App Reviews Exchange System

General (non-technical) Marketing and Monetization
#1

Hello there!

I recently stumbled upon a lot of threads of indie developers having trouble getting some reviews for their apps to start their journey to the top of the charts. I’m planing on releasing my first app soon, so that’s something that concerns me as well.

I noticed the thread about the facebook group where indie developers share their apps to get some reviews, but when I checked there were only 150 members which I think it’s too little for the truly potential of such a system. And here’s the idea that came into my mind:

I was thinking of developing a platform where you could post your apps and other developers will download and give a review. In exchange you’ll have to do the same for one of their apps.

If you submit an app for this program and someone gives a review and you don’t post one back, you’ll get a bad rating and in the long run developers will stop wasting time reviewing apps for developers that don’t post back. (Or they might even get their account disabled.) So that’s for answering the question “What guarantees do I have that I’ll get a review back?”.

So that’s the main idea. I have a lot of features in mind and solution on how to implement such a system, but I don’t want to make this post longer than it is already.

I would appreciate some feedback for this and also getting an idea on how many of you are interested in such a system. I’ll give more details of what I have in mind if there’s some interest in this.

Thanks. [import]uid: 70003 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 329186[/import]

#2

Personally I think this kind of system is a very good idea; unfortunately the “honor system” will not always work and this would also help people keep track. [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 117389[/import]

#3

Honor alone is not a good foundation for the good working of any system indeed.

I’ve researched Google Play and iOS app store reviews and came up with a solution to check if the review was really made or not, so cheaters will be banned. From this point of view it will be 100% safe.

I also have in mind releasing this for free applications first, because it will be easier for developers to check them out without any costs.

I was expecting more feedback on this since there are a lot of people complaining of a way to get some extra reviews. I just hope it’s because weekend and holiday, and not lack of interest regarding such a product :d [import]uid: 70003 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 117402[/import]

#4

It’s a pretty cool idea. The only downside I see to this is when the community becomes massive, if someone were to get 500-1000 reviews, I can imagine sitting there for a few days just downloading and reviewing other people’s applications. But since someone put so much work to create it and such, this would just be another process to help nourish their work, so in the end it’d be worth it I guess.

If you could add a limitation so that someone new can only get 20-50 reviews at first until they pay pack every single one of them in reviews, then once they’ve done that it goes up to 100 and their app is hidden again until he pays the others back in reviews again, and so on and so on. Possibly once you’ve been there for a long time and have proven yourself and are at a high rating or something, then this limitation would be ignored for you. Or instead of being limited at 50 at first it will just go up to 100 then 150 the higher the rating you have etc.

Best of luck [import]uid: 77199 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 117412[/import]

#5

@hatethinkingofnames Very good point.

You will start up with some credits. You can get more credits by making reviews. Then you can trade those credits for more reviews. By making an account doesn’t mean your app will be listed for unlimited reviews.

This credit system will ensure you can’t get more reviews than you can post back and avoid putting developers into the uncomfortable situation of making thousands of reviews back when they didn’t want to get so many.

I will definitely start this project in 2 weeks after holiday. Thanks for the feedback so far and I’m expecting more. [import]uid: 70003 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 117413[/import]

#6

I would be interested in participating, if you get this set up. [import]uid: 67839 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 117414[/import]

#7

I think this is a sensitive topic. Corona SDK is suited to all the kind of developers, from beginners to very expert ones. We cannot mix apples and oranges, my apps will never be in the same league of “The Lost City”, to declare one I admire a lot. I know I’m worth 2 / 5 stars and that’s my level.

That said, I would never enter one system of “kindly hearted” (easy) reviews support, because my aim -as a dev and as a consumer- is high quality. In fact I’m now aiming at putting out a 3 / 5 level game before my subscription expires (mid November).

Probably the best option is to have one folder in the forum where people can mutually and freely express their opinion about others’ work… say something like ‘showcase’ or ‘work in progress’ they have in the Unity community.

[import]uid: 67641 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 117415[/import]

#8

The way I’m thinking about this system will work very well with what you said.

If you trade your tokens to get reviews, then regardless of the rating or what the review says, the reviewer will get the token. He can use that token to get a review from someone else (it will be someone random), so he won’t feel the pressure of a bad review to his app out of revenge. This way he can write a useful feedback. (And won’t give a 5 rating star unless it deserves one.)

The user will have the option to skip writing a review for the app that he finds boring. So even with equal exposure of all applications, those in the league of “The Lost City” will definitely get more reviews as they deserve.

I think this way apples and oranges get the fair attention even if mixed and they are sorted naturally. Let me know what you think about this. [import]uid: 70003 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 117417[/import]

#9

My main source of work in this field comes from freelancing (I’m pretty good at combining / adapting pre-used tools and chunks of code). Putting out apps is more an exercise than the goal of my trade. That said, I’m bookmarking this thread and will follow your progress. Good luck. [import]uid: 67641 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 117499[/import]

#10

Thanks.

I’m on the train now and I’ll be away from the pc. I’ll start this project when I’ll get back in 2 weeks.

Farewell.

[import]uid: 70003 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 117570[/import]

#11

The facebook group for Corona devs has some of this already, but clearly not enough to really get things going. It’s an interesting concept and would be happy to participate. [import]uid: 10903 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 118971[/import]

#12

I was also thinking of a review trading system last night! The only concern for me regarding doing something like this is that only a few people will use this and the audience would probably just be similar to the FB group. [import]uid: 144908 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 120275[/import]

#13

I was also thinking of a review trading system last night! The only concern for me regarding doing something like this is that only a few people will use this and the audience would probably just be similar to the FB group. [import]uid: 144908 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 120275[/import]

#14

@beckslash, just out of interest - did you do anything about this idea? Sounds quite interesting. [import]uid: 212232 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 138174[/import]

#15

The facbook group has done a pretty good job of getting some reviews, but it needs to reach a critical mass. The more people that join and participate the better it will be.
[import]uid: 199310 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 138207[/import]

#16

@Rob Miracle - thank you. And are you talking about some particular Facebook Group or just a concept of facebook groups that have done a good job? [import]uid: 212232 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 138247[/import]

#17

@MrYeti - this is the group in question, currently at 200 users

http://www.facebook.com/groups/310088005728833/?bookmark_t=group [import]uid: 62706 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 138252[/import]

#18

@MrYeti

I started the following thread back in early 2012

http://developer.coronalabs.com/forum/2012/04/02/corona-indie-developers-united

because I was dismayed that even great app made with Corona were launching with no reviews whatsoever. And I that a shame. I know it still happens because people are not aware of the Facebook group. With 200k (I am sure all not yet subscribers) Corona developers we should have 1000’s of members. I guess we did not do a good enough job to promote the review group. Hopefully we will do better in 2013!

So yes, I have to agree with Rob that unfortunately we did not (yet) reach critical mass.

Mo
LairdGames [import]uid: 100814 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 138253[/import]

#19

Thanks a lot! Just sent the request. Kind regards, R. [import]uid: 212232 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 138255[/import]

#20

Think this is a great idea in concept - however as mentioned above, we need to make sure we’re not all giving each other 5 Stars.

If we can ensure the integrity of the group (constructive feedback, appropriate review scores, etc…) along with hitting a reasonable number of people then I can only see this as a good thing. [import]uid: 33275 topic_id: 29186 reply_id: 138262[/import]