Asking for app ratings: when and how to prompt

Short answer: Use each store's built-in rating prompt, trigger it after someone has just had a good experience in your app, and never put a "Do you like us?" question in front of it. Apple shows its prompt at most three times a year per user and does not allow custom review prompts; Google applies its own unpublished quota and asks you not to question users before showing its card. Replying to reviews, especially the critical ones, is the other half of the job.

Ratings matter twice: people check them before installing, and an app with very few looks untested. Most small apps simply never ask, or ask at the worst moment. Here are the rules first, then the timing, then the routine.

The rules from each store

Apple

Use the system prompt. Apple's App Review Guidelines (section 5.6.1) say apps should use the provided API to prompt for reviews and that custom review prompts are disallowed (guidelines).
Three times in 365 days. Apple's ratings and reviews page says you can prompt for ratings up to three times in a 365-day period through the StoreKit review API. The system decides whether to actually show it, checks whether the person already gave feedback, and people can turn these prompts off for all apps.
You do not control the display. Because the system can suppress the prompt, never attach it to a button labelled "Rate us". A button should open your App Store page instead.
Ask after engagement. Apple's Human Interface Guidelines say to ask only after people have shown engagement, avoid first launch and onboarding, avoid interrupting a task, and consider allowing at least a week or two between requests.
Resetting the summary rating is possible when you release a new version, but Apple suggests doing it sparingly because few ratings can put off new users, and written reviews are not reset.

Google Play

Google's in-app review documentation sets out similar principles:

Trigger the flow after the user has experienced enough of the app to give useful feedback.
Do not prompt excessively.
Do not ask any questions before or while showing the card, including opinion questions like "Do you like the app?" or predictive ones like "Would you rate this app 5 stars?".
Show the card as it is; do not alter, cover or remove it.
Quota: Google enforces a time-bound quota on how often a user sees the dialog. Calling it more than once in a short period, such as less than a month, may not show anything. The exact value is not published and can change.
Because the dialog may not appear, Google advises against a button that triggers the API; send people to the Play Store page instead.

What this rules out

The once-popular "Are you enjoying our app? Yes / No" screen, where "Yes" leads to the store prompt and "No" leads to a feedback form, conflicts with both: Google says not to ask questions before the card, and Apple disallows custom review prompts. It also skews your ratings, which reviewers and users tend to notice. A separate, always-available "Send feedback" link in settings is fine.

Good moments to ask

Think about the point where a user has just got what they came for, and nothing else is in progress. For a small business app that might be:

After a completed booking is confirmed, not while they are choosing a time.
After the second or third successful order, not the first. One good experience is luck; three is a pattern.
When a loyalty reward is earned or redeemed.
After finishing a course, a programme week or a set of tasks in a training or fitness app.
When a delivery or job is marked complete and the customer opens the app to check it.
After using a feature they clearly rely on several times, such as reordering a favourite.

And moments to avoid:

First launch, onboarding, or right after sign-up
Straight after an error, a failed payment or a support conversation
In the middle of checkout, a form, or a timed task
On app open, before the user does anything

One practical approach: keep a simple counter of meaningful completed actions on the device, ask when it reaches a threshold, and wait several weeks plus more usage before asking again. Leave the final call to the system, which applies its own limits anyway.

Make sure your support contact is easy to find in the app and on your store page. Apple's ratings page makes this point too: an easy way to get help gives unhappy customers somewhere to go besides a one-star review.

A weekly reply routine

Both stores let you answer reviews publicly. Apple's ratings page says you can respond to any review in App Store Connect, the reviewer is notified and can update their review, and you can edit your response. Google's ratings help page says you need the "Reply to reviews" permission in Play Console, you can write one public reply per review and edit it any time, and the user gets push and email notifications.

A routine that fits into 20 minutes a week:

Read every new review on both stores, lowest ratings first. Apple suggests prioritising low ratings and reviews mentioning technical problems if you cannot reply to all.
Tag each one: bug, feature request, service complaint (about your café, salon or business rather than the app), praise.
Reply to anything specific. Thank them, acknowledge the issue in plain words, say what you are doing, and offer a support contact. Keep personal details and marketing out; Apple's page asks for concise, respectful, personalised replies.
Pass bugs to your developer with the device and app version if the review mentions them.
After a fix ships, mention it in release notes and reply to the reviews that reported it. Apple notes this can bring dissatisfied users back.
Look for patterns monthly. Five reviews about the same confusing screen are a design brief.

FAQ

Can I offer a discount for leaving a review?

No. Apple's App Review Guidelines say that manipulating reviews with paid, incentivised, filtered or fake feedback can lead to removal from the developer program, and it distorts the feedback you need anyway.

Why did my prompt not appear when testing?

Both systems limit how often the prompt shows, and test builds behave differently from the live app. Check each platform's developer notes on testing, and expect that in a live app the system may simply choose not to display it.

Should I reply to five-star reviews?

A short thank-you on detailed positive reviews is good practice. Prioritise the critical ones.

Does replying change my rating?

Not directly. But the reviewer is notified and can update their review, which often happens when a real problem is fixed.

If you would like the rating prompt and review replies built into your app's routine properly, we are happy to look at it with you.