After much feedback from app developers and their users, the Google Play Store will soon start allowing everyone to filter reviews and ratings based on where the users are located. Publishers will also be able to better track ratings by device type.

Starting in November, Play Store users on phones will see app ratings based on the average of submissions only from the country they’re registered to, not the world. At the start of next year, the ratings displayed will shrink further based on device categories, including tablets and foldables, Chrome OS, Wear, and Auto.

Google Play staff say these accolades will better represent where an app can perform and make app makers focus on specific issues like a translation issue or mismatched dimensions. That said, some issues that may cross those boundaries should be reflected in visible and calculated reviews in the ratings we see – maybe more feedback is needed to get a toggle filter in there.

Publishers will be notified at least 10 weeks in advance of any user rating changes in the Play Store so they can see how their app’s perceptions may be affected.

The Play Console dashboard has been updated to align with device type data in the Ratings Overview and Breakdown sections. There will also be better ways to date data with more options for total range as well as aggregation segmentation – how long between plot points from daily to weekly to every 28 days. Developers can also export their data in CSV format.