The Apple Podcasts app's review score went from 1.8 to 4.6 stars as Apple began prompting users to rate the app, confusing some into rating individual podcasts
Apple Podcasts rises above bad reviews, but at what cost? — You pissed off people by somewhat breaking your app, and they're leaving angry reviews.
The VergeSean Hollister
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple's Podcasts app has a fraught review history: a 2019 Wall Street Journal analysis found Apple's own apps ranked first in most App Store test searches while Podcasts sat at 1.7 stars before its reviews were quietly removed. Around the same time, coordinated review-bombing campaigns were hitting individual shows with thousands of one-star reviews that hosts had no recourse against.
The fix Apple chose in November 2021 was in-app rating prompts, which pushed the app from 1.8 to 4.6 stars — but the prompts also confused some users into leaving app-style reviews on individual podcasts. Weeks later, Spotify answered with its own listen-gated five-star ratings system for shows, a design that requires listening before rating.
First-order effects
Individual podcasters now absorb misdirected app reviews on their show pages, adding noise to the same rating surfaces where they previously had no defense against review-bombing.
Second-order effects
Spotify's decision to gate ratings behind actual listening is a direct competitive contrast to Apple's prompt-driven approach, positioning verified listens as the credibility answer to inflated or confused scores.
Third-order effects
If prompt-driven scores become the norm, app-store ratings stop measuring user sentiment and start measuring prompt placement — pushing platforms toward engagement-verified ratings and giving gatekeepers even more control over how quality is signaled on their own turf.
The trend: Podcast platforms are rebuilding ratings systems around engagement gating and platform-controlled prompts rather than open reviews, because unmoderated scores proved too easy to game.
How did “Apple Podcasts” suddenly go from 1.8 to 4.6 stars? Is Apple manipulating their own app ratings now? https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
“But with Apple Podcasts, the company is using the same broken star score system that uplifts scammers for its own benefit as well. And it's a crystal clear example of why you can't trust star scores” 🎯 https://twitter.com/...
Oh this is a shocking thread. tl:dr - Apple Podcasts implemented a rating request when you finish a podcast, so people believe they're rating their fave podcast rather than the podcast app. Customer service announcement - there are great podcast apps out there! (I like Overcast).…
This is funny. Podcast connoisseurs downrated the Apple Podcasts app. Apple retaliated by inserting app review prompts in between podcasts. So people thought they were reviewing the podcasts and not the app and bulk voted 5*. Result - Apple Podcasts back to a respectable score ht…
App stores are, for the most part, terrible search engines. They don't get you to what you want, they take you to a bazzar of hagglers, each of whom maintain opaque inventories of potentially dangerous goods. Fun times. https://twitter.com/...
How did Apple Podcasts just manage to ditch its embarrassing 1.8-star rating to reach a 4.7? Apple tells The Verge it rolled out a prompt... and it appears some users think they're actually reviewing the podcasts, not the app! https://www.theverge.com/...
It's true, apples podcast app became unusable. Familiar story, Google reader dominated rss readers but Google never cared about it. Big tech companies are poison to open platforms. https://twitter.com/...