An app with 40 ratings feels risky. An app with 4,000 feels safe. Review volume makes your app rating more trustworthy, keeps it fresh after updates, and helps both app store ranking and conversion.
The good news: most happy users never leave a review simply because nobody asked at the right moment. Here's how to ask well.
1. Use the native review prompt
Both stores offer a system dialog that lets users rate without leaving your app — the in-app review prompt:
- iOS:
RequestReviewAction(SwiftUI),AppStore.requestReview(in:)or the olderSKStoreReviewController. Apple shows it at most three times in 365 days per user. - Android: the Google Play In-App Review API, with its own quota.
Native prompts convert far better than "Rate us" buttons that send people to the store, because rating takes two taps.
2. Ask after a moment of success
Timing is everything. Good moments:
- A workout, lesson or level completed.
- An order delivered or a booking confirmed.
- The fifth session, or the first week of regular use.
Bad moments: first launch, right after an error, in the middle of a task, or right after a paywall.
3. Don't gate the prompt
"Do you like the app? Yes → review, No → send feedback" is called review gating. Both stores discourage it, and Apple's guidelines don't allow custom prompts that steer only happy users to the store. Use the native prompt, ask everyone at a good moment, and give unhappy users an easy support channel elsewhere in the app.
4. Never pay or reward for reviews
Offering coins, discounts or features in exchange for reviews breaks both stores' rules and can get reviews removed or the app penalized. Same for buying reviews or asking friends and staff to post fake ones.
5. Reply to existing reviews
Users who get a helpful developer response often update their rating — turning a one-star review into a four-star one. It also signals to everyone reading that reviews are read. See our guide on how to respond to app store reviews.
6. Fix what reviews complain about — then ask again
If your recent app reviews keep mentioning the same bug, more prompts will only bring more one-star reviews. Fix it first. On iOS, a major fix can be a good moment for a rating reset.
7. Turn support conversations into reviews
When support solves someone's problem, the user is often at their happiest. A friendly line at the end of the conversation — "If we helped, a review in the App Store means a lot to us" — with a direct link to your review page is allowed and works well.
Direct links:
- App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/app/id<APP_ID>?action=write-review - Google Play: your listing URL; reviews are written from the app's page.
8. Measure every change
Track ratings per week and the average for each app version. When you move the prompt or ship a fix, you should see it within days. Watching new reviews as they come in — with app review monitoring — also tells you what people say, not just how many stars they gave.
Summary
| Do | Don't |
|---|---|
| Native prompt after a success | Prompt on first launch |
| Ask everyone, offer support elsewhere | Gate the prompt by sentiment |
| Reply to reviews | Pay or reward for reviews |
| Fix recurring complaints first | Ignore what reviews say |
Once the reviews start coming in, make sure someone sees them. Get every new review in Slack or Teams — free for 7 days.
