Response from Steve: App Store Ratings System

[MacMuttonchops]

Thought I'd give it a try and E-mail the fabled sjobs@apple.com. I was surprised that I got a response at all, let alone how fast it was. Fired it out to him at 10:43pm EST and got a response back 17 minutes later. Pretty cool...maybe it was actually him responding. Enjoy.

Oh, I didn't respond...I thought it best not to argue with the chief.

 

[Nipz]

I think that was a little blunt to Mr Jobs...

Very surprised you got a reply to such a blunt email!

 

[superstrikertwo]

I somehow doubt it's actually Steve but cool nonetheless you never know though.

 

[MacMuttonchops]

I think that was a little blunt to Mr Jobs...

Very surprised you got a reply to such a blunt email!

He was blunt back so all is fair. I figured short and sweet would elicit a response better than long and winded.

 

[spazattack674]

ahhh the "retard" thing was so annoying. I also think it's unfair for people to rate apps just because they think they're over priced or not useful... They should come up with some way to only let a person review if they have purchased/downloaded the app.

 

[whosyourtator]

I somehow doubt it's actually Steve but cool nonetheless you never know though.

I too have gotten a rapid response from that email. I am convinced he has an army of trained clones responding to that email address and they are telepathically connected to Steve at birth.

Nonetheless, it is cool that email address gets such a rapid response. My response received was very short too.

Thank God for clones!

 

[queshy]

I wonder if it's actually jobs himself answering...probably not. Nice to see you got a response though.

 

[DreamPod]

The review process may not be perfect, but it isn't all that bad. Because it's generally pretty obvious which reviews are crap, and when you see one, just click that it wasn't helpful. As the reviews are by default sorted from most helpful to least, it sorts itself out. The only problem is when an app is new and only has a couple reviews.

As for Steve's response, it could be him - I can't see his staff answering emails on a weekend. But just like Bill Gates, I'm sure he normally has a staff going through his sjobs emails for him, and only giving him the important ones.

 

[Small White Car]

I'm sure it's him. He probably has a dedicated person that reads all his e-mails and filters them, yes. But I'm betting that guy has orders to pass on 30 to 60 customer e-mails per day which Steve answers.

So no, he doesn't read most of his e-mails, but if you get an answer, I'm sure it's actually him.

 

[SFC Archer]

ahhh the "retard" thing was so annoying. I also think it's unfair for people to rate apps just because they think they're over priced or not useful... They should come up with some way to only let a person review if they have purchased/downloaded the app.

The second part of your post is so true. If you Purchase or Download the Free App, then it unlocks the ability to post/rate that App. This would give a very true rating scheme and let those Devs know that they were broke or on the right track. As it is now...Johnny I have no life or Mr. Troll hates everything can ruin every App and Rating with their tirades and rants.

Somehow we need to get a huge user base to recommend this Rating Authentication system.

 

[MacMuttonchops]

The review process may not be perfect, but it isn't all that bad. Because it's generally pretty obvious which reviews are crap, and when you see one, just click that it wasn't helpful. As the reviews are by default sorted from most helpful to least, it sorts itself out. The only problem is when an app is new and only has a couple reviews.

As for Steve's response, it could be him - I can't see his staff answering emails on a weekend. But just like Bill Gates, I'm sure he normally has a staff going through his sjobs emails for him, and only giving him the important ones.

I could handle voting down a terrible and useless review if only there was some sort of consequence for it. Instead of just moving it down further in the top reviews list, why not cancel out its effects on the app's overall rating? Say there's a $9.99 game. One person who actually owns it rated it five stars. Another person who doesn't own it gave it one star because there was a similar app available for either $4.99 or free or something. So there's an average rating of three stars. But a lot more people give apps one star based on price alone so it takes down the app's rating even more and then it doesn't get placed as high as it should (technically five stars) in the "Top Rated" lists.

If I were a developer with one of these apps, I would be livid.

 

[Night Spring]

Personally, I like getting info like "Don't buy this, XXX does it for free!" But it would be good if only the people who bought the app could rate it. That way, the rating would reflect the opinion of people who actually used the app, while comments could alert potential buyers to similar apps that cost less or are free.

 

[QCassidy352]

I'm sure it's him. He probably has a dedicated person that reads all his e-mails and filters them, yes. But I'm betting that guy has orders to pass on 30 to 60 customer e-mails per day which Steve answers.

So no, he doesn't read most of his e-mails, but if you get an answer, I'm sure it's actually him.

I'll just put it this way. If you ran Apple and Pixar, would you take the time to personally answer customer emails? .......Or would you have one of your army of executive assistants do it?

Yeah, me too.

 

[The General]

I sent an email about how flashlight apps should be allowed to up the backlight brightness but I didn't get a response.

I never get a response from him.

 

[twoodcc]

i doubt it's really him, but who knows. that's still cool that you got a response

 

[Tragedies]

I doubt it's him, but you never know.

Good that you got a reply, though.

 

[Eraserhead]

ahhh the "retard" thing was so annoying. I also think it's unfair for people to rate apps just because they think they're over priced or not useful... They should come up with some way to only let a person review if they have purchased/downloaded the app.

Definitely. That would improve things a lot.

 

[MacMuttonchops]

I doubted it in the beginning as well, but who lets their employees use their name and speak on their behalf? It's not like he's letting them use his signature to sign for the UPS man...this is full-on, first person impersonation.

I'm leaning more towards he really being the one to respond to these messages.

 

[Telp]

ahhh the "retard" thing was so annoying. I also think it's unfair for people to rate apps just because they think they're over priced or not useful... They should come up with some way to only let a person review if they have purchased/downloaded the app.

I agree. Not only for developers is it disheartening and annoying, but for someone looking to buy the app its very unassuring. When you go to see the reviews and you see it got 2 stars and then you read the reviews and they are all like, havent purchased, sounds dumb. If you dont even look at the reviews (a lot of people i know dont) you get a total misrepresentation of the apps. When i was looking at the reviews for a geohashing application atleast 3 people complained that the thing pointed to a location no where near them, and how unnaceptable that is for a phone with GPS. For those that dont know what geohashing is look it up, i believe its based on a comic. Either way, I agree, something needs to be done about the review/rating system. Nice email too, very well written.

 

[Eraserhead]

I doubted it in the beginning as well, but who lets their employees use their name and speak on their behalf?

The chairmans office of any large organisation. They are the elite customer service team, but it probably isn't Steve himself.

 

[marksman]

If he thinks it is working remarkably well then he is much sicker than anyone thought.

It is blatantly obvious the system is broken in terms of the actual ratings.

 

[Pandora01]

I would also like to see the dates when reviews were posted and have the ability to sort by date. Sometimes the reviews posted before an app was updated can differ from the ones that are posted afterward. Maybe an update improved an app substantially or new features were added. It really bugs me sometimes when I can't tell when a review was posted.

 

[Small White Car]

I'll just put it this way. If you ran Apple and Pixar, would you take the time to personally answer customer emails? .......Or would you have one of your army of executive assistants do it?

Yeah, me too.

Well, I work in close proximity to my CEO (of a 22,000 employee company with over 7 million customers) and I know for a fact he answers several customer e-mails personally each day. He also spends time listening in to customer calls to make sure our service is what he thinks it should be.

I know Apple is bigger, but if a guy with 7 million customers can answer some e-mails, why can't Steve Jobs?

 

[mkrishnan]

I know Apple is bigger, but if a guy with 7 million customers can answer some e-mails, why can't Steve Jobs?

I tend to think the terse, one line responses come from him, because they sound like something someone would hammer out on their blackberry iPhone while it's hot on their mind. Although I wouldn't put it past Apple to actually train the assistants / whoever who actually do most of the responses to be terse like Jobs so that it seems authentic. Actually, I wouldn't put it past Apple to hire a bunch of FSJ's and make them wear those god-awful black turtlenecks and jeans from the 80s.

 

[Small White Car]

Actually, I wouldn't put it past Apple to hire a bunch of FSJ's and make them wear those god-awful black turtlenecks and jeans from the 80s.

As assasin decoys?

Clever...