Apple iOS 5: Widespread Beta Usage Leading To Negative App Store App Reviews

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What does one do when they purchase an app for their iOS device and it does not work properly — they leave a review with some details about what they are experiencing. And good or bad, that is what the reviews section of the iOS App Store is for. However some recent reviews, more specifically some recent bad reviews are being called into question.

You see, it seems that the latest beta of iOS 5 has become rather easy to get. And for the record, while technically anyone can pay the $99 fee and become a ‘developer’ the question becomes should Apple be restricting this a bit more. And possibly more important, should these users be leaving reviews in the App Store based on iOS 5 at this point.

Bottom line, some developers are beginning to question this, and if you ask me, the questions need to be addressed. After all, if a person is considering the purchase of an app, they may or may not make a purchase based on recent reviews. And if the person considering the purchase is using an up to date and public version of iOS they may be confused or turned away when they see an app review like this;

“I just installed ios 5 and everytime I try to open the app it crashed.”

Granted, at least in this case they specified they are using iOS 5, however to a regular (non-geeky) app purchaser that may not mean as much. Heck, they may not even be aware of what version they are using and in turn not make a purchase of an app they wanted (and would have likely ran fine on their device) just because of a bad iOS 5 review.

In summary, having users leave reviews for apps based on iOS 5 performance in the iOS App Store at this point seems to me like it could not only negatively affect developers but also consumers. Of course, that is just my opinion. But perhaps more important, what can be done about this? Is this a case where Apple should bring tighter restrictions to the developer acceptance policy or just a case of its happening and there is not much that can be done.