All eyes are now focuses on the background story behind the acquisition turmoil instagram went through. Not mentioning the new polemical privacy policy story…

Well…. the real story is happening around the app itself. Instagram has recently made a update to the beloved app which is enraging the users. De facto its quality score (the Appsfire App score) has crashed to the lowest level (11, meaning very bad) - down from 97 [a near all time high!]

For the record the App score is a quality score computed every day which is looking at quality signals and parameters like the consistency of the reviews, mentions on twitter, Facebook blogs….

Instagram right now does not have a “ranking” problem: it is still, consistently, a top 25 free app in the US and nicely ranked in many countries. The network effect does its job. The problem is related to the perceived quality of the app.

Right now users are complaining in volume (well over 6k 1 and 2 star ratings in the US only)

1. users hate the fact they can’t crop the pictures they shoot with the new camera. Instagram forces you to shoot your picture right to fit the “Instagram card format”

2. users hate the fact they can’t access their library albums except the generic camera roll

And those reviews are published across all stores. not just the USA.

In an effort to innovate Instagram has generated massive frustration with its latest version published 7 days ago

It is not the first (and last) time a very popular app suddenly becomes hated. Twitter has gone through the same story

Instagram if you’re listening > Fix this. And start by creating a real feedback section in your app so users can easily reach out rather than getting their nerves out in the App store without you controlling it.