# How to get more app ratings and reviews, within the rules

> You get more ratings by asking satisfied users at the right moment through each store's official prompt (StoreKit on iOS, the In-App Review API on Google Play), adding a persistent "rate us" link, replying to reviews and fixing what people complain about, while never paying, rewarding, faking or filtering reviews, which both stores forbid.

Uptika team · Published: 2026-11-05 · Last updated: 2026-11-05 · https://uptika.app/en/guides/get-more-app-reviews

## What is allowed and what is forbidden?

Start with the line you cannot cross. Both stores protect their ratings hard, and the penalties reach the whole developer account, not only one app.

| Tactic | App Store | Google Play |
|---|---|---|
| Official in-app prompt at a good moment | Allowed (the only allowed in-app prompt) | Allowed (In-App Review API) |
| Permanent "Rate us" link to the store page | Allowed | Allowed (open the Play Store page, not the API) |
| Your own custom rating pop-up | Not allowed (5.6.1) | Not allowed to replace or alter the card |
| "Do you like the app?" gate before the prompt | Treated as filtered feedback (3.0) | Not allowed (no questions before or during the card) |
| Rewards, coins, discounts for a rating | Not allowed (3.0) | Not allowed |
| Forcing a rating to unlock a feature | Not allowed (3.2.2) | Not allowed (forced pop-ups) |
| Buying reviews, review exchanges, fake accounts | Not allowed (3.0, 5.6.3) | Not allowed |
| Asking reviewers to include links, coupons or codes | No specific rule; avoid | Not allowed |
| Replying to reviews | Allowed | Allowed |

## Ten ways to get more reviews, within the rules

1. **Use the official prompt at a success moment.** On iOS, RequestReviewAction or AppStore.requestReview(in:); on Android, the In-App Review API. Call it after the user finishes something meaningful, never on first launch. Details: [asking for ratings on iOS](https://uptika.app/en/guides/ios-rating-prompt-requestreview), [Google Play In-App Review API](https://uptika.app/en/guides/google-play-in-app-review-api).
2. **Ration the prompt.** iOS shows it at most three times per app in 365 days; Google's quota is unpublished and shorter than a month can already be too often. Keep your own counter so the few chances land on good days.
3. **Pick moments from data.** Look at where users complete core actions most often (a finished workout, a delivered order, a level cleared) and prompt there. A good moment is one where most users succeed.
4. **Add a permanent link.** A "Rate on the App Store" row in settings with `action=write-review` appended to your product URL opens the write-review page directly. On Android, link to your Play Store page.
5. **Do not prompt after errors.** Skip the prompt in a session with a crash, a failed payment or a support ticket.
6. **Reply to reviews.** Replies notify the reviewer, who can update the rating, and show future readers that you respond. Templates: [replying to app reviews](https://uptika.app/en/guides/reply-to-app-reviews).
7. **Fix the top complaint and say so.** Name the fix in What's New and edit your earlier replies. Low-star reviewers are often the most specific testers you have.
8. **Prompt on updates for loyal users.** On iOS, a person who already rated can be asked again only for a new version and after 365 days, so a major release is a natural moment.
9. **Make support easy to find.** A visible help or contact path keeps private problems out of public reviews. Do not use it to divert unhappy users from the store; just answer them.
10. **Consider an App Store rating reset after a big fix.** It resets the summary rating in all countries; written reviews remain. Use it rarely, and only when you can earn new ratings quickly.

## Why buying reviews backfires

- **Detection**: both stores look for manipulated ratings. Google Play may hold back all new ratings and reviews of an app while it investigates suspicious activity, which also hides your genuine ones.
- **Penalty scope**: Apple can expel a developer from the program for manipulation; Google can take action under its ratings and installs policy.
- **No learning**: bought reviews tell you nothing about what real users want.
- **Mismatch**: a high rating with poor retention means more installs that leave quickly, and the real reviews arrive anyway.

## How do you measure progress?

- Weekly count of new ratings and written reviews per store.
- Share of ratings that come from the latest version.
- Average rating per version (Play Console filters reviews by app version).
- On Google Play, updated ratings in the Reviews analysis page after you reply.

To read the content of reviews, not just their count, use the routine in [app review analysis](https://uptika.app/en/guides/app-review-analysis).

Uptika's **Reviews** page charts new reviews per week and the average rating for both stores side by side, filterable by country and version, so you see whether a new prompt placement moved anything. **Review insights** (Starter and up) groups the last 6 months into complaints, praise, requests and bugs. The free [One-Star Reasons](https://uptika.app/en/tools/one-star-reasons) tool shows why any app's recent low ratings were given. Start on the [free plan](https://uptika.app/app/#/?signup=1).

## Questions

### How do I get more app reviews?

Ask through the official prompts after a clear success moment, add a permanent rate link in settings, reply to reviews so people see you listen, fix the top complaints, and keep asking rarely so the system's limits are spent on good moments.

### Is buying app reviews allowed?

No. Apple's guidelines say manipulating reviews with paid, incentivized, filtered or fake feedback can lead to removal from the developer program. Google Play's policy forbids fraudulent or incentivized reviews and automated services that inflate ratings.

### Can I give rewards for reviews?

No. Google Play forbids asking users to rate while offering an incentive, and Apple treats incentivized feedback as manipulation. Apple also forbids forcing users to rate to access features. You may reward other in-app actions, just not ratings or reviews.

### How do I increase my app rating?

Fix the issues behind low ratings first, then ask happy users at the right moments. On Google Play the displayed rating weights recent ratings more, so improvements show over time. On the App Store you can reset the summary rating with a new version, but Apple advises doing it sparingly.

## Sources

- [Ratings, reviews and responses (Apple Developer)](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/ratings-and-reviews/)
- [RequestReviewAction (Apple Developer Documentation)](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/requestreviewaction)
- [App Review Guidelines 3.0, 3.2.2, 5.6.1, 5.6.3 (Apple Developer)](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/)
- [Google Play In-App Reviews API (Android Developers)](https://developer.android.com/guide/playcore/in-app-review)
- [Ratings, reviews and installs policy (Play Console Help)](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9898684)
- [View and analyze your app's ratings and reviews (Play Console Help)](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/138230)

---

Uptika is an ASO and store-intelligence tool for the App Store and Google Play. https://uptika.app/en