Star Wars: Requesting a rating on Apple Podcasts creates confusion

If you want to listen to podcasts on iOS, iPadOS, or macOS, Apple offers its free app called Apple Podcasts (App Store Link) was donated. However, this does not always get good reviews and it is not without some of the features that make third-party alternatives attractive.

Recently, Apple Podcasts have caused additional confusion among its users. as the edge Reported with partial confirmation from Apple, the average rated Apple Podcasts app is now suddenly nearly five stars in the App Store. Particularly interesting in this context is the fact that Apple previously introduced an app evaluation dialog.

Users thought they didn’t rate Apple’s podcast app, but rather rated the podcast itself. A positive score for Apple: Average ratings within a month rose from 1.8 to 4.6 stars on the App Store, as Apple critic Kosta Eleftheriou also noted on Twitter.

How did Apple Podcasts suddenly go from 1.8 to 4.6 stars? Is Apple manipulating its app ratings now? https://t.co/bSAr8sFKqQ pic.twitter.com/5kJKYd54VP

– Costa Eleftherio (Keleftheriou) November 17, 2021

The Verge went their way to take a closer look at some of the five star reviews they gave. The blog asks: “Do these people really like Apple Podcasts?” “Because if you take a closer look at the comments, it looks like something funny is going on. There are new and positive reviews, but they are not reviews of the Apple Podcasts app, but reviews of the podcasts themselves.”

Apple itself has told The Verge that it is using a new rating vector, but it also claims that this is not unusual. “With the release of iOS 15.1 last month, Apple Podcasts began urging listeners to leave a rating and review, just like most third-party apps — using the standard rating and review vector available to all developers,” an Apple spokesperson said.

App Store rating dialogs are actually a standard way for developers to ask their users to submit a review in apps. However, in the case of the Apple Podcasts app, you have to assume that there were only good reviews for the mid-level app, which is probably actually about episodes and broadcasts. Unfortunately, this incident also shows how unreliable the star ratings and reviews on the App Store can be. In the past, there were actually fraudulent apps that bought App Store ratings, or there were apps posted that couldn’t even be opened without a good review. Now Apple is also participating in Star Wars.