With the launch of Apple's new prompt for the Podcasts app that asks customers to rate it, confusion over what's being rated has led to an artificially inflated App Store rating for the Podcasts app.
Before the launch of the new version of the app, the Podcasts app had a rating of 1.8 stars and a lot of negative reviews from customers unhappy with the design of the app. The App Store ratings for the Podcast app have gone up to 4.7 stars now that Apple is asking customers to rate the app.
Customers are not happy with the design and performance of the Podcasts app because Apple did not make any major changes. Many of the reviews for the podcasts that are available through the Podcasts app are for the ones that are available through the app.
The top review in the App Store right now starts out with "best podcasts ever!", with the reviewer lauding the podcasts they had been listening to at the time the review prompt popped up.
The design of the Podcasts app and positive reviews for the content of the podcasts are the only things that have a one star rating.
The Podcasts app is getting thousands of reviews per day and many of them are positive. The same prompt is available to all developers, and Apple confirmed to The Verge that it is using a new one. The standard Rating & Review prompt is available to all developers, and the Apple Podcasts prompt began last month.
The prompt is standard in third-party apps, but it's misleading for customers looking for an ideal experience. The Podcasts app is the one that comes up when you search for "podcasts", even though other apps offer a better user interface.
The majority of the ratings for third-party apps are for the apps themselves, and customers don't seem to be accidentally offering reviews for the content of the app. It's not clear if Apple will remove the in-app rating prompt for the Podcasts app, but reviews for the app should not be trusted.
Since the introduction of a design change that brought with it a number of bugs, customers have been unhappy with the Podcasts app. The app has continued to accumulate negative feedback despite the fact that Apple made some changes in the app.
