One review is an anecdote. Fifty tagged reviews are a pattern. A plain spreadsheet is enough to get from the first to the second.
Columns
| Column | What goes in |
|---|---|
| Date | When the review was posted |
| Store | Google Play or App Store |
| Stars | 1 to 5 |
| App version | If visible; otherwise leave empty |
| Topic tag | One main cause (see below) |
| Sentiment | Negative, mixed or positive |
| Quote | The key phrase, copied short |
| Action | Fix, investigate, reply only, ignore |
| Status | Open, in progress, shipped |
Starter tags
Keep the list short, around eight. Example set:
- crash or freeze
- login or account
- price or paywall
- missing feature
- confusing flow
- performance or battery
- expectation mismatch (store page promised something else)
- praise
Rule: one main tag per review. If a review names two problems, add a second row.
Weekly counts
Once a week, count rows per tag with a pivot table. Look at three things:
- Which tag is biggest?
- Which tag grew compared with last week?
- Did a release change a tag after it shipped? Use the version column.
Keep the counts. Do not turn them into percentages when you have only a handful of reviews.
Keep it honest
- Tag what the reviewer wrote, not what you wish they meant.
- Include positive reviews, otherwise you only see half of the picture.
- Reviews are a biased sample: people who write are often the most annoyed or the most delighted. Use the sheet to find questions, then check them with private feedback.
From sheet to decision
The top recurring tag becomes your next fix or test. Method in turn app reviews into a roadmap.
Want more detail than reviews give you? AppReviewX offers private, structured feedback: one feedback written, one credit. Start free.
Related: hub, request a rating safely, Apple's rules for rating prompts.