After completely removing the Google+ integration from the Review section of the Play Store, Google now seems to be testing a couple new feature additions to the same. The new functionality, which seems to be an upgraded extension of Review Highlights, aims at helping determine the best features of an app.
First reported by Richard Gao of AndroidPolice, the review process has been tweaked a little, but is not rolling out to all devices as of now. He was able to see the changes on his Nexus 6, but they seemed to be unavailable on his HTC 10 that was running the same version of the Play Store. On top of that, my Redmi Note 3 running the latest version of the Play Store isn’t showing the upgraded Review functionality as well.
Let’s take a look at the new functionalities being offered by the ‘Top features’ section that is situated above Review Highlights in the Play Store. It is displayed in the form of a horizontal scrollable bar and helps users record feedback about certain capabilities of the reviewed app.
After giving a star rating to an app as usual, you will be asked to answer certain straightforward questions about the functionalities of the app. It provides you with three options to choose from — you cab click ‘Thumbs up’ if you like the feature and it works fine for you, ‘Thumbs down’ if you don’t and ‘Not Sure’ if you’re unsure about it.
This new feature of the Review section seems like a pretty neat addition atop the Highlights, but there is currently no information on how Google comes with questions related to the apps features. The criterion for being eligible for Top Features is also in the shadows, but it might probably depend on the popularity and number of reviews for the required app.
In addition to this, the whole section has received minute tweaks, including the removal of the annoying Title section for reviews. With its grey background, condensed font, and new icons, the Review section now seems more clean and Material-design inspired. A welcoming change for sure!
