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drop, some suggest a new App Store algorithm may be the culprit of the missing ratings, or possibly even a purge of outdated user ratings and reviews, although the latter seems unlikely given the lack of prior notification from Apple.
I think Apple just purged a bunch of App Store ratings. I suddenly went from 82 ratings to 39.
My app is only 7 months old total. Not old ratings by any measure.
This is a nightmare.
— Jeff Johnson (@lapcatsoftware) December 16, 2018
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.
Odd changes going on with Apple iOS #AppStore Ratings / Reviews data tonight. Glitch? Purge? New Algorithm?
— Mike Irving (@mikeirvingweb) December 16, 2018
We’ve reached out to Apple and will update this article if we receive a response.
Bug on the Apple App Store? Half the number of ratings in the search results vs when on the app listing? pic.twitter.com/KGS0nA1anc
— Ryan Murton (@ryan_murton) December 17, 2018
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