Guides to app and game reviews
Methods for reading reviews of your app or anyone else's, with the store rules they depend on and numbers that load from live public reports. Every figure on these pages was counted by code, and every store rule links to Apple, Google or Valve.
Apps on the App Store and Google Play
How to analyze App Store and Google Play reviews
Six steps, a spreadsheet version and a worked example on a live report.
App Store analytics: what Apple and Google show you, and what they leave out
What App Store Connect and Play Console measure, why they say not enough data, and where reviews fit.
Why did my app rating drop? A triage checklist
Five checks in order, the store rules for asking for ratings, and live rating drops.
How to analyze competitor app reviews
Five steps, weak spots against category gaps, and a worked example on three note apps.
How to reply to negative app reviews: a template for each complaint
A template per complaint under Google's 350 character cap, the store rules, and live reply rates.
Games on Steam
Steam review score explained: what each label needs
The bands behind each label, which reviews count, language scores, and what live games need to move.
How to tell a Steam review bomb from a real problem
Three tells, the rule OneStar uses, and seven games with Steam's own counts.
What a patch did to your Steam reviews
Steam reviews carry no version, so a patch is read through the weeks before and after it.
Run it on your own app
The app review analyzer and the Steam review analyzer do the counting these guides describe. The method page shows how each answer is checked.