Apple allowing developers to respond to user reviews in App Stores with iOS 10.3, more improvements coming

Apple declares in the release notes for the iOS 10.3 beta released on Tuesday that developers will "be able to respond to customer reviews on the App Store in a way that is available for all customers to see." The feature will be added to the Mac App Store as well in the future, according to Apple, but the specific timing on the addition is not known.

"This was way up there in what our developers were looking for, " AppleInsider's sources within Apple said. "We've got more wanted features coming this year, stay tuned!"

Also added to Tuesday's iOS and Xcode beta releases is an API where developers can ask for a review, but the iPhone system software determines if the timing is suitable for the request.

In recent months, Apple has listened to developers more than it has in the past, with one response to complaints being a clean-up of the app store. The effort began in September, with 47,300 broken and outdated App Store titles removed in October alone.