If you think you can trust App Store ratings, you haven’t been paying enough attention.

This is the iOS *system* rating prompt, not a custom look-alike one.

The worst part? This trick is EXTREMELY easy for any developer to do, and not limited to this app.

???

— Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) May 25, 2021

The review: “This app forced me to give it a good rating before I could use it.”

You: “Pfff, no one’s FORCING you!”

The app: ? pic.twitter.com/R6ytFAguhU

— Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) May 25, 2021

I don’t even know why this API exists in the first place. It’s user hostile even when used “correctly”: I *hate* getting this stupid pop-up when I’m using an app. Not to mention that reviews, generally speaking, are the laziest way to “outsource” curation in a store. https://t.co/CMe8FZyJkQ

— Francisco Tolmasky (@tolmasky) May 26, 2021

“Apps like the ones discovered by Eleftheriou not only harm customers”.

“It also harms legitimate developers who have to contend with apps that are willing to play dirty”

?https://t.co/l73pXdzKkO

— Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) May 26, 2021

“Apple users love to remind everyone, Apple has far stricter guidelines for app approval than Google does.”

“Well, Apple fans, this one’s for you, because it’s an iOS app and it even uses the built-in iOS review prompt to do its dastardly deed.”

?https://t.co/qRwuoU1baQ

— Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) May 26, 2021