviews with none being lower than 4 stars.

Unless I'm missing the obvious (please forgive me) apps can be rated without providing a review. In fact, Apple asks you to do so right from your iPhone when you remove them.

 

[jw nyc]

Check out this app called ImageShack. iTunes shows its overall rating as 2.5 stars, yet it has 7 reviews with none being lower than 4 stars.

Is Apple calculating this average based on all those old reviews that were removed before they required people who own the apps to do the reviews? Or is the app store calculation process just incorrect?

I usually won't bother with an app under 3 stars so this caught my attention.

Review and ratings aren't the same. People can give ratings without writing reviews.

 

[Rojo]

This makes me think the whole "rate when deleting" method is kind of broken.
A lot of times people don't give apps a chance at all (either it's not what they thought it was despite a clear description saying otherwise, or it might crash once on them -- which we all know is not necessarily a problem of the app). And then they delete the app right away, of course giving it a low star rating during the process. Meanwhile, the people who actually USE the app end up liking it and giving it a better rating -- yet there are still enough of the former type users who bring the app's rating average down.

Not quite fair and kinda blows, if you ask me.

 

[iFerd]

People who are in the process of deleting an application seem to me to be much more likely to be dissatisfied than users who keep them. The rate-while-deleting system must therefore tend to downrate all applications.

I don't want to ask to be annoyed by popups, but to be fair, there ought to be a way to rate applications you like and keep that is as painless as the rate-while-deleting process.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Im guessing if you rate it on your phone then the overall ratings won't necessarily match the review ratings. I.e. two 4 star review ratings and two 2 star iPhone ratings would make the overall rating 3 but still only show two 4 star review ratings.

 

[scottwb]

We've also seen this. We have one review of 4 stars for [app]Xmas Link Up[/app] yet the average rating is 3 stars, so I'm guessing that the 2.2. rate on delete is working.

I'm undecided as to whether it's a good or bad thing from a developers point of view. I'm hoping people will take the time to give an honest appraisement if they liked it or didn't like it, and not just if they didn't like it. The best feedback for us is written and if it is negative then at least we can try and improve the app.

 

[Rojo]

This especially sucks for developers who offer their apps for free.
There are so many people who download tons of free apps no matter what they are, simply because they don't have to pay for them -- and then they decide it's "not for them" and not only delete it, but also give it a bad rating (even though they are most-likely not judging the app objectively).

 

[scottwb]

(even though they are most-likely not judging the app objectively).

That's a good point, a lot of apps need some time spent with them to get a feel for the app and not just a quick 5 minutes. You'll be amazed at how many people don't read the instructions to understand the finer points