Limit reviews to people who actually downloaded/bought the program

[kwjohns]

I think Apple should limit leaving reviews/comments on apps to those that actually downloaded it. I see people leaving bad comments all the time based on what they heard about it or what they think it will be like or even leaving negative feedback on an app because they couldn't download it from Apple's servers (which isn't the developers problem).

 

[Alan Taylor]

I agree 100%!!!

 

[Pees330]

Yea I've seen a lot of 1 stars from people just saying "I would buy this if it was cheaper." In a few days the ratings will level out, so for right now I just have to look at what real reviewers had to say about the app.

 

[lindsayanng]

i saw some that just said "WOO HOO FIRST COMMENT"

idiots

 

[jalpert]

It's a nice idea to let anyone write a review, just because you havn't bought it doesn't mean you haven't seen it. But, I agree, the ratings are SO important and abuse is just rampant already.

If you don't want to lock down the system, you are going to have to moderate it a bit, but they gotta do something.

 

[MooCowMusic]

I agree

50% of my reviews are spiteful "political" comments from people who think that by saying "Haha I go this free by jailbreaking. I wouldn't pay 10 bucks for it" that they will somehow stop this evil tide of charging for things rather than giving them away for free. Well, they won't, but they may stop me ever writing any more apps.

The word "Review" implies that you've actually tried out the app by purchasing it. There's no point in a review that simply says "This should be free. Click yes if you agree". People who claim to have liked my apps in the past but still feel the need to post comments like that on my sales page really are nasty pieces of work.

Absolutely 100% Apple should sort this out. And they will, because I guarantee that in a couple of weeks time firmware 2.0 will be jailbroken and you will see reviews all over the App Store like "Download this app for free at WWW.IPHONEWAREZ.COM".

 

[Ollie64]

I totally agree too. I remember this happening when the iPod Games first came out, where the majority of the reviews consisted of people complaining about the price and not even mentioning the quality of the game itself.

It's exactly the same now. For example, if you look at the reviews for Band, all of the negative comments are from people complaining that the app isn't free or that they had a jailbroken version. All of the real reviews from people who've bought the app rate it very highly. Despite the real reviews being great, the average rating shows just 3 stars, which is very misleading to customers. Apple really do need to sort this out.

 

[taylorwilsdon]

Agree 1000%

Half of the reviews I've read are from stupid ****s. They're like "HOW CAN I REVIEW THIS IF THERE IS NO 2.0 FOR ITOUCH!!!!!! ZERO STARSZ"

Its almost as bad as song reviews on iTunes where people complain about movie rentals or why Apple doesn't stock a certain song.

 

[marksman]

I agree that nobody should be able to write a review for an application they have not purchased. There is no reason for it.

 

[gadgetmacfreak]

I agree that reviews should be limited to actual purchasers. However I do find some value in reading comments. If they could separate discussions from reviews that would be a good thing. If they don't do that, then the forums will fill the discussion function.

It is not just detractors -- some of the games only have a handful of comments -- a couple of average reviews along with a few "best game ever!!!" and I wonder how many of them come straight from the developer.

 

[ucfgrad93]

I think Apple should limit leaving reviews/comments on apps to those that actually downloaded it. I see people leaving bad comments all the time based on what they heard about it or what they think it will be like or even leaving negative feedback on an app because they couldn't download it from Apple's servers (which isn't the developers problem).

Agreed. The biggest abusers seem to be the ones complaining about the price. I guess it does help developers set their pricing, but it seems like you could just email them with that sort of complaint.

 

[egor]

Agreed. The biggest abusers seem to be the ones complaining about the price. I guess it does help developers set their pricing, but it seems like you could just email them with that sort of complaint.

Well quite, although I don't even think it does help devs set prices. If I saw a few people saying my product was too expensive I wouldn't consider it statistically significant. Devs have sales figures to go by, I wish these "reviewers" would get blasted into the sun.