How to get more app reviews without breaking the store rules

On iOS, the SKStoreReviewController API shows Apple’s standard prompt: people submit a rating and can write a review without leaving your app. Apple lets you prompt up to three times in a 365-day period, and guideline 5.6.1 says it will disallow custom review prompts, so a home-made “rate us” screen is not an option. On Android, the In-App Review API shows Google Play’s rating card inside your app; it needs version 1.8.0 or higher of the Play Core library. Google enforces a quota on how often one user can see the dialog, keeps the exact value private and says it can change without notice, so calling the flow twice within a short period, for example less than a month, may show nothing the second time.

Because the prompt is rationed, the moment you choose matters more than how often you call it. Apple recommends asking when people are most likely to feel satisfied with your app, such as right after they complete an action, a level or a task, and not interrupting what they are doing. Google’s guidance is the same in spirit: trigger the flow once a user has used the app enough to give useful feedback, and do not prompt excessively. Google adds two concrete bans. Do not ask anything before or while showing the card, neither “Do you like the app?” nor “Would you rate this app 5 stars?”. And do not put the review flow behind a button, since the user may already have hit the quota and would tap a button that does nothing; if you want a permanent “rate this app” link, send people to your Play Store page instead.

Replies are the one lever that works on reviews you already have. In App Store Connect you can respond to any review, however old; the reviewer is notified and can update their review, and only the latest version of your reply is shown. Apple suggests prioritising the lowest ratings and reviews about bugs in the current version, and when an update fixes something people complained about, saying so in the release notes and replying to those reviews. On Google Play, you reply in Play Console, the user gets a push and an email notification, and Play Console shows how many users updated their rating after a reply. Apple asks you to keep replies respectful, with no personal information, marketing language or spam.

Apple’s guideline 5.6.3 says manipulating any element of the App Store, including charts, search and reviews, is not permitted, and guideline 3.2.2 adds that apps must not force users to rate or review the app in order to use it. Apple states that if it finds you tried to manipulate reviews or inflate chart rankings with paid, incentivized, filtered or fake feedback, or used a third-party service to do it, it may expel you from the Apple Developer Program. Google Play’s policy prohibits any manipulation of ratings, reviews or install counts, including incentivized feedback, forced pop-ups and paid fake reviews, and names a discount offered in exchange for a high rating as a typical violation.

The App Store summary rating is kept per territory, and you can reset it when you release a new version. Apple advises using this sparingly: a fresh rating can reflect an update that fixed old complaints, but having few ratings may put people off, and your written reviews stay on the page either way. Google Play has no reset, and ratings do not start over when you publish a new version. If you want to quote reviews on your website, Apple allows using your rating in marketing as long as it is accurate and current, and quoting a customer review only with the reviewer’s permission.

Reviews live in the stores; Censuus ranks apps by the real visit traffic they draw. Adding your app is free on the submit page, and it can rise on the visits it earns. Sponsorship raises placement and adds a followed link to your website; details are on the sponsor page. For the rest of the store page, see the ASO checklist, and to get your first users before you have reviews, how to find beta testers. We do not promise ratings, reviews or store rankings.