Prompting Users For App Ratings, Reviews, and Responses

Asking users to "Rate this app!" got a whole lot better as of iOS 10.3. Apple released changes which enable users to rate apps without breaking flow and bouncing out to the App Store.

The native iOS in-app rating prompt shown over an app

How it works

You can now call requestReview(), and Apple may then display a generic prompt asking users to rate & review your app — right there, in place.

Apple's guidance

Only ask users after they've found value
Don't interrupt critical flows
Don't be a pest — ask once

How we did it

We ask users to review after 30 minutes — by then you understand the value ✔️
We only ask in low-intent experiences, so we don't interrupt ✔️
We ask once. No pestering ✔️
Not to mention we spent 9 months building the Redbubble app ⌛️

Why ratings & reviews matter

Ratings and reviews help us build a better product. At Redbubble we get feedback on what's working and what's frustrating users, and we use it to better prioritise and understand what's important to them.

App reviews posted automatically into a Slack channel — Reviews are automatically shared in Slack with the team.

Ratings and reviews also help users make decisions about the quality of an app before deciding to download — more on that below.

What we learnt using in-app reviews

After adopting ratings & reviews in iOS 10.3 we saw three fundamental changes in user behaviour:

a significant lift in the volume of ratings & reviews
an increase in our star rating (48% ⬆️)
improved install conversion from the App Store to app units (66% ⬆️)

More reviews 📈

By prompting users after 30 minutes we got a significant lift in the number of reviews & ratings. This didn't change the distribution of ratings — it continued to hold at 3.3 stars.

Chart showing the volume and rating of reviews for the Redbubble app over time — Volume & rating of reviews for the Redbubble app.

A better rating 🌟

When users rated the app without leaving a review, we saw a shift from our 3.3 star average to 4.7 stars. By the end of May we held a 5 star rating in the United States and a 4.7 star average across all other territories.

Redbubble's App Store star rating for all versions in the United States — Redbubble's rating for all versions in the United States.

More installs 👩‍💻

How did going from 3 to 5 stars impact downloads? We saw a 48% lift in conversion of users viewing the Redbubble App Store product page to installing the app.

Chart showing the lift in App Store product page to install conversion

Conclusion

Requesting ratings, reviews and responses in iOS 10.3 surpasses previous best practices. Getting it right can have a material impact on the number of reviews, your star rating and download volume.

Remember though — there's no substitute for a great experience. Focus on building something that solves the problems you set out to, and only then think about how best to ask your users to rate & review your app.

Thanks for reading! 👋