Replying to reviews is one of the cheapest things an app team can do to improve its rating. Users who get a helpful answer often update their review, and everyone who visits your product page sees that someone is listening.
This guide covers how replies work in both stores, what makes a good reply, and ten templates you can adapt.
How developer replies work
Both stores let you post one public reply per review — a developer response:
- Apple App Store: reply in App Store Connect under Ratings and Reviews, or through the App Store Connect API. You can edit your reply later.
- Google Play: reply in the Google Play Console under Ratings and reviews, or through the Google Play Developer API. Replies are limited to 350 characters.
In both stores the user is notified about your reply and can change their review and rating afterwards.
Which reviews to answer first
You probably can't answer every review. Prioritize:
- One- and two-star reviews that describe a concrete problem — a crash, a login issue, a billing question. These are the ones most likely to be updated after a fix.
- Reviews that mention a feature you've just shipped — tell them it's there.
- Detailed positive reviews — a short thank-you encourages more of them.
- Reviews that spread wrong information — correct it politely for every future reader.
Speed matters more than polish. A reply on the same day reads as care; a reply after a month reads as a form letter. Getting each new review into a shared channel — for example with app reviews in Slack — is what makes same-day replies realistic.
What makes a good reply
- Be specific. Mention the problem they described, not "your feedback".
- Say what happens next. "Fixed in 4.2", "on our roadmap", "please write to support@…".
- Keep it short. Two to four sentences. Google Play cuts you off at 350 characters anyway.
- Sign it like a human. "– Anna from the support team" beats an anonymous company voice.
- Never argue or blame. Even when the user is wrong, the audience is everyone else reading.
- Don't paste the same text everywhere. Templates are a starting point, not the reply.
10 reply templates
1. Bug report, already fixed
Thanks for reporting this, and sorry for the trouble! The crash on launch was fixed in version 4.2, which is live now. Could you update and let us know if it works? – Anna, Support
2. Bug report, fix in progress
Sorry about this — we can reproduce the sync problem and are working on a fix for the next update. If you write to support@yourapp.com we'll let you know as soon as it's out. – Anna
3. Feature request you plan to build
Great idea, and you're not the only one asking. Dark mode is on our roadmap for this year. Thanks for taking the time to tell us!
4. Feature request you won't build
Thanks for the suggestion! We've decided to keep the app focused on [core use], so we won't add [feature] for now — but we read every request and it helps us prioritize.
5. Price or subscription complaint
We hear you — pricing is never an easy topic. The free version still includes [features]; the subscription pays for [server costs / new content]. If you were charged by mistake, write to support@yourapp.com and we'll sort it out.
6. Angry review with no details
Sorry the app let you down. We'd love to fix it — could you tell us what happened at support@yourapp.com? Device and app version help a lot.
7. Problem that isn't the app's fault
Sorry for the hassle! This message appears when the bank's connection is down — it usually comes back within an hour. If it persists, write to us at support@yourapp.com and we'll check your account.
8. Positive review
Thank you so much! Reviews like this make the team's day. 🙌
9. Positive review with a small complaint
Thanks for the kind words — and for the tip about the widget size. We've passed it to our designers.
10. Review in another language
Reply in the reviewer's language when you can. Most monitoring tools — including allstarsbot — translate reviews with one click, so you understand the review before you answer in the same language.
Make replying a team habit
The teams that answer reviews consistently don't log in to two consoles every morning. They route every new review into a channel (Slack or Microsoft Teams), decide who owns which kind of review, and reply straight from the reply link.
Want to try it? Find your app and get every new App Store and Google Play review in Slack or Teams — free for 7 days.
