1. ubizmo's Avatar
    The offending app is Podcasts for BB10. I would be interested to know if any others experience this problem. The developer says he has had other similar reports.
    I experienced it. It's more likely to occur if I try to do something with the app while it's downloading a podcast episode.
    05-09-13 08:20 AM
  2. BuzzStarField's Avatar
    Thanks to some of the other BB users who are weighing in on this. It is apparent---and sad--that some developers apparently feel that they should have the right to "sanitize" reviews of their apps and take money from people who might not otherwise purchase their products. If BB users start seeing the reviews more like "infomercials" and not honest, unedited comments by those who have purchased and used apps, this will be big trouble for the entire BB platform and those who are developing apps for it. I would also note--for those of you who have commented that this is "old hat"--that I have been a BB user for several years, and always assumed that the reviews were honest and could be trusted. Just because you knew that the reviews could be doctored does not mean that everyone else knows. So this issue definitely deserves the airing that it has been getting on CB.
    Again, I believe that this is an unfair characterization of the vast majority of developers. It is true that some people who post reviews have made errors in using my app. These people are obviously upset and I would like to speak to them and tell them where they have gone wrong. For example, the person who gives me a one-star rating because the "sky is all wrong" could use some help in setting up the location properly. The person who experiences a app crash could benefit from information about how to work around the problem (or how to get a refund).

    In light of the fact that RIM has given me a mechanism to mitigate the posting of an obviously incorrect review and that you object strenuously to my using that mechanism, I now ask for your honest and hopefully constructive.opinion. I am asking for your input on the following two questions assuming, of course, that RIM actually wants to fix the obvious flaws in the review process:

    1. You believe that obviously incorrect reviews should invariably be visible in the virtual store. You believe that this is helpful because it is an honest opinion that will help future shoppers to make informed purchasing decisions. Please explain to me how this works in the consumer's favour.
    2. I would like to help people use my app in the intended manner. What changes should RIM make to the review process that would discourage customers to use my support email address instead of reviews for this purpose? How can I as a developer do the job that has been entrusted to me without the frustrations inherent in the current process? I am human and I tend to get upset when people tell lies about my app (even if those lies are not intentional). Do you have any constructive ideas that might help me do my job better?
    05-09-13 08:47 AM
  3. Concession's Avatar
    You really don't know what sells apps at all....

    Posted via CB10
    LoL. You honestly believe that reviews exist solely to sell apps. That's sad.

    Posted via CB10
    05-09-13 10:08 AM
  4. BuzzStarField's Avatar
    LoL. You honestly believe that reviews exist solely to sell apps. That's sad.

    Posted via CB10
    One thing I do know is that my having 350 or so really great reviews for my PlayBook version does not help sales at all. On the other hand, I don't suffer particularly from the few negative reviews posted by people with agendas. The story is a bit different for my Z10 versiion. Having only 18 or so reviews for my z10 version bothers me a lot especially since thousands of PB users have downloaded the Z10 version for free. When you only have a few reviews, sales are affected much more than when there are hundreds. When a few people post bad reviews about problems related to BB World infrastructure, it does upset me, especially since there is a simple workaround. The OP thinks that should be happy about this situation. I am still waiting for some constructive ideas about why the status quo is good for consumers who decide not to buy my app because they think is is seriously flawed. I will "undeny" these three misleading reviews if the OP can give me a satisfactory answer. Please note that one of the posted reviews specifies what to do when one encounters the OS bug. Instructions are very clear and there is no doubt about how to deal with the problem.
    Last edited by BuzzStarField; 05-09-13 at 11:24 AM.
    05-09-13 11:01 AM
  5. kmsoft's Avatar
    I've written some positive reviews and those haven't shown up either lol
    I've had a few occasions were positive reviews were actually denied by default... and I had to actually submit them for approval. No idea why, they looked fine to me
    05-09-13 01:13 PM
  6. papped's Avatar
    One thing I do know is that my having 350 or so really great reviews for my PlayBook version does not help sales at all. On the other hand, I don't suffer particularly from the few negative reviews posted by people with agendas. The story is a bit different for my Z10 versiion. Having only 18 or so reviews for my z10 version bothers me a lot especially since thousands of PB users have downloaded the Z10 version for free.
    Which is exactly the workaround used in other app stores... You are SCREWED if you have a small number of reviews. Just a couple poor reviews (and they will happen) drop your rating to the point where most won't try the install in the first place.

    The best weapon in most app stores is to drown out low ratings with high ones. This is probably 10x more effective since HIGHEST RATED puts you in a category where your app will sell far, far more than anyone elses since featured categories simply sell more, no exceptions.
    05-09-13 02:33 PM
  7. Brian Ouellette's Avatar
    Which is exactly the workaround used in other app stores... You are SCREWED if you have a small number of reviews. Just a couple poor reviews (and they will happen) drop your rating to the point where most won't try the install in the first place.

    The best weapon in most app stores is to drown out low ratings with high ones. This is probably 10x more effective since HIGHEST RATED puts you in a category where your app will sell far, far more than anyone elses since featured categories simply sell more, no exceptions.
    Which is why we should also reply to the reviews. It helps.

    Posted via CB10 with the Dev Alpha C
    05-09-13 03:06 PM
  8. KermEd's Avatar
    App reviews are a joke on all stores.

    I've had companies offer several times to flood my paid apps with positive reviews for xyz dollars.

    You also can't just allow developers 'one response to a review'

    I've seen this before on hotel sites. Where I posted a review about a nasty, smelly, dirty hotel. And the owner replied that they satisfied the customer. Well, reality is they never contacted me

    You can't make it a forum - many developers aren't good with people. Which means flaming wars of hell in app world.

    There is no fair way. But yes I agree the only reason for a review is sales or downloads. Individual consumers think it's to warn users or entice users. Both those don't really matter, it's if they buy it that does. And that's dictated in *most* cases by reviews.

    With that said I mostly ignore them either which way these days. But higher reviews means higher profit. I have numbers of support that. Only in my case I patched it, saw reviews increase and subsequently sales increased.

    Posted via CB10
    05-09-13 04:53 PM
  9. KermEd's Avatar
    Actually that's not true.

    Developers should be able to see bbid emails of reviews to respond to issues.

    Users should be able to modify their reviews.

    Users who are refunded, developers should be able to have reviews removed with a note saying "Application Refunded, Review Removed" in its place.

    Reviews that are removed on request should say "Review Removed by Developer"

    That all adds transparency. If a Dev has 200 "removed reviews". You would be suspicious. But if a developer removed two for being useless, and users were refunded, it would be more fair.

    Posted via CB10
    Barljo likes this.
    05-09-13 04:59 PM
  10. willowbeast's Avatar
    There is no way BlackBerry is like bose.

    Posted via CB10
    05-09-13 05:02 PM
  11. Brian Ouellette's Avatar
    App reviews are a joke on all stores.

    I've had companies offer several times to flood my paid apps with positive reviews for xyz dollars.

    You also can't just allow developers 'one response to a review'

    I've seen this before on hotel sites. Where I posted a review about a nasty, smelly, dirty hotel. And the owner replied that they satisfied the customer. Well, reality is they never contacted me

    You can't make it a forum - many developers aren't good with people. Which means flaming wars of hell in app world.

    There is no fair way. But yes I agree the only reason for a review is sales or downloads. Individual consumers think it's to warn users or entice users. Both those don't really matter, it's if they buy it that does. And that's dictated in *most* cases by reviews.

    With that said I mostly ignore them either which way these days. But higher reviews means higher profit. I have numbers of support that. Only in my case I patched it, saw reviews increase and subsequently sales increased.

    Posted via CB10
    You might be right. It is just so hard for me to be dishonest being a dev. Could be years of retail customer service built up on how to talk to people. :/

    But for some others, it could also be abused. Oh wells.

    Posted via CB10 with the Dev Alpha C
    05-09-13 05:50 PM
  12. papped's Avatar
    Actually that's not true.

    Developers should be able to see bbid emails of reviews to respond to issues.

    Users should be able to modify their reviews.

    Users who are refunded, developers should be able to have reviews removed with a note saying "Application Refunded, Review Removed" in its place.

    Reviews that are removed on request should say "Review Removed by Developer"

    That all adds transparency. If a Dev has 200 "removed reviews". You would be suspicious. But if a developer removed two for being useless, and users were refunded, it would be more fair.

    Posted via CB10
    You are exposing personal info by letting any devs view bbid email addresses not to mention making yourself a potential target when leaving reviews...

    Posted via CB10
    05-09-13 05:55 PM
  13. tmb2013's Avatar
    I purchased an app for my Z10 that crashed every time it was launched, and even managed to corrupt the OS. Sent an e-mail to the developer, who said he knew about the problem but did not know how to fix it. Figured since all the reviews for the app were 4 or 5 stars, I would let other Z10 users know that app has been causing problems for some. I posted my review once and it did not appear. Thought I did something wrong. So I posted it a second time, and again, it did not appear. So I sent a note to RIM, and they directed me to the link below, which says that developers can pull any and all reviews they do not like. This is really outrageous, and RIM has to stop this practice. Can you imagine Consumer Reports or Amazon letting merchants pull negative reviews? It's making me question my loyalty to RIM, as I feel like I got ripped off by the developer who continues to market his flawed product, no one the wiser since all the reviews of his app are glowing.

    Managing app reviews - BlackBerry Developer
    I guess this is Blackberry's way of trying to woo developers to create apps. Guaranteed no bad reviews.
    05-09-13 06:24 PM
  14. BuzzStarField's Avatar
    I guess this is Blackberry's way of trying to woo developers to create apps. Guaranteed no bad reviews.
    Tee hee hee! You said "woo".
    05-09-13 07:56 PM
  15. tmb2013's Avatar
    Tee hee hee! You said "woo".
    I'm old.
    05-09-13 08:25 PM
  16. BuzzStarField's Avatar
    I'm old.
    That's no excuse for knowing so little about what really motivates developers.
    05-09-13 08:54 PM
  17. thesimpsons's Avatar
    I had a feeling that this was happening. Only good reviews I gave were showing up but the negative ones would not. Sad move from RIM takes away credibility of a app and it s dev

    Posted via z10
    05-09-13 09:03 PM
  18. KermEd's Avatar
    You are exposing personal info by letting any devs view bbid email addresses not to mention making yourself a potential target when leaving reviews...

    Posted via CB10
    I know. It's a tough call - I wouldn't say make the bbid public - only privately available to the developer for purchased apps under some kind of NDA from bbry.

    It's funny that we live in a world where we don't mind giving someone we don't know 1.99 for a product. But we refuse to share our email addresses.

    Posted via CB10
    05-09-13 09:30 PM
  19. tmb2013's Avatar
    That's no excuse for knowing so little about what really motivates developers.
    And off to the ignore list ...
    05-09-13 09:54 PM
  20. Brian Ouellette's Avatar
    I know. It's a tough call - I wouldn't say make the bbid public - only privately available to the developer for purchased apps under some kind of NDA from bbry.

    It's funny that we live in a world where we don't mind giving someone we don't know 1.99 for a product. But we refuse to share our email addresses.

    Posted via CB10
    In android a developer gets the email address of a buyer. They can also get the name, city, state, and postal code.

    Don't see much in liability.

    Posted via CB10 with the Dev Alpha C
    05-09-13 10:06 PM
  21. KermEd's Avatar
    In android a developer gets the email address of a buyer. They can also get the name, city, state, and postal code.

    Don't see much in liability.

    Posted via CB10 with the Dev Alpha C
    Yeah. As a developer I actually prefer their system.

    Posted via CB10
    05-09-13 10:09 PM
  22. BuzzStarField's Avatar
    I had a feeling that this was happening. Only good reviews I gave were showing up but the negative ones would not. Sad move from RIM takes away credibility of a app and it s dev

    Posted via z10
    You appear to have have a certain bias and likely believe that all reviewers are credible and that most developers are deeply flawed by their association with RIM. I'll have you know that some developers, - I dare say most of the ones that I know - are paragons of credibility. We are equal opportunity review deniers.who believe that all incredible reviews, no matter how many stars, are subject to speedy execution. Simply put, they lack class and deserve to die before they are seen by copycat vandals who might wish to add their own silly graffiti about my app..

    In my warped opinion, the following review as copied from my administration page, is a prime example of a comment that lacks credibility. When I saw this 5-star review, I just couldn't believe my eyes..Do you think that I am incredible because I chose to deny it?

    Status: Denied
    Title: misz
    Created Date: Dec 20, 2012 5:29:06 PM
    Release: 1.5.5
    *****
    Review Body:
    super, polecam.

    PS: If you can demonstrate that this review is indeed credible (by telling me what the he11 it means and how it relates to my app) then I promise to reinstate it. Please discuss.
    05-09-13 10:13 PM
  23. BuzzStarField's Avatar
    In android a developer gets the email address of a buyer. They can also get the name, city, state, and postal code.

    Don't see much in liability.

    Posted via CB10 with the Dev Alpha C
    Is this for real? I see a huge liability in that I imagine that this would make consumers even more uncomfortable that they are when they hear that we can arbitrarily hide their reviews. Having said that, it should be possible for RIM to set up an anonymous messaging system so that consumers and developers can communicate more effectively without knowing their home addresss and phone numbers.Talking directly is the only way to resolve problems but I don't believe that having my customers' personal information is in anyone's best interest. For that matter, I don't think that consumers should have my email address either. An anonymous messaging system would also alleviate some of my paranoia.
    05-09-13 10:26 PM
  24. papped's Avatar
    In android a developer gets the email address of a buyer. They can also get the name, city, state, and postal code.

    Don't see much in liability.

    Posted via CB10 with the Dev Alpha C
    This system is better from a buyers perspective for personal info than android or mobihand was.... you can't see crap as a developer.

    Just because android does it doesn't mean anything.

    If you value your personal info so little then might as well post your real name and address in your CB user profile....

    Posted via CB10
    BuzzStarField likes this.
    05-09-13 10:42 PM
  25. anon(4275744)'s Avatar
    Has everyone actually looked or read the reviews!? A majority of negative reviews aren't even "reviews". They are comments like, "This app is crap. I want my dollar back!!!"
    That's not a review, it's a rant.
    I don't want to see those so called reviews. They provide no information, say nothing, have no meaning and are a waste of virtual ink!
    Delete away DEVS!
    PS: most of the human race can tell what an app is like by reading the real reviews, good or bad!
    I bet a dev will weight a constructively negative review, more than a "rantrum".

    From Zed to U via CB10
    05-09-13 10:53 PM
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