App Store update gives support reps the ability to respond to user reviews

By Adam Ismail Published July 18, 2017

In the past, if you raised an issue in a review for an iOS or MacOS app, the developer had no way to respond to you directly within the App Store. The release of iOS 10.3 earlier in the year fixed this to some degree, allowing developers to personally respond to public reviews.

However, it was still an incomplete solution because larger businesses were unable to give its customer support representatives the same access. The very individuals whose responsibility it is to communicate with users did not have that channel open to them and, in many cases, the reviews and feedback suffered.

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Thankfully, Apple is doing away with that limitation. This week, the company introduced a new Customer Support role. The position can be manually assigned to employees via iTunes Connect, though some iTunes Connect users will automatically receive Customer Support capabilities with the update. If you are already an App Manager or Marketer, the ability to respond to reviews will be immediately extended to you.

Unlike other big changes coming to the App Store, the addition of responses from non-developers is arriving early, rather than with the public release of iOS 11 scheduled for the fall. That update is slated to usher in a massive redesign for the digital marketplace, with a new “Today” tab serving as the home page, as well as a specialized tab for games.

Apple hopes to highlight new experiences every day with the App Stor and make it a regular destination for users who otherwise only visit when they need or hear about a specific app. The app listing pages have been reimagined as well, and the whole experience looks to refresh a core part of iOS that has remained largely untouched since it debuted nearly 10 years ago.

Many users have already taken a crack at the iOS 11 public beta and had the chance to play around with the new App Store. If you haven’t, check out our guide to learn the ins and outs of navigating it. Otherwise, if you are itching to install the beta but have not done so yet, we have a guide that makes the process simple.

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