Windows Phone 8.1 may allow developers to directly respond to store feedback

A week from now we’ll be packing our bags and getting ready to head to San Francisco. This is where Microsoft’s 2014 Build conference will take place. The focus is on developers and upcoming product innovation Microsoft is making for them. We’ll see what Microsoft has in store not just for developers, but consumers as well, when they unveil Window Phone 8.1.

Not only will developers be treated to an updated mobile operating system with new APIs and features, but we’ll also see changes on the backend. Changes to the Windows Phone Dev Center are expected to come as well.

The ability to reply to a user review in the Windows Phone Store is one change we’re sure a lot of developers would like. It’s easy for consumers to leave a bad review in the Windows Phone Store if they don’t read the app description. Developers would probably like to engage directly with consumers who prefer to leave feedback in the Windows Phone Store vs. other mediums like email, Twitter or UserVoice.

Our friends over at Windows Phone Daily spotted an interesting change in the Window Phone Store. You’re redirected to Internet Explorer if you try to report a concern over an app in the Window Phone Store to Microsoft. Here you’ll help Microsoft understand what the issue with an app is. You can mark ‘offensive content’ or ‘poor performance’ as the reason you’d like Microsoft to look into a given app. However a new option is the ability to select ‘Inappropriate developer response to my review’.

Last we checked, developers couldn’t respond to review in the Windows Phone Store. This could be an upcoming feature that Microsoft plans to support with Windows Phone 8.1 and updates to Dev Center.

Any developer out there looking forward to direct engagement with customers? Sound off below.

Source: Windows Phone Daily

Sam Sabri