The (true) hidden ratings on app stores

So, you've got an app or a game. People download it, use it, and then...they get to put a number on it. The rating, that little star display that can make or break your week.

To an average user, the system is pretty simple. You see an app, you see a rating. If it’s a good rating, you give it a try. To an app developer, however, the picture has more details—hidden ratings, stuff only they can see. With ratings, what Google Play or the App Store tells the users, and what they tell the devs—is different.

Normally, one would say: “What’s so important about it? A rating is a rating.”. At AppFollow, we disagree with this notion—all data is there to be useful. What Google Play Console data has might be quite useful in determining the health of your app. And here comes the problem—how do you make sense of it? Well, this article is here to help you do just that.

With this lengthy introduction done, let’s get into the juicy details of it all!

#Why are ratings (and hidden ratings) important in the first place?

App store ratings are a different beast than some user feedback platforms. We're not talking nuanced surveys or detailed written reviews (though those exist too, buried somewhere). It’s a 1-5, which rounds up at the first decimal. As we have learned, apps that cross the threshold of 3.9 into 4.0 join the high-earners club—80% of market revenue belongs to apps with 4+ rated apps.

To many app owners and managers, the star rating has become one of the north-star metrics—the ultimate KPI. Some companies even tie bonuses to the rating. It’s unsurprising, as even a small increase in app rating might turn into considerable business growth.

Every time someone rates your app, that rating gets thrown into a big pot. Then, they divide the total number of stars by the number of ratings. Boom. Average rating. That’s what your users see. They don’t ask themselves if it’s lifetime rating, or last month, or anything in between.

In AppFollow, we track two types of average ratings: incremental and total (as displayed when you peruse the app stores). If your app or game has been out there in the wild for more than 5 years, you’d want to focus on incremental changes—to see the dynamics on the spot. If your app is younger and still on its way to the big leagues, a displayed rating is enough to get by.

Your app rating isn't the same everywhere. See, the people over at Apple decided that your app in the US might be different than your app in, say, Japan. So, ratings are specific to each country's App Store. There's no single, universal "world average" rating staring you in the face on the App Store itself. Think about that for a second. Your app might be crushing it in Canada but tanking in Germany, and there's no single number to reflect that combined performance on the App Store's front end. It’s the same story with Google Play. Speaking of…

#Google Play app ratings system

Found here. In general, there are public ratings and private ratings. Public ratings are for all to see, and private ratings are just the ones you as a developer can see.

Let’s start with the public rating.

Your app's rating on the Google Play Store is the first thing users see. Now, how does Google come up with this all-important number? It's not as simple as taking the average of all your ratings.

Old ratings don't matter as much as new ones. So if your app was a mess two years ago but you've since cleaned up your act, those old one-star reviews won't haunt you forever.

You need to rack up a certain number of ratings before Google will even show your rating publicly. They don't say exactly how many, but it's around 500. This keeps a couple of dissenters from tanking your app's reputation right out of the gate.

Example: Google Play rating overview with Peers comparison

Google also cares more about what people have said about your app in the last few weeks or months. If a recent update is causing your app to crash left and right, expect your rating to plummet. But if you fix those bugs and users start singing your praises again, your rating will bounce back.

Google's true formula for calculating your app's rating is a secret.

How does the global rating work on Google Play?

Your app's rating isn't some universal gold star that applies everywhere. It's country-specific, and here's why:

• Users in different parts of the world have their own standards. What flies in one place might get you laughed out of the room in another.
• Cultural stuff matters too. People's backgrounds shape how they see and rate your app.
• If your app's localization is bad, expect users to slam it with bad ratings. No one wants to decipher poorly translated nonsense.
• The types of devices people use in each country also make a difference. If your app runs poorly on the most popular phones in a region, your ratings will reflect that.

Basically, a one-size-fits-all global rating would be less than ideal. It wouldn't tell users anything about how the app actually works for them, in their neck of the woods.

Now, which countries have ratings? Pretty much all of them. If the Google Play Store is available somewhere, you can bet they've got a rating system. Some isolated countries share the ratings with larger regions, but it’s just a handful.

FYI: you can learn the global rating of your app through AppFollow, alongside a more granular view of ratings & reviews by day, week, month, and total!

Another FYI: where it’s not possible to see a local rating for any reason, a private rating is shown—calculated based on your most recent rating across countries. So, there is a global rating but it’s only used in an emergency!

Lifetime rating

The lifetime rating is just the average of every single rating your app has ever gotten since day one on the Play Store. That's it. A 1-star from when your app first launched counts just as much as a 5-star from five minutes ago. Every rating is equal in the eyes of the lifetime rating.

The thing is, this rating is for your eyes only. Users will never see it on your app's page. It's just a little something for you, the almighty developer, to track how your app has performed over time.

Performance graph in Google Play Console, which can be customized by date and compared to your Peer apps

So, why even have this lifetime rating? It's all about perspective. The public rating shows what people think of your app right now. The lifetime rating is the big picture.

If there's a big difference between your lifetime and public ratings, pay attention. It could mean your app has either gone bad or gotten its act together over time. Either way, it's something you need to know.

#Average Rating (as the developer can see)

The Google Play Console has got way more detail than the public or lifetime ratings. In the console, it's called the "Average rating (as developer)."

• You get a detailed breakdown. You can see exactly how many 1-star, 2-star, 3-star, 4-star, and 5-star ratings your app has racked up.
• You can filter by time. Want to know how your ratings have been in the last week? Last month? Last quarter? Since the beginning of time? You got it. This is clutch for seeing how your recent updates have landed with users.
• You can filter by app version. This is huge. If a specific version of your app is getting bombed with bad ratings, you'll know it.
• You can filter by device. Are phone users loving your app but tablet users hating it? The console will tell you. This is how you spot performance or compatibility issues on specific devices.
• You can filter by country. Get granular with your ratings analysis. See how you're performing in specific regions. Uncover those pesky localization problems.
• You can see your total rating count. Okay, this isn't groundbreaking, but it helps you understand how many ratings you're actually dealing with.

So, why does all this matter? It's simple:

• Keep a pulse on user sentiment over time and after updates.
• Zero in on the versions, devices, or regions that are giving your users grief.
• Focus on the issues that are tanking your ratings first.
• See if your new features are a hit or a miss with users.

The Google Play Console ratings system is layered. The public rating shows current user sentiment, the lifetime rating gives you the historical view, and the console's detailed average rating is where you go to get into the weeds and make your app better.

#Apple App Store Connect ratings system

Now, let’s talk about the Apple App Store's rating system. It's got some things in common with Google Play, but also some big differences—obviously.

Apple keeps it simple. They just take the average of all the ratings for the current version of your app. When you drop a new version of your app, your public rating starts from scratch. It's the average of just the ratings for that specific version.

The App Store's system doesn't care about time the same way Google Play does. But it still puts the spotlight on what's new, because each update is a fresh start. If your latest version is buggy, your rating will tank.

Just like Google Play, the App Store won't show a public rating until you've got enough ratings for that version. Apple's not telling how many you need, but it's there to keep a handful of early ratings from skewing the whole picture.

The things hidden away

Alright, see what Apple gives developers in their App Store Connect platform.

• Average rating per version. Want to know how each version of your app stacked up? See the average rating for every single version you've released. Great for pinpointing which updates killed it and which ones didn’t..
• Number of ratings per version. See how many ratings each version racked up. Helps you know if you're dealing with a solid sample size or just a handful of opinions.
• Ratings over time. Apple's got charts and graphs showing how your ratings have been trending. Usually, you can slice and dice this by different time chunks (last 30 days, last year, since the dawn of time). It's still mostly tied to versions, but it gives you the big picture.
• Filter by region. Just like Google Play Console, you can usually break down your rating data by country or region. This is how you spot if your translations are bad or if certain places are having performance issues.
• Customer reviews. The juicy stuff. Read all the love letters (or hate mail) your users have poured their hearts into. This is the good stuff for figuring out why your ratings are what they are. Filter them by version, rating, and region.

No lifetime public rating

Unlike Google Play's lifetime rating that's out there for all to see, the App Store doesn't have a single, public average of all ratings across all versions. The whole version reset thing nips that in the bud. But there is something else!

In App Store Connect, you can peep an aggregate average rating that factors in all ratings from all versions. Kind of like Google Play's lifetime rating.

The App Store's developer analytics are all about the versions. It's in lockstep with the public rating system. Google Play gives you easier access to the big picture alongside the recent stuff. Google Play lets developers filter by time, but the App Store's analytics are all about them version drops. You can see trends over time, but versions are the main event.

How does the global rating work on the App Store?

The App Store keeps it regional, just like Google Play. Why? Same reasons:

Users in different parts of the world have their own expectations and quirks. Also, if your translations are bad, your ratings in that region will be too. Regional hiccups happen. Maybe your servers are slow in certain countries, or some features don't work right. So, a user in the US might see a different rating than a user in Japan, based on how the locals are vibing with the current version.

#Comparison to Google Play

The big difference? The version-based reset. Google Play factors in all ratings but gives more love to recent ones. The App Store only cares about the current version. This means:

• Clean slates. Got a new version? Congrats, you get to start over in the App Store. Old version was bad? No one has to know (publicly).
• But also, no history. Users only see how the latest version is landing. They don't get the full story on your app's track record.

So there you have it. Similar to Google Play in some ways, but with its own twists. The name of the game is still the same though: keep those ratings up, or watch your downloads go down the drain.

To sum it up:

Feature	Google Play	App Store
Public rating calculation	Time-weighted average of all ratings	Simple average of ratings for the current version
Public rating reset	No	Yes, on each new version release (by request)
"Lifetime" public rating	Yes, publicly displayed	No direct equivalent publicly displayed
Developer "Lifetime" view	Simple average of all ratings	Aggregate average across all versions (less prominent)
Developer analytics focus	Overall trends, time-based filtering	Version-specific performance analysis

And there you have it! We hope it clears some things up.

#Afterword

As a short recap, the systems behind app rating calculation for both stores are quite complex. The general idea is to provide users with a recent rating score more relevant to their own local experience.

How to keep up good ratings, you ask? Simple—invite users to leave reviews, respond to them fast, and most importantly, listen to them!

#FAQ

What is the difference between public and private app ratings on Google Play?

Public ratings on Google Play are visible to users and are a time-weighted average, favoring more recent ratings. Private ratings, only visible to developers, include the lifetime average rating and detailed breakdowns by app version, device, country, and rating distribution.

How does the Apple App Store calculate an app's public rating?

The Apple App Store calculates an app's public rating by taking a simple average of all ratings for the current version of the app. When a new version is released, the public rating starts fresh, only including ratings for that specific version.

Why are app ratings country-specific on both Google Play and the App Store?

App ratings are country-specific on both app stores because user expectations, cultural norms, device popularity, and app performance can vary significantly between regions. Localized ratings provide users with a more relevant assessment of an app's quality and performance in their specific geographic area.

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