Randy Troppmann

Early this month Apple banned a developer whose 1000+ apps then disappeared from the app store. Wow. Apparently Apple felt they were gaming the review system which is probably not that difficult to prove.

This story hit home with me recently because my own iPhone App, RunningMap Trackometer, has been getting a few bad reviews on the US App Store. (you can see my blog post about it here). This is obviously devastating for sales and shows how important reviews are. My first thought was to get some friends to post some good reviews to counter the bad ones. And it would be easy to do. But think twice if you think its a good idea.

The problem of bad reviews is exacerbated by the fact that when you uninstall an app, you are prompted to review the app which I am sure encourages far more bad reviews than good ones. Ouch. Apple’s review system is broken!

Not so fast. There are some subtleties here. The App Store will show reviews only for the “current version” while hiding the rest under the “all versions” button. The App Store also prominently shows “what’s new in version …” so there is hope!

What will I do with my Trackometer app? Fix it. Improve it. Earn some better reviews. My customers will be able to see that I have read about their concerns and improved on the product. But I won’t fake the reviews.

The iPhone is a story that has a few facets.

First there was getting a phone. In Canada we had to wait a year and a few days after the July 11, 2008 launch I phone Rogers and ordered one. Two days later it arrived. I plugged it into my mac, agreed to a few things and let is sync. VERY seamless and easy to set up and use. Rogers service was very good (aside from a few glitches in the billing which they politely fixed).

Second the phone itself. It is amazing. The functionality and features. FINALLY I have a phone that will sync seamlessly with my Mac address book.

Thirdly the app store. I am taking the perspective of a software developer who is approved for the iPhone Developer Program and has plans on building and selling iPhone applications. What they have created with the app store is revolutionary and awesome. Apple has put power to the developers. Thanks Apple.

Here is a link to a designer behind the New York Times application: http://www.drawger.com/felixsockwell/?section=comments&article_id=5804