How to Ask for App Store Ratings Without Annoying Users

Apple says ratings and reviews influence how an app ranks in search and can encourage people to download from search results. The summary rating on your product page and in search results is specific to each territory, so a rating earned in one country does not carry to another. Asking at the right moment increases the number and the quality of the ratings you get; it does not buy good ones. Apple also notes that the best way to encourage positive reviews is a great experience.

1. Define the moment of success. What is the thing a user is glad to have done: finished a workout, saved a document, completed a level? Choose a completed task, not a screen view.
2. Set an engagement threshold. Apple suggests looking at how many times people launch the app, how many features they explore or how many tasks they complete. Pick one measurable rule.
3. Pick a natural break. Apple asks you to avoid interrupting people during a task. Trigger the request after the success screen, not while the user is typing.
4. Use the system prompt. Apple prefers it: it checks for previous feedback, asks for a rating and an optional review, and people can dismiss it with one tap or opt out for all apps.
5. Space requests. Allow at least a week or two between requests and prompt again only after more engagement.
6. Handle unhappy users separately. Apple's system prompt is for a rating. Put a "send feedback" option elsewhere so people with a problem can reach you without a public review.
7. Respond to what comes in. See responding to reviews.

A hypothetical habit tracker, Streakly, sets this rule: ask after the user completes a habit on their seventh different day and at least 14 days have passed since the last request. That is a moment of progress, shown right after the check-in animation.

Apple's cap allows three prompts in 365 days. With a 14-day gap Streakly could request far more often than that, so the cap is the binding limit, not the spacing. Streakly therefore treats each prompt as valuable: it asks first after seven active days, then only after a milestone such as a 30-day streak, and keeps one request in reserve for a major release.

• Asking at launch or in onboarding. Apple warns people may leave negative feedback when asked before they know your app's value.
• Building a custom rating dialog that blocks people. The system prompt is built to be nonintrusive. Apple's guidance is to prefer the system prompt.
• Gating. Showing the prompt only to users you expect to be happy hides the problem and does not fix it.
• Ignoring other storefronts. Because the summary rating is per territory, check ratings in each country you care about, not just your home market.

Fix the cause first. If an old version caused many bad ratings, Apple lets you reset the overview rating when you release a new version, with consequences; read when to reset your ratings before you decide.

Track ratings next to rank so you see what each release does to both. LocalASO shows rating counts for the apps ranking on your keywords, which helps you judge how many ratings you need to compete; see how it estimates difficulty.