From November, users in the Google Play Store will see ratings and reviews from users who come from the same country. Starting early next year, users of tablets, Chromebooks and wearables will see ratings and reviews that apply to those specific devices.
Google says it wants to make the ratings and reviews shown in the Play Store more relevant. Now users get to see all kinds of reviews, from users worldwide and from users of different types of devices. According to Google, this is not fair, because a bug can cause problems locally, for example. If users give an app a low rating as a result, it affects the score worldwide. Also, positive changes in a tablet version of an app, for example, would go unnoticed in ratings, as the majority use apps on phones.
The changes should make displayed ratings and reviews indicative of the experience individual users can expect. From November, users on smartphones will see a rating for apps that is specific to the country in which they are registered. Sometime in early 2022, the ratings will be listed specifically by device. Apps may then have different ratings for devices such as tablets, Chromebooks and wearables.
Google also says it is making changes to the Play Console for developers to better understand user ratings by device. A Device Type filter has been added to the ratings page so developers can see what type of device users have used to leave their rating. Developers can also choose more specific periods for grouping ratings and an option has been added to export the data in CSV format.