Bug in Apple App Store removes over 20mn app ratings globally

San Francisco: A bug that stayed in the Apple App Store for a week erased more than 20 million ratings of popular apps such as Google, Microsoft, Nike, Starbucks and Hulu among others, says media report.

This massive ratings drop was spotted by the mobile app insights platform Appfigures. The firm found that more than 300 apps from over 200 developers were affected by the sweep, which wiped out a total of 22 million app reviews from the iOS App Store, said a report in the TechCrunch on Wednesday.

It began on October 23 and was not resolved until October 29 and the iPhone maker has accepted the ratings' removal happened due to a bug.

The worst hit was the US as some 10 million ratings disappeared.

However, the ratings were removed globally, thus, hitting all 155 countries Apple supports including regions like China, the UK, South Korea, Russia and Australia.