I haven't gone to all the review sites yet but so far I haven't seen many that were truly worthwhile.
1. 80% seem to review only games
2. Even the others seem to fill up almost all of their reviews with games.
3. Most review a lot of free apps and fill up their site with these reviews.
4. Many sites have 'full reviews' that are a couple of sentences about the app. ('Sorta cool." "Not bad" ) (i.e. the reviews on the App store are actually better than some of these 'review' sites)
5. many sites seem to give all the apps the same ratings or close to it. (4 stars)
6. One site did a video review of my app. It was probably the second time he had even started it. Most of what he showed couldn't be seen on video since he had the settings wrong and he didn't even touch any of the real features. He gave it a good score but if someone based their thoughts on his video I'd be in trouble.
When I contacted him he said he was trying to keep up with 200-300 apps a day and that's as much time and effort he could put in to a review.
This sums up the probem with many review sites - they're targeting quantity, not quality.
If a movie critic approached his job like an App Store critic he'd have this on a daily update: (And would be reviewing all media, including free TV programs)
DarkKnight - Dark
Tropic Thunder - Funny
Days of Our Lives - Joe loves Jill
Rerun of Happy Days - Cool one with Fonzie
National Geographic special - I love monkeys
The Women - I saw the first 5 minutes and it seemed ok.
Here's a hint to app reviewers that might make your site stand out:
Actually review the app. Try to spend more than 2 minutes with it.
Spend your time reviewing apps that cost money. There are 3 dozen other sites reviewing free apps. Users can download free apps and try them out. I'd rather know about an app that might be useful that I have to pay for than to try to sift through 5 pages of free flashlight reviews. (Gosh, I might choose the wrong one and have to download another)
Try to review apps that aren't' featured on the app store. They already have plenty of coverage.
Consider apps other than games and sound effects. I have no problem with game reviews it's that there are so many games and so many review sites for them it just tends to make all review sites the same.
Understand the purpose of the application and judge it accordingly. Don't fall into to the same problem as many App Store 'opinions (i.e. if it's for a niche market that you know nothing about, don't comment or review it)
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