Podcasts app buried as Apple opens up reviews for its own apps

News
By Stephen Warwick
published

App Store on iPhone
App Store on iPhone (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • You can now leave reviews on Apple's own apps.
  • The company has introduced reviews for apps on iPhone like Weather, Podcasts, Stocks, and Apple Music.
  • People are already letting Apple know what they think.

With the release of iOS 15, Apple appears to have added a review feature to its stock apps for devices like the iPhone 13, letting people leave comments and ratings for things like Podcasts, Apple Music, and Weather.

Reported by 9to5Mac:

For the longest time, the App Store did not allow users to rate or review Apple's built-in iPhone and iPad apps, like Mail, Music, News, Stocks and Calculator. However, seemingly since the release of iOS 15 earlier this month, Apple has now lifted that restriction. It is now open season for App Store feedback on Apple's stock apps.

It means customers can now leave reviews for apps that come pre-installed on your iPhone, such as the Stocks app, Weather, Podcasts, Voice Memos, and more.

As you might expect, Apple's notorious Podcasts app is getting buried by users, with 156 ratings in just over a week and an overall score of just 2 out of 5. One user wrote:

How is it that Apple's podcast app (podcast being a medium named after an Apple product) gets worse every year? For the past few years, the changes have been stupid tweaks that made usability worse but they've really done it this year. Podcast simply won't load half of the time now. I finally broke down and downloaded a new app. Embarrassing Apple.

There was higher praise on offer for some of its more popular apps, like Apple Maps and Apple Music, which has a much more flattering 3.6 out of 5 ratings.

Stephen Warwick
Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design.

Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9