Apple iOS 18.4 update: AI generates app review summary to simplify user feedback

Recently, Apple announced that it will introduce the AI-generated app review summary function in the upcoming iOS 18.4. According to Macworld, this new feature will provide some App Store apps with a brief summary of user comments. These summary is generated by large language models and aims to “refine highlights and key information from user comments and summarize them into short paragraphs,” Apple explains on its developer website.

According to Apple's example, these summary will be presented in natural language, first showing the user's positive comments about the app, and then mentioning negative feedback. Apple said the summary will be updated at least once a week to reflect new user comments. Additionally, users can hold on to comments to report problems with the feature.

In the early days, the AI-generated comment summary function will be available on the US App Store, suitable for applications and games that have been published in English and have sufficient comments. Other countries and language versions will be released later this year. The move follows Amazon's 2023 addition to AI to generate review summary for its e-commerce website, with short paragraphs aimed at "highlighting product features and customer sentiment" and above the full review.

In theory, this comment summary function can help users quickly obtain "highlights" of the application and save time browsing a lot of comments. However, this feature may also face the risk of gamification, which may cause some bad merchants to pour water in the comments section. Based on personal experience using Amazon summary, its focus on positive aspects sometimes seems insincere enough. As a professional product reviewer, I think if there is a problem with a product, I usually mention these negative content first.