With the public beta launch of the iOS 18.4 software update, Apple officially introduced an AI-powered summary feature for App Store reviews. This new feature leverages Apple's proprietary AI technology, "Apple Intelligence," to analyze user reviews and generate a concise overall summary, helping users quickly understand app ratings.
According to Apple's website, these review summaries are generated by large language models (LLMs), extracting key information from user feedback and synthesizing it into a single paragraph. To maintain timeliness, summaries will be updated weekly, though Apple hasn't disclosed the minimum number of reviews required for an update.
Users can long-press on a review to report issues with the feature, while developers can provide feedback to Apple through App Store Connect. Initially, this AI summary feature will be available in English in the US, with a subsequent rollout to other markets and languages globally, provided the app has a sufficient number of reviews. The feature will also be available in iPadOS 18.4.
While this new feature aims to improve user experience, it may also raise concerns. Some unscrupulous developers might manipulate ratings and review sections through fake reviews, using bots or paid reviewers to post positive feedback. This is a common occurrence in the app industry and on any website featuring customer reviews, and the introduction of AI summaries might make consumers even more reliant on this simplified information, neglecting the importance of reading all reviews carefully.
Furthermore, this new feature tests Apple's AI's ability to distill and interpret negative reviews, accurately reflecting user concerns in the summary. This will help consumers better understand potential issues when choosing an app.
It's worth noting that Apple isn't the only tech giant employing AI to analyze reviews. Amazon introduced AI-powered summaries for product reviews on its platform as early as 2023, while Google's Gemini AI can also generate product review summaries, a feature also added to Google Maps last year.
Currently, this AI summary feature is available to beta testers in the latest beta versions (iOS 18.4 beta 2 and iPadOS 18.4 beta 2), with an expected public release in April.