How negative app reviews from iOS beta users could be prevented
sparsebundle.net
sparsebundle.net
But it seems a pretty good reason might simply be that this would require another conditional be built into the software. And if you talk to my programmer, he doesn't like adding weird exceptions to the code. Even if it makes things "easier" for product people. :)
PS. Not joking about the keyboard delay, it sucks :/ http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1578
Even more so as developers are not allowed to push release for beta OS compatibility (though some sneak in and it's also possible to sneak in fixes without mentioning the OS I believe. Risky though)
I felt a little mislead and thought that a developer had somehow figured out how to do the current title of the submission (news) vs. what it was really about (opinion, that I agree with, but not news).
Both app developers and Apple have wrongly been pushing users to voice opinions publicly in app reviews, leaving app developers exposed with no way to communicate with those users.
The real solution is to start pushing users to communicate their suggestions and issues privately, in the app, where you can better manage conversations, keep users engaged, and establish relationships that can turn upset users into long-term evangelists.
1) Do not bury support or email buttons multiple taps deep. Surface a contact button so that it's easier for users to contact you.
2) Do not ask users to fill out more than a single field to send you their thoughts. Automatically capture user ID, device, platform, OS version, app version, etc. by passing a unique session or user ID.
3) Keep them in your app, engaged, and talking. Think of this more like "user relations", not "user support". You need them engaged and sharing their thoughts more than they need you and your app.
In terms of what can be done now for helping to avoid iOS 7 app reviews, here are a few suggestions:
1) Add an alert for iOS 7 users that your app is not yet compatible: http://mobile.tutsplus.com/tutorials/iphone/uialertview/
2) Here's an example:
[[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:@"Unsupported iOS Version" message: @"This version of the app is untested on this version of iOS, please check for an update in the app store." delegate: self cancelButtonTitle:@"Skip" otherButtonTitles:@"App Store",nil];
2) If you have an email list of your users, send them an email with when they can expect the OS update. Users will expect a great, new experience with iOS 7 and will be deleting apps that don't meet their expectations. You can't expect users to keep using your app when there is so much new "eye candy" on the App Store.
P.S. Stuart from Appbot actually covered this with a scary screenshot of iOS7 reviews only one week into Beta1: http://stuartkhall.com/posts/stop-allowing-app-reviews-from-...
Eh?
Most of these reviews are from the non-developer crowd who somehow ended up with beta software on their phone and they don't understand that developers can do little about this for the moment, nor they understand that their negative review has a bad impact on the developer himself.
That way (legit) customers can still submit feedback, but it doesn't affect the app on the appstore.
That way someone who is saying it's crap on an iPhone5 running iOS7 won't influence the vote of someone who is on an iPhone4 running 6. Same way someone on a 3S won't be able to post "It's too slow" to put off 5 users.
App reviews are not a guaranteed advertising venue. They are there for the reader, not the developer. The fact that an app doesn't work on iOS 7 is relevant to anyone using iOS 7, whether or not it's an official release yet. As the article says, the iOS 7 beta is pretty widespread at this point. I don't think you can have it both ways; if the beta is in that many hands, then the feedback is useful for potential buyers.
Unfortunately, I'm guessing many of these reviews rate the app poorly as well. That's a much more legitimate complaint, and I assume what the author really wants to curtail. I think restricting reviews is the wrong way to go though. If you really can't be bothered to fix the issue until launch, then stick something in the description telling people that the iOS 7 version will be live on launch day. If enough people are complaining about it in the meantime to make a significant difference in your app's rating, then I'd take that as a pretty clear sign that you should consider fixing the problem. No one is forcing you to rewrite from scratch, and the vast majority of apps are going to update existing codebases just fine instead.
I'm sure there are bugs in the beta or bugs in your code that really need the new SDK to fix, but I suspect that the vast majority could be fixed or worked around without too much trouble. Maybe your grand iOS 7 redesign is going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but you can likely bodge a fix together in the meantime.
A large part of the point of Apple releasing betas early to developers is to give them a buffer time to get their apps ready. It's unreasonable to demand developers "bodge a fix together" for immediate use as soon as a beta lands, it defeats a large part of the purpose of having these betas.
I can think of a few niche reasons why you would wait until iOS 7 is released before you release a fixed version of your app, but for the vast majority of people, I think they ought to be working on getting a version that runs within a few weeks of seeing a beta OS version that crashes their app.
Also, while adding a catchall preventing beta OSes from reviewing is good, I have seen other posts advocating mentioning the iOS 7 is no compatible in the description of the app. This is worst advice ever. Those who are not developers who are using the beta cannot be reasoned with and it is their own fault for having an unstable OS. Mentioning iOS 7 will further annoy them [that the app doesn't work on iOS 7] and confuse legitimate users about the availability of iOS 7.
I still think that the bigger issue is this: if so many of your users are doing this that it's a problem, then fix the problem. If you want to complain about "lusers" in the bar later in the evening, you have my sympathy. But if this is a real problem for you, then it's an even bigger problem for your users, and just calling them unreasonable doesn't help either of you. It might be their fault, but they're still your customers and they still can't run your app. The 1-star reviews are not your biggest problem at that point.
If 50% of my users get a crash at start-up, I'm going to try to make that go away. If no one is really having the problem, then it's silly to ask for Apple to block potentially legitimate feedback. If loads of people are having the problem, then the cost-benefit analysis ought to look very different.
Beta software is exactly that -- beta. Users should expect failures and problems, so giving any sort of review based on iOS7 beta software is absolutely ridiculous. The funny part is that the only people who should have the beta, should know better. But obviously they don't. I wish there was a way to lock down access to the beta program to legitimate developers, but that's impossible because it wouldn't necessarily be a fair system. Although it could be possible to restrict beta access to developers who actually have a released app in the store. New devs could still use the existing SDK and tools and submit, but they wouldn't necessarily have access to the betas. I don't know what problem that would solve, however. It doesn't seem to be a significant issue, except in app store reviews, so the simple solution is to restrict reviews to non-beta people and instead of reviews, iOS7 users can submit private bug reports. This way devs are aware of problems they might not know about but it doesn't give the negative publicity that affects their sales. Several one-star reviews can kill a newer app before it even gets off the ground.
One potentially cool alternative is to allow devs to release iOS7 beta versions that are only accessibly to iOS7 beta users through the app store. However just as promo-code apps can't be reviewed, the same logic should apply to iOS 7 beta users.
Agreed, the 1-star reviews are unfortunate. That's exactly what I was talking about as well. I just don't think it's a big enough problem to justify removing the ability for people to post useful information regarding compatibility with an OS version that exists in the field in significant numbers.
Although yes, I do not see these reviews causing a huge impact as of yet.