You can now view the edit history of any user's Play Store reviews

Google now lets users view the edit history of app reviews in the Play Store. The change comes soon after the company began adjusting the design of both the desktop and mobile versions of its app store, and it means anybody will be able to see the edits made to a particular review.

Previously, only the person who submitted the review, and the person who uploaded the app/game/book etc, could see this revision history. The change (spotted by Android Police) seems to only be available in the Play Store mobile app right now and not the desktop version of Google Play.

The way the feature works is simple: just click the overflow icon to the right of a review in the store. You will then be given the choice of either marking the review as helpful, inappropriate, spam or of viewing the edit history. Of course, this option only shows up on comments that have an edit history.

In our experience with this so far, it appears that the vast majority of edits occur when someone leaves a star rating for the app and then adds the written review almost immediately after. Typos are also often fixed.

However, one place where the new feature could be particularly useful is in cases where the user changes their opinion of an app after a comment from the app’s developer. In this instance, it could be good for people thinking about downloading the app to see any issues that there may have been before the contact.

The option to delete a review, if you accidentally reveal some personal data or say something you regret, still exists. In that case, deleting the review will also remove its edit history.

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