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iOS 18.4 to Include AI-Generated Review Summaries in App Store

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Apple has begun rolling out AI-generated summaries of App Store reviews in the latest iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 beta releases. The feature uses large language models to analyze user reviews and condense common themes into a short paragraph.

app-store-ai-reviews-summary.jpg

First spotted by Macworld, the AI summaries appear just above the user reviews section on app listings. As part of a phased rollout, Apple says the summaries are only available for English-language reviews "for a limited number of apps and games" in the US.

Apple plans to expand support to additional languages and regions "over the course of the year," according to information on Apple's developer website. Not all apps will receive review summaries at launch. Apple requires apps to have a sufficient number of user reviews to generate a meaningful summary, though the company hasn't specified the exact threshold.

To help keep the feature accurate, both developers and users can report problematic summaries. Developers can submit reports through App Store Connect, while users can tap and hold on a summary to flag issues. Apple notes that summaries will be refreshed at least once a week to incorporate recent feedback.

The processing appears to be cloud-based rather than on-device, as identical summaries display across different Apple devices. Apple hasn't confirmed that devices supporting Apple Intelligence will be a requirement.

The move follows similar AI summary features already available on other platforms. Amazon introduced AI-powered product review summaries in 2023, while Google added review summaries to Maps last year. The likelihood of AI summaries coming to app reviews in the App Store was first reported in October.

iOS 18.4 beta 2 also introduces several other features, including Priority Notifications, Visual Intelligence for iPhone 15 Pro, new Shortcuts actions, and a standalone Apple Vision Pro app. The update is expected to roll out to all users in April. An outline of all of the new features in iOS 18.4 can be found in our iOS 18.4 features guide.

Article Link: iOS 18.4 to Include AI-Generated Review Summaries in App Store
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/03/06/ios-18-4-ai-review-summaries-app-store/
Serious question: Does anybody actually use the App Store to browse for apps? And even further, does anyone actually read the reviews? Personally, for me, it’s just a place to update apps and nothing more. It’s way too cumbersome for exploring new apps. Plus, it mostly shows reviews that are a year or older for most apps (I know I can sort them from newest to oldest, but still).
 
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Etc_ said:
Serious question: Does anybody actually use the App Store to browse for apps? And even further, does anyone actually read the reviews? Personally, for me, it’s just a place to update apps and nothing more. It’s way too cumbersome for exploring new apps. Plus, it mostly shows reviews that are a year or older for most apps (I know I can sort them from newest to oldest, but still).
Click to expand...

I don't -- haven't for over half a decade now
 
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Etc_ said:
Serious question: Does anybody actually use the App Store to browse for apps? And even further, does anyone actually read the reviews? Personally, for me, it’s just a place to update apps and nothing more. It’s way too cumbersome for exploring new apps. Plus, it mostly shows reviews that are a year or older for most apps (I know I can sort them from newest to oldest, but still).
Click to expand...

I use the App Store to find apps I discovered online for a very specific use case. For example, I've searched for various voice transcriber apps, mind map apps, sticky note apps, and the only role App Store has in this search is letting me download the app I'm already interested in. Only time I peruse the similar apps at the bottom is for art referencing apps specifically. In this instance, it's a lot of real apps made by solo developers and potentially have something of value to me, so I give those a look.
 
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Etc_ said:
Serious question: Does anybody actually use the App Store to browse for apps? And even further, does anyone actually read the reviews? Personally, for me, it’s just a place to update apps and nothing more. It’s way too cumbersome for exploring new apps. Plus, it mostly shows reviews that are a year or older for most apps (I know I can sort them from newest to oldest, but still).
Click to expand...
Yes I have. I don’t find it cumbersome, but at times it goes against: “there’s an app for that “. Not.
 
Etc_ said:
Serious question: Does anybody actually use the App Store to browse for apps? And even further, does anyone actually read the reviews? Personally, for me, it’s just a place to update apps and nothing more. It’s way too cumbersome for exploring new apps. Plus, it mostly shows reviews that are a year or older for most apps (I know I can sort them from newest to oldest, but still).
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I used to, but haven't for a few years now. It's super rare that I download a new app anymore, but when I do, I already know which one before opening the App Store.
 
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jayducharme said:
This seems to be increasingly common. Users are now responsible for fixing problems with AI, a tech no one really asked for.
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This is how AI works, and one of the reasons Apple has had issues is that every other company just uses its users’ data to build and test the models. Apple has been trying to do it with a privacy focus, but this makes it much harder and a longer process.
 
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Rradcircless said:
I use the App Store to find apps I discovered online for a very specific use case. For example, I've searched for various voice transcriber apps, mind map apps, sticky note apps, and the only role App Store has in this search is letting me download the app I'm already interested in. Only time I peruse the similar apps at the bottom is for art referencing apps specifically. In this instance, it's a lot of real apps made by solo developers and potentially have something of value to me, so I give those a look.
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Sometimes for games, productivity apps not as much.
 
jayducharme said:
This seems to be increasingly common. Users are now responsible for fixing problems with AI, a tech no one really asked for.
Click to expand...
Spot on. I get absolutely atrocious voice transcriptions in Voice Memos where they create words that don’t exist, but I don’t want to report that **** because it's private...
 
ececlv said:
AI review summaries are the worst. You lose all context of legit, paid for, and axe to grind reviewers. It increases the power of fake reviewers as they'll get swept up into the summary
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Only if there are a lot of them. From the sites I have read them, they don't seem to take one-offs into account.
 
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