News

Android Devs Get Better Handle on App Reviews

• By David Ramel
• August 15, 2016

Google has increased the functionality of its Google Play Developer Console app to give Android developers a better handle on user reviews of their creations and to work with the results of experiments such as A/B tests.

The console itself now comes in the form of an app, only distributed a few months ago on the Google Play store.

That app now helps Android devs track user reviews better, according to a post last week on the Android Developers Blog.

"With over 1 million apps published through the Google Play Developer Console, we know how important it is to publish with confidence, acquire users, learn about them, and manage your business," said the post, authored by Kobi Glick. "Whether reacting to a critical performance issue or responding to a negative review, checking on your apps when and where you need to is invaluable."

The new features rolled out last week allow developers to:

• Receive notifications about new reviews.
• Use filters to find the reviews of interest.
• Review and apply store listing experiment results.
• Increase the percent of a staged rollout or halt a bad staged rollout.

Glick said yet another app, the Playbook for Developers introduced in June, can help Android developers "develop and launch your app, engage and grow your audience, and earn more revenue on Google Play."

The new review/experiments functionality and guidance reflects Google's ongoing push to help out developers with resources that go beyond the nuts and bolts of programming in order to maximize the effectiveness and monetary benefits of their Android apps.