We noticed this last night and we thought it might be a temporary glitch, but 14 hours later reviews and ratings are still nowhere to be found in the App Store.
If you try to open an App Store app page, in fact, you’ll notice that ratings and user reviews have simply disappeared. The “Customers also bought” section is in there, and reviews are accessible through Apple’s web view for iTunes pages, but you can’t find them in the App Store.
We don’t think Apple “removed” reviews, as you can still read them from the browser and you can manage them in your Account section. Still, it’s interesting that 14 hours after we noticed the issue Apple still hasn’t fixed it. Many users on Twitter were disappointed by the lack of ratings, as they’ve become a fundamental way for customers to check on other people’s opinions about an app. (and we can argue on the reliability of certain reviews, but we’ll pass for this time)
Ratings and reviews will likely show up again in the next hours. Earlier this week we heard a rumor about Apple willing to “lock down” the App Store for developers during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
We also heard iTunes Connect went down for maintenance last night.
