Yesterday’s release of iOS 9 beta 4 now blocks the ability for users to write App Store reviews, which should make developers really, really happy.
When a user running the latest beta attempts to write a review, they are prompted with the pop-up below that says “This feature isn’t available,” followed with “You can’t write reviews while using a prerelease version of iOS.”
https://twitter.com/orbuch/status/623724857570758656
Just ten days ago MacStories’ Federico Viticci wrote about how users shouldn’t leave negative reviews for apps while using beta iOS versions. Developers can’t update their apps to take advantage of iOS 9 features yet as they are unable to submit these updates to the App Store.
Of course, that hasn’t stopped some users from slamming apps for not being compatible with iOS 9 in App Store reviews. These 1-star reviews can make or break an app, which sometimes are the only sources of income for hardworking third party developers.
It’s clear Apple is listening to the community. Apple senior VP Phil Schiller acknowledged this during his guest appearance on John Gruber’s The Talk Show at WWDC, when he responded to Marco Arment in the audience (calling him “the elephant in the room”) about his piece criticizing the recent lack of quality of OS X updates.
