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I just found a major bug in the appstore rating system

S

shasoosh

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 4, 2011
40
1
Here's the deal, lets say i want to hurt a developer \ an app with some bad reviews ~ there's a very simple way doing so.

I can write a crappy app with false promises and nag people to rate it inapp.
The problem is that the "rate this app" button I'll create in my crappy app will lead to any other app "appstore review page". After the link directs you there, (if you are using an iphone) there's no way of knowing on what app you are writing a review. The review page only shows the app version number and other reviews with out the App name.

There are a lot of other ways you can play with it. For example, developers of a really successful app can use the "rate this app" button to direct users to another app the are promoting etc'.
 
Last edited:
Well, I'm evil. :)
I just came across a parking app that its "rate this app" button leads to a review page with reviews like "hard game", "needs more level".. what turns out to be a a gaming app. I had to do some digging to find out what's the name of that game and i'm pretty sure it's not from the same developer but... That got me thinking...
 
Interesting. I have the sense that there is a lot of fraud in the rating system for apps, but mostly from phoney Apple ID's

OP should get a job in marketing......
 
VulchR said:
Interesting. I have the sense that there is a lot of fraud in the rating system for apps, but mostly from phoney Apple ID's

OP should get a job in marketing......
Click to expand...

A job in marketing bugs :)
I always wonderd how one star apps get to the first 25 list.


WEARESAVIORS said:
You have to own the app to be able to review it.
Click to expand...

Like i said you can connect your crappy app to Angry birds review page. 9 out of 10 the review will get there.
 
Like i wrote above. There's a chance that the appstore got a million bad apps that their main purpose is to give bad rep to "Angry birds" for example, an app that most iphone users own.
Worst case scenario the user will get an error msg. In my opinion that's a big window for fraud and a big problem for developers.
 
M87 said:
That's evil why would u think about that???
Click to expand...

Odd response. Did the OP give away your secret?

No, if the op was evil, he would've kept it secret and exploited it. The fact that he shared it means he's good. And since being good these days seems to be unfashionable, he's also courageous!
 
Arran said:
Odd response. Did the OP give away your secret?

No, if the op was evil, he would've kept it secret and exploited it. The fact that he shared it means he's good. And since being good these days seems to be unfashionable, he's also courageous!
Click to expand...

Thanks Arran for the kind words.

As a developer (not for the ios just yet) i felt the need to share with some hope that apple will fix this.
 
ixodes said:
It's Evil & also highly revealing. Apple breeds devious acts in the way they conduct themselves.

All about power & control, they've taught the kiddies well :)
Click to expand...

I'll take them over Google and Microsoft any day!!
 
shasoosh said:
Here's the deal, lets say i want to hurt a developer \ an app with some bad reviews ~ there's a very simple way doing so.

I can write a crappy app with false promises and nag people to rate it inapp.
The problem is that the "rate this app" button I'll create in my crappy app will lead to any other app "appstore review page". After the link directs you there, (if you are using an iphone) there's no way of knowing on what app you are writing a review. The review page only shows the app version number and other reviews with out the App name.

There are a lot of other ways you can play with it. For example, developers of a really successful app can use the "rate this app" button to direct users to another app the are promoting etc'.
Click to expand...

Interesting thought but I expect this is something that would be caught in the app review process. Also, I don't think you can rate an app you don't own so even if it sent you to another app you shouldn't be able to rate it anyway.
 
shasoosh said:
Like i wrote above. There's a chance that the appstore got a million bad apps that their main purpose is to give bad rep to "Angry birds" for example, an app that most iphone users own.
Worst case scenario the user will get an error msg. In my opinion that's a big window for fraud and a big problem for developers.
Click to expand...

^^^
 
shasoosh said:
Well, I'm evil. :)
I just came across a parking app that its "rate this app" button leads to a review page with reviews like "hard game", "needs more level".. what turns out to be a a gaming app. I had to do some digging to find out what's the name of that game and i'm pretty sure it's not from the same developer but... That got me thinking...
Click to expand...

If that's what you want to call it.
 
I wonder if ios 6 got the same nameless review page when trying rate an app
 
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