Open Radar

 
Application developers need a way to contact users who left comments about their app in the Mac App Store.

Here is why:

- A user commented about a bug he ran into, but didn't leave enough information to reproduce this bug by the developer. The developer needs more information to replicate the issue and resolve it. In my experience most users are delighted, if the developer contacts them in order to get their personal issues fixed

Once the bug fixed, everyone wins. The user is happy, because the application is now working as expected by him, the developer is happy because there's one bug less to have nightmares about, and Apple is happy because an application with good reviews sells more. 

- No matter how hard you work on your app, on your documentation, or on your tutorials, there are always user, who just don't get it. Even if they are just a tiny minority, a infuriated comment by such a user can have a negative effect on developer income and morale.

Sometimes it's just a small piece of information, or introduction to a yet unknown concept, to get the user on track. I sure, most users would appreciate help. 


To preserve the users privacy, Apple could choose a mix of the following approaches:

- When a user is leaving a comment, display a check box for the user "The developer of this app may contact me about my comment."

- Let developers view and replay to comments left by users through a new section in iTunes Connect, without revealing the users real name or e-mail.

- Create temporary e-mail addresses for each comment left by user, like eBay is currently doing it for pre-purchase communication between buyers and sellers. Ideally, Apple could send an e-mail originating from such a temporary e-mail address every time a user leaves a comment with the "developer communication allowed" box checked. This way developers could respond easily to users, without having to log into iTunes Connect first.

Regards,
Ilja