Dev

Ask it as one line with no preamble: what were you using before this. People answer that. They do not answer "how are you finding it", because that is a request for praise and everyone knows it.

The five-star-from-your-own-network thing has a mechanic behind it that is worth naming. There are group chats whose entire purpose is trading upvotes and reviews on launch day, and if you are not in one you are competing against people who are.

That is not a conspiracy, it is just how the ranking gets played. It also means the leaderboard measures network size, not product quality, and reading it as quality will mislead you every time.