Why Android apps get way more reviews than iOS apps
Must read for all app developers
App stores are the biggest distribution channels for the apps, unless you are one of those apps which are inherently viral. App developers better take these channels seriously. And, it’s a no brainer that more the reviews, more the 5 star ratings, the more discoverable your app will be.
At CloudMagic, we leave no stone unturned to get better ratings (more on this some other day). In spite of our efforts, our Android app continues to get way more reviews/ratings than its iOS counterpart, even though the download numbers are almost same. This perplexed us. We rolled up our sleeves to find out if our review mechanism was to blame or that iOS users rate less. It turned out to be the latter. Here are our findings on why Android users rate/review more, I mean way more.
User Experience
The Play Store asks you to rate an app in the same page. And, the rate widget is visible in the viewport. The rate widget also doubles as a button for review. As soon as you rate, it asks you to write a review. Very smart.
Whereas the App Store has the review section in a different tab. You tap on the reviews tab and then hit the “write a review” button only to be stopped by “enter password” screen. I really admire the patience of those users who go through all these hassles to rate an app.
It doesn’t stop there. Until recently, submitting a review for an iOS app was even worse. Remember writing a long review and the App Store telling you that your name is already taken and deleting your entire review? Good luck trying again for a different nickname.
User-Developer Interaction
Not all users rate apps by themselves. It takes a gentle nudge from the developers for most of the users to rate. Android users can be sent directly to the app rate page, where as iOS users have to land in the app download page and find their way to rate page. In mobile world a large percentage of users lose their interest with every extra tap.
The Play Store lets developers reply to user reviews. Many users have found this a quick and easy way to reach out to the developers. We reply to all those reviews that need a follow up. However, don’t like the ones that hold a star or two for a missing feature :-) Remember seeing ‘I love this app more than my girlfriend, just the thing I was looking for. But, I’ll give you the fifth star when you implement this feature’ ?
Social
Google owns Google Plus, hence knows which friend downloads what. Your friends’ +1s, reviews and ratings help Play Store make the app listing personal to you. Those tiny mugshots of the friends who have +1ed the app and the reviews/ratings that are listed before other reviews, not only make you download the app, but also influence to leave a rating.
Misc
The Play Store allows you to write a review on desktop web. It’s a godsend for sharing links and writing long reviews then and there.
Finally, the Play Store proactively asks one to review their recently downloaded app.
PS: This post was first published in CloudMagic Blog.
