After rolling out its fourth iOS 9 beta on Tuesday, Apple blocked beta users from submitting App Store reviews. Attempting to do so throws up an error message that reads, “You can’t write reviews while using a prerelease version of iOS.”
iOS developers have long been unhappy about receiving bad reviews from beta testers, who install prerelease software early and then complain that their apps don’t play nicely with it, causing App Store rating to drop. Unfortunately, there was no way to combat the problem.
Apple has finally listened to developers and made it impossible for those running beta releases to submit App Store reviews. After installing the latest iOS 9 beta 4 updates, users will run into an error message when attempting to write a review.
iOS developers will continue to update their apps for iOS 9 ahead of the update’s public release this fall, of course, but they are no longer forced into rushing fixes to avoid poor reviews from those on unsupported iOS versions.