[LumiaWorld]

No WP7 version. BOOM! 1 star for you! Doesn't work. BOOM! 1 star for you! I need to pay in order to use it. BOOM! 1 star for you! Not available on my phone. BOOM! 1 star! Seriously?! 😠😠😠

[WanderingTraveler]

My friend, that's why there are people (mostly devs) advocating for a Windows 8-style recommendation system.

Well, at least they're not the reviews that say "nice" and don't say why at all. Those are horrible for us going by reviews.

[Noahma]

You have to like the ones that state that its a GREAT app, but they only give it 1 star.

[WasteSomeTime]

You have to like the ones that state that its a GREAT app, but they only give it 1 star.

What?

[Noahma]

What?

let me restate. They give a 1 star rating, but under the comments they say something like "great app" etc.

[Guytronic]

You have to like the ones that state that its a GREAT app, but they only give it 1 star.

I see this all the time...weird thing to do.
Probably because folks don't or forget to tap on the stars to rate up or down.

[CollingwoodFc]

Spot on.
Downloaded a paid app the other day and the reviews state 3 stars. In fact its pretty awesome. 5 stars to developer.

[Cryio]

I think everybody hates that kind of people. WP isn't the only OS that has them.

[brunoadduarte]

As far as the paid apps go, that mainly applies to the spoiled Android refugees. They're used to having free ad infested apps and having to pay for them may come as a shock.

[DennisvdG]

As far as the paid apps go, that mainly applies to the spoiled Android refugees. They're used to having free ad infested apps and having to pay for them may come as a shock.

this.

[Jessica Lares]

This is why I only read reviews posted on sites like WPCentral. They are most likely paid, but at least they are very in-depth about the app or game in question. There seems to be this huge war going on about them with all the big Apple journalists. I just don't think we can convince casual consumers to leave good reviews when most of them don't even like to type full words.

Every store has issues with them. On the Amazon Appstore, you get the same, "make it free" attitude. It is the price you pay by allowing free trials, and probably why a lot of developers don't have the option.

I think the real problem with Android is that they have a hard time with the fragmentation. And with some phones, a MAJORITY of the apps don't work. So after getting screwed out of $5, you're just not going to bother buying another app. So the free tier is to help figure out which devices are being used, so updates can be made to support them, and to ease people into actually trying a game or app because it's free.

Kinectimals didn't work on the stock firmware on my S2 Skyrocket, but it worked under CyanogenMod for example.

[hs k]

Those 1-Star Reviews don't even point the problems the users face so that the devs can promptly correct them, as the OP said **** ain't free, slap a 1Star on it.

[badplanet]

I really do sympithize with original poster. I am kind of new to WP8 app development. I released the first app for the Pebble watch that ran on WP and I made the first one completely free with no adds that could control the phone's music player from the watch. I followed up with aa "pro" version that added calendar, Twitter, battery and network notifications to the Pebble watch for 1.99. I am working on more updates for it.

I was shocked with the number of 1 and 2 star ratings I received for the app. I had put 9 months of every free minute I had into the 2 apps. Since the manufacturer of the watch only supported iOS and Android, my app was the only way you could use the watch with WP8. These were people who paid $150 for the watch but we're furious that my "pro" app costs $1.99.

I like to consider ratings on the full scale. An app that worked as advertised would get at least 3 stars from me. If it was a must have app then definitely 5 stars. The only way I would ever give 1 star would be if the app was truly fraudulent.

You know I even use the same kind of scale for movies on Netflix. The vast majority of movies I would never watch again would get 3 stars. When I watch an indie film, I go in with lower expectations realizing that the film had a very low budget and rank it in those terms. So most indie films get 3 stars. I don't compare the 1 or 2 million dollar indie film on the same scale as a 200 or 300 million dollar block buster.

Just my thoughts.....

[Citizen X]

I have to agree. If you leave one star you better give a pretty damn good explanation for such an extreme rating... and no "had to pay $1.99" isn't a reason to leave a one star rating. Even if I don't care about developers a one star rating just because you have to pay is a meaningless rating for the rest of us. I mean if I had to pay $1.99 for Nokia Drive/Here I would pay. Frankly it is such useful and excellent app I am indifferent between free and $1.99. I mean if you really use an app on a frequent basis and would rate it 4 or 5 if it were free how can it's rating drop to 1 star just because you are asked to pay a fraction of the price of single latte?

You have to like the ones that state that its a GREAT app, but they only give it 1 star.

I think those are people who aren't thinking when they click. You know like if something is the best it is number 1. Second place is number two etcetera.

[snowmutt]

I really do sympithize with original poster. I am kind of new to WP8 app development. I released the first app for the Pebble watch that ran on WP and I made the first one completely free with no adds that could control the phone's music player from the watch. I followed up with aa "pro" version that added calendar, Twitter, battery and network notifications to the Pebble watch for 1.99. I am working on more updates for it.

I was shocked with the number of 1 and 2 star ratings I received for the app. I had put 9 months of every free minute I had into the 2 apps. Since the manufacturer of the watch only supported iOS and Android, my app was the only way you could use the watch with WP8. These were people who paid $150 for the watch but we're furious that my "pro" app costs $1.99.

I like to consider ratings on the full scale. An app that worked as advertised would get at least 3 stars from me. If it was a must have app then definitely 5 stars. The only way I would ever give 1 star would be if the app was truly fraudulent.

You know I even use the same kind of scale for movies on Netflix. The vast majority of movies I would never watch again would get 3 stars. When I watch an indie film, I go in with lower expectations realizing that the film had a very low budget and rank it in those terms. So most indie films get 3 stars. I don't compare the 1 or 2 million dollar indie film on the same scale as a 200 or 300 million dollar block buster.

Just my thoughts.....

Good thoughts, and thank you for developing for WP.

[HeyCori]

[WARN]Let's not turn this into another Android vs Windows Phone war, please. Thanks.[/WARN]

[Zeem Frostmaw]

Doesn't work. BOOM! 1 star for you!

That's pretty fair grounds for a 1-star review tbh, especially if you paid for it. =/

[AUCLABruin]

I wonder why is it possible to rate if you did not buy the ad? I understand there will be 1 star reviews for not being WP7 compatible, not being updated as constant to the app on other platforms, etc but if you did not buy an app, why did Microsoft allow people to complain about the price. While it may be too late, limiting reviews to those who buy the app will help bring true ratings out for apps.

[Nabkawe5]

No WP7 version. BOOM! 1 star for you! Doesn't work. BOOM! 1 star for you! I need to pay in order to use it. BOOM! 1 star for you! Not available on my phone. BOOM! 1 star! Seriously?! ������

I think whats worst is that those reviews are local to each country so people wouldn't know if an app is great or not based on the different rating (some huge apps have no reviews at my store!)

[o0Nighthawk0o]

I agree but I tend to skip over the one star reviews because they are mostly from other OS fans that are just trolling. It's the two or more star reviews I look at because they tend to be a bit more honest. I also find it funny that people have no problem paying $60+ for video games or software but cry about a $2 app. There are ways to still get paid apps for free such as the Bing Rewards program. Earn points, redeem for gift card and use that to pay for the app. I have a few paid apps and not a penny from my pocket for them.

[th0mas96]

depends on the reason.. but people too silly to read the description of the app.. especially for photo apps this sucks, just look for reviews like "doesn't wok an ativ s". Samsung doesn't support the drivers, the debs write that at the beginning of the description, and still they get 1 star reviews. debs should have an option to reply to reviews.. the review system on amazon is pretty good.

[badplanet]

That's pretty fair grounds for a 1-star review tbh, especially if you paid for it. =/

The last review I got for my program Pebble Watch Lite was a 1 star with the comment "doesn't work on HTC 8x" which I know is wrong because one of my 2 development phones is an HTC 8x. I guess the user does not know how to set up Bluetooth which is the only reason I can think it would not work. If the user would click through to my website (which has instructions for Bluetooth problems) or email me on the website I would be glad to help.

[tgp]

Great post! I do think part of the problem with paid apps getting 1 star reviews is that users are used to getting free apps on Android and iPhone. For example, the equivalent of your Pebble Pro is a 1st party free app on iOS & Android. The reviewers say "Why do I have to pay for the same thing on WP? The WP app sucks!" They probably don't even realize that it's 3rd party. Not that there's anything you or Microsoft can do about it; that's the way it is. Only Pebble can change that, and a zillion other businesses that are leaving WP app development up to independent developers.