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How to ask users for an app review?
How to ask users for an app review?

Getting ratings and reviews is essential in any app marketing strategy to encourage downloads and get useful feedback.

Antoine avatar
Written by Antoine
Updated over a week ago

What is an app review request?

You can ask your users to rate your application directly by displaying the native request (provided by Apple or Android), or by displaying first a pre-request.

Native request

Apple and Android provide API in order to ask your users to rate and review your application. Thanks to this API, your users will see the native in-app appear in your application as below :

Pre-request

You can set up a pre-request via Batch before displaying the Apple or Android native In-App. Users will receive a first In-App message asking them if they want to rate the app or not. If users answer yes, then, the native in-app will appear.

Why should I set up a pre-request?

iOS

On iOS, you have to call the Apple SKStoreReviewController API (Apple Developer documentation here), to request permission to display the native request. You need to keep in mind some important things:

  • You can prompt for rating up to three times in a 365-day period. If users leave a rate, it will not be possible to re-solicit them for a year.

  • Users can disable rating requests on iOS settings. This option is available in Settings → App Store → In-App Ratings & Reviews.

  • There is no way to know if Apple’s request has already been displayed for a user.

  • The API doesn’t provide metrics on rating, and review.

Android

On Android, you have to call the In-App Review API (Android Developers documentation here), to request permission to display the native request. You need to take some points into account:

  • Review API keeps the right to refuse the display of the native request if it has already been triggered recently ("for example, less than a month" says the Google doc)

  • The API doesn’t provide metrics on rating, and review.

By setting up a pre-request via Batch, you are sure to target the user at the right time and retrieve push-related data.

How to set up a pre-request?

To set up a pre-request push, you have to create an In-App campaign and redirect the user to the native request provided by Apple or Android.

Who?

It is important to choose the right targeting for rating campaigns. You can use Batch smart segments to target engaged users. This will allow you to get feedback from people who regularly use your app.

It is also useful to target users based on your industry. If you sell items, you can target users who have purchased in the last few months. Similarly, if you provide a service, targeting people who have signed up for a subscription is a good idea.

⚠ Important note: you must offer app ratings to all your users, not only satisfied ones.

When?

It is essential to target users at a specific time, for example when a customer has finished a purchase or made a specific engaging action. However, be careful not to interrupt the buying process.

What?

You can use a fullscreen theme or modal theme as below:

Remember to keep neutral content as “Rate our app”.

Then, you have to redirect users on native requests, not to a feedback survey if the user is not satisfied with your app. To do that:

  • If you use the 1.17 version of the SDK or higher, you can use the built-in action proposed by Batch (more information here).

  • If you use a prior version:

    • Implement a custom action that triggers the rating request.

    • Use the “custom” field and fill in the name and custom JSON of the custom action.


This article belongs to Batch's FAQ. Need more help? Find insightful articles, documentation, case & market studies, guides, and even more in our website's Resources section on batch.com and our blog.

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