How review gating works
A typical gated flow looks like this:
- The app asks: “Are you enjoying the app?” 👍 / 👎
- 👍 → the store review prompt opens.
- 👎 → a private feedback form opens instead, and the user never sees the review prompt.
The result is a rating that looks better than the real experience — which is exactly why it’s a problem.
Is it allowed?
- Google Play: no. Google’s guidance for the In-App Review API says not to ask users about their opinion (“Do you like the app?”) before showing the review card, and its policies forbid manipulating ratings.
- App Store: Apple requires the system review prompt (SKStoreReviewController / RequestReviewAction) for rating requests in the app, limits how often it appears, and disallows custom review prompts. Pre-filtering who sees it goes against those rules.
- Regulators: in the US, the FTC’s Endorsement Guides treat review gating that leads to a misleading picture of reviews as a deceptive practice. Similar rules exist in the EU.
Besides policy risk, gated ratings mislead the people who choose your app — and they find out after installing.
What to do instead
- Ask everyone, at a good moment. Use the in-app review prompt after a success (a finished task, a good streak), not on launch or after an error.
- Offer feedback to everyone, separately. A “Send feedback” entry in settings is fine — as long as it isn’t a gate in front of the review.
- Reply to low ratings. A helpful developer response often leads users to update their rating.
- Fix what reviews say. That raises the rating honestly, and for good.
More in how to get more app reviews (without breaking store rules). To see every new review the day it arrives — so you can reply to the unhappy ones — allstarsbot posts them to Slack or Microsoft Teams.