Developers are reporting seeing a random drop in app ratings in what is believed to be a bug with the App Store Ratings & Reviews system, with some apps seeing a sharp decline in star-ratings, and others claiming to see missing written reviews and developer responses.
A handful of developers, such as freelance developer Mike Irving have taken to Twitter to share their confusion and theories on what may have caused the missing App Store data.
While a bug on Apple’s side is most likely to blame for the unexplained drop, some suggest a new App Store algorithm may be the culprit of the missing ratings, or possibly even a purge of outdated user ratings and reviews, although the latter seems unlikely given the lack of prior notification from Apple.
So far it appears the apparent glitch is only effecting the App Store on iOS, but if you’re a developer who’s seen a sudden drop in ratings on the Mac App Store then please let us know in the comments below.
We’ve reached out to Apple and will update this article if we receive a response.