How Do I Get Rid of Bad Reviews??

[DipDog3]

One of my apps was posted to the App Store a few days ago, and has received A LOT of negative reviews from people that haven't even bought the app! They like to complain about the price and have never even used my app. I'm afraid no one is going to buy my app to give it good reviews because of all the bad reviews it has already...

I have complained to Apple but I haven't heard back from them. Has anyone been able to get bad reviews removed?

Is there any way to get a lot of positive reviews to counteract the bad reviews that I already have?

 

[noisebleed]

................ go home.

 

[SilentPanda]

................ go home.

What if he already is home?

Honestly I think Apple needs to change it so only those people that have purchased the app can review it. I don't even read the reviews much anymore since the signal to noise ratio is so bad.

There's not much else you can do though. People can vote up or down reviews but that doesn't seem to help much.

 

[Peace]

Did you develop the app on that hackintosh?

 

[diesel]

One of my apps was posted to the App Store a few days ago, and has received A LOT of negative reviews from people that haven't even bought the app! They like to complain about the price and have never even used my app. I'm afraid no one is going to buy my app to give it good reviews because of all the bad reviews it has already...

I have complained to Apple but I haven't heard back from them. Has anyone been able to get bad reviews removed?

Is there any way to get a lot of positive reviews to counteract the bad reviews that I already have?

well, if the majority of complaints are about the price, most new people will be able to see through that

however, if they have valid complaints, spend less time strategizing about how to get rid of those reviews and more time addressing those complaints and making your app as best as possible

care to share the name of your app?

 

[mkrishnan]

Honestly I think Apple needs to change it so only those people that have purchased the app can review it. I don't even read the reviews much anymore since the signal to noise ratio is so bad.

I think that's a really valid point. There could even be some alternative "express interest" rating or something, or else a rating for the price itself, or something, if really necessary, but I want reviews from people who have actually used the app.

however, if they have valid complaints, spend less time strategizing about how to get rid of those reviews and more time addressing those complaints and making your app as best as possible

Can't really argue with that... One thing I find quite frustrating, related to this, is developers who put nothing out about their product besides listing it in the iTunes Store. The store descriptions are almost invariably too minimal.

Make a good website with screenshots and video footage of your product. You could take what MooCowMusic did with their products as an example of what to do in terms of having a website: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/568161/

If you can't do that, you need to at least be blogging about it. And then try to get your blog Digged or whatever.

And comp out reviewer copies and get people to review it.

 

[DipDog3]

Did you develop the app on that hackintosh?

Yea, but I have almost made enough money to buy a real mac.

well, if the majority of complaints are about the price, most new people will be able to see through that

But I don't think they are going to read the reviews. On the iPhone App Store, the reviews don't even show up until you click to view them, but your ratings in on the main listing!

however, if they have valid complaints, spend less time strategizing about how to get rid of those reviews and more time addressing those complaints and making your app as best as possible

care to share the name of your app?

No, they aren't valid. They are just complaints from people that haven't bought it that I am concerned about.

I didn't mention the name because I don't want to appear to be spamming the forums for reviews. I just wanted to see if anyone else has had this problem and how they dealt with it.

 

[Sky Blue]

What's the app?

 

[Daremo]

Make your app... I dunno, Good?

 

[diesel]

tell us your app, given your concerns, i don't think it would be spamming to reveal your app.

once revealed, i'm sure a number of us here will hop on over there and give you honest feedback as to the reviews posted there

 

[macmacey]

Ignore worthless reviews

All of the apps we (IMAK Creations) have developed are $0.99 (or less) and we still get lots of 1-star "Should be Free" reviews. I have learned to ignore these. Yes, they do keep people from buying your app, but you have to look long term and have faith that the people who do buy and enjoy your app will post reviews until your star rating is about right. Another option is to update your app description to defend your price, features, or whatever you are getting complaints about. Or consider a reduced-price or free 'lite' version if you don't want to reduce the price of your main app. If you really feel that your app is doomed due to way too many negative reviews, I guess you could rework it and release it under a different name. I would advise against this. I think most people look past worthless reviews. Our ColorTilt app went to #3US with basically half 1-star and half 5-star reviews. Whenever we got some 'should be free' reviews, others would step in to counter them. So ignore the worthless reviews and continue to update your application to meet the needs/desires of your target customer base. Good luck!

 

[caitlin]

What about something like Aurora Feint?

They have so many bad reviews from back when they had a security exploit. Now it's been fixed, but the bad reviews are still there.

I mentioned it to a friend who bought a new iPhone a week ago. About ten or fifteen minutes later, she came back and told me she wasn't going to get it because of security issues. I asked her where she heard that, and she said reviews.

 

[Solver]

One of my apps was posted to the App Store a few days ago, and has received A LOT of negative reviews from people that haven't even bought the app! They like to complain about the price and have never even used my app. I'm afraid no one is going to buy my app to give it good reviews because of all the bad reviews it has already...

I have complained to Apple but I haven't heard back from them. Has anyone been able to get bad reviews removed?

Is there any way to get a lot of positive reviews to counteract the bad reviews that I already have?

Vote! Click that these reviews were not helpful.

Unfortunately, a review of 510 unhelpful votes out of 515 will still be listed ABOVE one that has a full 4 out of 4 helpful votes.

Maybe Apple will fix this someday.

 

[mcdj]

Apple has done some dumb stuff of late; there's been some oversights, some absentmindedness, a bit of questionable behavior overall, but the review system on the app store is hands down the most agregious error they continue to perpetuate. I get mad reading the "reviews" and I'm not even a developer.

That they let this crap go on for even 1 day, let alone 2+ months, is above and beyond the most despicable thing they've done in a long time, if not ever.

 

[markgamber]

That garbage is why I don't read reviews, it's why I don't bother with the app store and it's why I stopped my iPhone dev in it's tracks, ****canned what I had and went back to writing for RIM. It's a real shame it was instantly polluted with bottom feeding scum who can shell out a stack of bills for their big shot iPhone but turn into a pack of self-righteous 2 year olds when it comes to having to pay a couple bucks for an app. But yeah, it's worse that Apple perpetuates it.

 

[Dizle]

I can see it now... Apple starts removing some reviews and people will start
To complain that try are sensoring it to much.

I agree though a lot of reviews are a waste and written by 15 ya olds that font have any money to buy apps.

 

[moopf]

I think as a developer you just have to suck it up and accept it because there's really nothing you can do about it. I noticed a review for my game in the US store this morning, 1 star and an 'I don't get it' comment. I can pretty much guarantee that this is somebody who hasn't even purchased the game, is probably 15 years old, angry with the world, and is only interested in FPS OK, maybe I can't guarantee all that but I'd have a good bet on most of it

My point is that all developers are in the same boat and I'd be surprised if users of the app store didn't realise that a lot of the comments/reviews are completely worthless.

Yeah, it's annoying, but you can only work with what you're provided with so it's pointless letting it affect you that much.

 

[Randman]

I too think you should only be able to review if you have purchased the item.

But for the OP, it sounds like many people took you to task for pricing something that should have been free. Now you're pouting and fretting and asking that any bad reviews are dropped. I think you should have thought about that when introducing your app(s).

Yes, the review system is flawed but that doesn't mean making apps that suck or that are overpriced.

 

[MVApple]

Apple seriously dropped the ball when they decided to let people who don't own the app review it. Now we have a bunch of shill reviews giving apps 5 stars when its an app that should be recieving 1 star, and we have apps recieving 1 star which should be getting 5 stars.

I almost didn't buy my current favorite app, the American Heritage Dictionary. It was $30 bucks and worth every penny. I spent a lot of time weeding through reviews of winy babies complaining about the price (note this dictionary is approximately $38 dollars for the 7.5 pound paper version on amazon.com, even more expensive at barnes and nobles). I did experience an issue where I had to restore my ipod, which many people complained about. Ever since the restore though I have had 0 problems and the app hasn't crashed once. It was clearly a OS issue, but people don't take the time to figure things out. Instead they jump the gun.

 

[soberbrain]

Apple seriously dropped the ball when they decided to let people who don't own the app review it. Now we have a bunch of shill reviews giving apps 5 stars when its an app that should be recieving 1 star, and we have apps recieving 1 star which should be getting 5 stars.

Agreed. I'm not the developer, but I saw this last night and was annoyed...

---------------

Review for TV forcast (4 stars overall, 39 reviews)

Sports?
(one star)
Yet to purchase, due to question I have. Does this app cover sports, as far as specific teams and certain sports, and does it inform of which channels they're scheduled to appear on? If so, then I'll be sure to purchase.​

---------------

I'm considering getting this app. I've used the free widget on my Mac and it's great.

 

[ying yang]

That garbage is why I don't read reviews, it's why I don't bother with the app store and it's why I stopped my iPhone dev in it's tracks, ****canned what I had and went back to writing for RIM. It's a real shame it was instantly polluted with bottom feeding scum who can shell out a stack of bills for their big shot iPhone but turn into a pack of self-righteous 2 year olds when it comes to having to pay a couple bucks for an app. But yeah, it's worse that Apple perpetuates it.

I'm guessing that a lot of them would be jackasses with Touches that they saved up for or got as gifts. They then got free apps for a year while jailbreaking and aren't used to paying.

I've seen a few morons lately write things like "thanks dev team" or "**** app. Got it free haha". Where these people could get the money to own a phone is beyond me.

 

[jaseone]

I've seen a few morons lately write things like "thanks dev team" or "**** app. Got it free haha". Where these people could get the money to own a phone is beyond me.

You would be surprised how many kids these days have phones with unlimited texting + crazy amounts of minutes, it is ridiculous!

 

[fishkorp]

I've gotten terrible reviews too, I just brush it aside now. I just hope that a lot of people ignore most reviews. I'm pretty sure a poor star rating is hurting sales though.

One that sticks out is a review for Star Wars: Force Unleashed. It's a 1-star review that says "Should be Call Of Duty 4" or something like that. I mean, come on now.

 

[admanimal]

I don't even read my reviews anymore. My main app has a steady 3.5 stars which is enough not to scare people away immediately, and the people who really want to give me useful feedback send me email.

 

[cyclingplatypus]

Why don't we have a thread where app developers can provide links to their apps and we as a community offer up reviews on iTunes as well. Cryptically talking about "my app" provides us no option to look, try, and review. Developers put in a lot of hard work and I'm sure there are more than a few members here that would like to support other members of MR.