A new discovery on how to increase reviews super fast by some partners working on the App Store

Shopify Apps

Topic summary

App developers are using a sophisticated tactic to rapidly accumulate App Store reviews. When users first install an app, features are intentionally limited or locked. Developers then offer to unlock full functionality or provide extended free trials in exchange for leaving a review.

Key findings:

  • Some apps receive nearly 10 new reviews daily using this method
  • Data shows many reviews are left within minutes of installation, which is unusual for complex applications
  • Examples cited include UpPromote and an affiliate app by Secomapp
  • Analysis reveals approximately half of all reviews for certain apps were written within the first hour of use

Community response:

  • One developer launched AppNavigator.io, a free tool that tracks historical app data and shows how long users actually used an app before reviewing
  • Participants express concern that this practice is unfair, as these apps continue to grow strongly through review manipulation
  • The discussion aims to help Shopify identify and filter fake reviews

Status: The issue remains unresolved, with affected apps still actively using these tactics.

Summarized with AI on November 16. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
2

Good find! We’ve noticed the same things with some other apps.

It’s part of the reason we’ve launched a free website name AppNavigator that shows historical data for apps on the App Store as well as a breakdown of how long users have used the app before leaving a review:

Screenshot 2023-06-23 at 11.18.17 AM.png
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As you can see above, almost half of all reviews were left in the first hour of the app. I tried the app myself because I was curious and sure enough, features were locked until I started a live chat session where the asked for a review.