That's my read. Both reviews seem fair to me. E.g. if translation is important to that user then maybe it's better to take a note of it rather than be angry. Also, being upset about users hating your obnoxious nag screen? hahah wow.
"This app didn't have a feature that it didn't advertise it had, ONE STAR!". Really?
He explains why the request for ratings exists in the post. I'll never review a well known brand if they pester me, but go out of my way to make time for indies (including real world shops) when they do.
Yes, but I want to give OP the benefit of the doubt.
I'm sure it's frustrating to put the work into building an app with several features only to receive a one-star review because a user feels slighted by one specific behavior, but this is how users have been trained to behave because it's the only lever of power the users have. Writing a thoughtful and detailed feature request or bug report is often a fool's errand. Users just give the app 1 star and move on.
The exact opposite, really. You live or die by app store ratings. Too many ratings are bogus (don't accurately describe the app's functionality, just some random feeling the user has in the moment). Either the App Store should take on more burden to ensure ratings are accurate (perhaps criteria? disincentivize false ratings?), or eliminate/downplay the system.
There are already commenters proudly declaring they abuse the system because there is just no incentives not to.
> just some random feeling the user has in the moment
That is the risk you take when you spam the user with popups begging for a review after a specific action. If the user isn't satisfied with the result or the popup disrupt their flow, they will (rightfully) be in a bad mood when they review your app.
The one star nag review is accurate to me. As a potential user, I know not to buy the app. I despise ads and nag screens are in the same boat.
Just because you don't like the value system of your users doesn't mean you get to call them false or fake. Good product managers LISTEN to their users. You clearly are not willing to do that, despite the now overwhelming validation of your users complaints you are receiving.
> So put a "hey, a rating really helps" somewhere in the app that doesn't interrupt?
> The bottom of the dashboard. Top of settings. A banner that shows up after a while. Let me permanently say no; none of the passive-aggressive "maybe later" shit.
People read the single word "nag" and assumed something much worse than the reality. If you define "nag" as any request for a review, regardless of the form in which it appears, then you could say that it nags, but as soon as you start talking about a nag screen, covering content, a modal dialog, etc., that's a totally inaccurate depiction of what my app does.
Do you seriously not see how this misunderstanding is coming about though?
If you write a blog post over a negative review accusing you of nagging, I would expect you to say “actually I’m not really nagging, I just have a line saying to please leave a rating in my app” if that’s the case. If you instead double down and make excuses and advocate to just ban the reviews because you don’t like user reviews anyways, it sounds like you’re actually wrong and the rating is correct.
And I’m not surprised that readers don’t proactively go out and look for your app to check themselves before criticizing you.
> Indie developers can’t win in the App Store. Since we’re mostly unknown to the public, we need positive App Store ratings and reviews for our apps to encourage purchases. If we don’t request ratings from all users, then the self-initiated ratings tend to be disproportionately people with a complaint rather than satisfied users
I think it is more that ratings just aren't a great metric for app quality. The people doing the rating aren't necessarily even knowledgeable about the app they're reviewing let alone other similar apps. I would agree.
But I'd also say basic ratings of all kinds ... sort of stink for the same reason(s).