San Francisco: Google is planning to improve Play Store ratings by filtering reviews and ratings based on where users are. Soon, Play Store users on phones will see app ratings based on the average of submissions from only the country they are registered. Google Discontinuing Its Android Auto App for Smartphones: Report.

"We have heard from both Play Store users and developers that ratings and reviews could be more helpful," the company said in a statement late on Monday.

"This is especially true when ratings from one area unfairly impact another — like when a bug that only impacted a single country negatively affects the app's rating everywhere; or when positive improvements in a tablet experience are overlooked because of the number of users on phones," Google added.

Ratings would help people decide which apps to download and they are taken into consideration for featuring and placement on Play Store, the company said. "But because the app experience can vary depending on the user's region and device type, aggregate ratings don't always tell the whole story," it added.

From November 2021, users on phones will start to see ratings specific to their registered country. Early in 2022, users on other form-factors such as tablets, Chromebooks, and wearables will start to see ratings specific to the device that they are on.  Starting in November, Google is going to change the ratings that individual users see based on where they are registered, and later in the year what device they are using.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2021 11:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).