Open Radar

 
Summary:
The new app store for iOS 6 only shows most helpful reviews for all versions instead of most helpful for current version.  "Most helpful" for all versions in both iOS 6 and iOS 5.1 show reviews over 2 years old at the top of the results.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Search for walkjogrun running in the app store (or click this link: http://itunes.apple.com/app/walkjogrun-running/id312197907?ign-mpt=uo%3D6&mt=8)
2. Tap to view the app details
3. Tap the reviews tab/button

Expected Results:
Based on iOS 5.1 and prior releases I'd expect to see most helpful results for the current version as a default but in lieu of sufficient reviews/ ratings I'd expect to see most helpful for all versions.

Even iOS 5.1 behavior however significantly penalizes apps with a rocky version history.  I'd like to propose a 3 tier fallback:
1. If current version has sufficient reviews/ratings use that.  If current version is over a year old, only show reviews from the last year unless there are not enough reviews/ratings in the last year.
2. Else if all versions have sufficient reviews in the last year, pull the most useful from the current year
3. Else pull the most useful from as far back as you need to have sufficient reviews to display something helpful to the user.

I also expected to see a toggle/button to switch between most useful, most favorable, most critical and most recent.  I also expected to see a toggle between ratings for current version and all versions.

Actual Results:
1. iOS6 iPhone app store reviews only shows most helpful reviews for all versions for apps.  In the example I provided #1 and 2 date back to 2010 - a major release and several point releases ago, despite over 182 ratings /reviews for the current version of the app and probably 100 in 2012 alone. Examples:
#1 "Like what" review - December 19, 2010
#2 "Not so impressed" - Jan 23, 2010

2. No way to toggle current version vs prior version or most helpful vs most recent

Notes:
The new approach appears to penalize apps that have had a "bad release", making it hard for developers' updates to move past the issues they've already fixed if they come back to haunt them. In my case, early versions of our app clearly explained that the app didn't include a GPS tracker feature but people still bought it regardless and then gave us terrible ratings because it didn't meet the expectations they had for the app (even though we actively said it didn't do that!).  We have since added a tracker and gained some great reviews but with the current iOS app store page, as soon as I update the app with bug fixes or new features, our star average defaults back to the average for all versions which includes these early issues.  

At least with the current iOS app store users would be able to select most recent reviews but the new iOS app store makes this impossible.  I'd also like to propose that the star ratings should also cut off at a year old too unless there was insufficient rating data because that's the most visible element that guides a purchaser to buy an app and, at this point, it's almost a better idea for me to kill the current app ID and republish under a new app ID with no history to garner a better history.  I'm sure that's not what Apple is hoping for but that seems to be the only workaround for this type of issue.