Microsoft's Windows Phone User Review Policy Puts Spotlight on Apple

Microsoft, ever eager to cozy up to developers, is making a change to the Windows Phone Store that should please them. App developers will now be able to respond to user reviews, leaving Apple the only major platform manager to lack the feature.

The responses are private — they won't post to the app's page in the store, Trip Advisor-style. Instead, when a developer responds to a review, the user will receive an email that they can reply to or choose to ignore.

Initially, a small group of pre-selected developers will get the ability to respond as part of a pilot program. They'll only be able to respond to reviews posted from Windows Phone 8.1 devices, or any Windows Phone device in the U.S. Read more...