The user reviews in the iOS and Mac App Stores can be a mixed bag. Sometimes, a user provides useful information to help you make a purchasing decision. But often the user reviews are filled with complaints about problems that were encountered while using the software. When a software developer addresses those problems in updated software, the user review lingers.
In a future update to iOS 10 and macOS Sierra, developers will have a chance to address user reviews in the App Store. The release notes for iOS 10.3 state that developers will be able to respond to a user review, and the response will be available for others to see. The notes also say that this feature will be available in the Mac App Store.
Apple doesn\u2019t provide any information on how the response system itself works. Hopefully, it\u2019ll work in such a way to make it easy for the developer to respond. As Many Tricks\u2019 Rob Griffths points out on Twitter , something like a notification system would help. Popular apps get more reviews, and having to manually browse each review could even be discouraging to developers.
The release notes also state that there will be a new API for asking users to review and rate an app while still using the app; you won\u2019t be switched over to the App Store app. According to The Loop\u2019s Jim Dalrymple , who talked to Apple about the app reviews API, developers will now be limited to three review requests per year, and if a user does leave a review, the requests will stop. Dalrymple also reports that there will be a \u201cmaster switch\u201d to turn off review notifications from all developers, and that iOS 10.3 will allow you to label a review as Helpful via 3D Touch.<\/p>\n