A glitch in Apple’s iOS App Store is causing ratings and reviews to disappear from specific apps.
The issue, which was first reported by The Apple Post and then subsequently 9to5Mac, involves ratings, reviews and in certain cases, developer comments disappearing. Some developers are also seeing a random decline in star ratings.
Freelance iOS developer Mike Irving (@mikeirvingweb) was one of the first developers to tweet about the issue.
Odd changes going on with Apple iOS #AppStore Ratings / Reviews data tonight. Glitch? Purge? New Algorithm?
— Mike Irving (@mikeirvingweb) December 16, 2018
I think Apple just purged a bunch of App Store ratings. I suddenly went from 82 ratings to 39.
My app is only 7 months old total. Not old ratings by any measure.
This is a nightmare.
— Jeff Johnson (@lapcatsoftware) December 16, 2018
I’m getting conflicting ratings numbers now. In some places they’ve come back, but in other places they’ve gone down.
Hopefully this is just a temporary caching problem.
And to top it all off, here’s App Store Connect currently: pic.twitter.com/iKwoW2uvCo
— Jeff Johnson (@lapcatsoftware) December 16, 2018
Bug on the Apple App Store? Half the number of ratings in the search results vs when on the app listing? pic.twitter.com/KGS0nA1anc
— Ryan Murton (@ryan_murton) December 17, 2018
It’s unclear if the issue is related to a glitch of some sort, or if Apple is intentionally purging older ratings as a result of a new App Store algorithm gone amiss.
Even developers with apps released in the last six months have reported their app ratings disappearing, indicating the issue is likely caused by an unintentional glitch on Apple’s part.
The problem seems to currently be affecting a number of apps in the iOS App Store. If you’re a developer and information related to your app has vanished from the app store, let us know in the comment section or reach out to @Patrick_ORourke on Twitter.
Update 12/17/2018 1:41pm: Story updated with additional information regarding how widespread the issue is.
Source: The Apple Post, 9to5Mac Via: MacRumors
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