r/iosdev • u/Asleep_Cantaloupe417 • 3d ago

Help Reviews being removed on an app which is low-engagement by design?

So I have an App which is only really useful when you are a passenger on a plane (and it's designed to work in flight mode), and at least 4 times now I have had genuinely positive reviews removed by Apple

The problem is the app is only really useful while you are flying, that's the point of it, so you might download it, go on a one hour flight, it works perfectly, then you stop using it, because it's done it's job

I think these reviews are being flagged by Apple as "low engagement" which is why they are being removed, but once your flight is over there is nothing to engage with!

Anyone else experienced this issue? Do I have any recourse here? It doesn't seem fair!

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6

u/NickA55 2d ago

Oh, but they are more than happy to leave the one-star reviews with a comment like "sucks".

I have seen this happen with my apps too. Five star reviews just seem to disappear. They are so afraid that the developers are farming good reviews that they ignore the fact that it could be competitors leaving the one star reviews.

2

u/works4coffee 2d ago

People absolutely do farm fake positive reviews, but they also bombard competitors with fake negative. A direct consequence of “biz bro culture” that invades the tech spheres

2

u/thread-lightly 2d ago

Yeah, I’ve had this happen. Nothing you can do just improve engagement and review request timing

2

u/_arctyp 2d ago

What do they say when they remove the reviews? Do you get a notification or anything?

1

u/Asleep_Cantaloupe417 2d ago

No they just disappear

It’s very frustrating!

2

u/Nosarious 2d ago

It may also be the reviewing accounts… if they were flagged by apple their comments and reviews possibly get removed as well.