Oh I agree with the negative reviews showed on the screenshots. I'll jump in the bandwagon. My experience with this app has gotten worse over time.
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New Apple Podcasts Rating Prompt Artificially Boosts App Store Score
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Without seeing the actual prompt it's hard to say for sure, but I imagine what is going on here is not shady at all...but rather a reflection of the fact that the vast majority of people are absolute idiots that have got used to not actual thinking about what they are doing...so they just assume that it's the podcast itself rather than the app. Can't blame Apple for the progressive dumbening of the global population...that's on Facebook et al.
The users get 1 star from me for not paying attention.
I’m thinking yes, typically the users of third-party apps have put more thought into the app they’re using. This kind of thing always reminds me of when Internet Explorer was the default browser on Windows and many people didn’t care about the browser they were using and only about browsing the web or accessing specific webpages they were used to, so they’d just use IE because it was there and did the job. Meanwhile the people who’d actually download Firefox or another browser had to put conscious effort into doing so.
How do you come to that conclusion?? As now I see it said, it's not like you can complain that you wasted money, so at worst you tried something out based on a "fake" rating, didn't like it, and move on to something else! If the rating was legit and you tried it based on that "recommendation" and didn't like it, would you stick with it because of the good reviews? If so, that's asinine! And if not, then if you would ditch something that got legit good reviews because it didn't suit you, then why would it be an issue to ditch something that got fake good reviews because it didn't suit you????
Surely the key factor here is whether you like the app? Honestly I don't understand this hive mind, groupthink BS! I absolutely cannot stand the whole "Other customers who just bought the thing you bought also bought these other items" recommendations as it's just leveraging the weak-minded propensity to want to be like others to get people to buy thing that they don't actually want or need.
Personally, if I want a "throwaway" app (one that I don't use for anything crucial in my life) then I will always try out the free options first - if there are any - and then if they leave something to be desired, I will move on to looking at paid ones. I personally don't know what the issue is with the Podcasts app...it does what it needs to surely? You choose a podcast, you listen to it....ummmm...what more do you want it to do? If it's an issue of "discovery" then just do your own damn research! Or do you want some grubby algorithm telling you what it thinks you would enjoy?
I see...so YOUR experience is THE experience is it? As I mentioned in my post above...it does everything I need it to...it plays back podcasts! So as long as it does what I need, why would I give it a bad rating? If you want more from a podcast app then you are more than entitled to give it a poor rating, but to make your opinion the definitive one shows an arrogance that is sadly all too often seen on forums like these...
What’s even worse are users (usually trolls) who are furiously on the side of Apple, when the company clearly doesn’t know or care about you. They’re laughing with their trillions and you try to make them look perfect. As a consequence, it worsens the experience for all users, including yourself.
So you believe anything that fulfils the most basic functionality of its product type is well represented by a near maximum score, even if it only achieves that through reviews that even a cursory reading show are completely misleading. Ok.
Easily. If there isn’t some reasonable degree of integrity to ratings then remove them altogether. The price is irrelevant to having standing to expect it on a review. Openly undermining the rating confidence of one product undermines them all.
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I gave the Apple Podcasts app a low review because it wasted my time and I want Apple to make it better.
It’s been garbage for a long time but recently with the new MBP I gave it another go. The MBP speakers are great and I would actually use them to listen to podcasts rather than constantly wearing earphones.
That dream lasted less than 48 hours. The Podcasts app completely failed to keep my 2021 iPhone podcasts synced with my 2021 MBP, even with the benefit of a paid iCloud account.
In comparison, PocketCasts successfully keeps my iPhone synced with my Android phone for free and with no iCloud.
So it’s literally easier and a better user experience to use PocketCasts on iPhone and AirPlay to MBP speakers than to play the podcasts using the native MBP app. That’s abysmal from Apple.
Or that people don't pay attention. Unless there is proof the prompt is sketchy/bad I'm going to go with the "people are dumb" reason.
The fact that neither MacRumors nor The Verge (whom they linked to) went through the very basic step of finding the prompt in question to see what it looks like demonstrates a big journalistic failure on the part of both. The quality on this site has been going down hill for awhile now (along with the quality of discourse in the forums), and this is just another example of that.
Wow, so smart of Apple. Way to improve an app without actually improving it. Magic! Reality distortion field next level.
Spotify works great as long as the podcasts you want are on there and you’re on premium to avoid ads. You also ensure creators get paid (even if it’s not always a substantial amount) that way as well.
I’m sure a lot of folks on here use Apple Music so Spotify Premium isn’t an economical option for them but no matter how many times I’ve tried to switch to Apple Music (to realize those sweet savings with the Apple One family bundles), the Spotify app and discovery features / algorithm always keep me coming back to them.
And many thousands of people all making the same mistake doesn’t make you think that maybe the prompt needs to be revised or clarified?
While putting in the in app tater helps rating. Apple placement of the rater is very shady and is a quick way to cheat and I would argue they need to wipe their rating and start over.
The other thing they most likely did was rest their rating with the update so all those old 1 star reviews are removed from the average. The reviews stay up but they are not average in.
The other thing they most likely did was rest their rating with the update so all those old 1 star reviews are removed from the average. The reviews stay up but they are not average in.
I replaced their **** app with Pocket Casts earlier this year and have no intention of going back.
I would love to give Apple Podcasts the 1 star review it deserves but I don't get the option so I assume its an iOS 15 only feature.
I would love to give Apple Podcasts the 1 star review it deserves but I don't get the option so I assume its an iOS 15 only feature.
For those who make the claims that people are "idiots" or "stupid" — I hope you are not doing anything related to customer relations or any sort of app development! Saying you are smart and others are stupid is itself enough to express your negative personality. There are no educational or minimum level IQ requirements when it comes to using Apple devices, so developers and UX/UI designers must do their best to provide an experience that is equally accessible and understandable for everyone. If that many people are getting misled, it either has been done on purpose or it is a poor-quality decision that needs rethinking.
Exactly. People don't seem to realise that if a supposedly good design consistently gets an unintended result, it's not a good design.
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In light of hearing of this unfortunate news, I made sure to rate the app, clearly listing only SOME of the myriad issues with the latest release.
I happily used the Apple podcasts app over the years until they forced that new abomination on us. I switched to Pocket Casts and it's a perfect basic podcast player that does the job right and the UI is not some bizarre concept. I truly don't care if they update it or fix it now. I'm done with it.
I must have a unique device/AppStore because the first App I see is Audible.
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