Glossary
Asking for ratings
Updated
Why the rating comes first
A shopper sees the stars and the number of ratings before the screenshots or a word of the description. So a thin or low rating is part of what every searcher judges first.
A thin count is a small sample: two unhappy ratings can move it a whole star. More ratings make the number steadier as well as higher.
How to ask
Use the store's own prompt: RequestReviewAction or AppStore.requestReview(in:) on the App Store, the In-App Review API on Google Play. Both show the stars without leaving the app, and both limit how often the prompt appears, so pick the moment.
Ask right after a success moment: a finished task, a saved result, a streak reached. Do not ask on first launch, after an error, or after a question such as "Do you like the app?" that sends only happy users to the prompt. Google Play's review guidelines forbid that filter.
When the rating is low
Read the 1- and 2-star reviews on the store page first. A low rating often has one cause that repeats: a crash, a paywall that arrives too early, a missing feature. Fix that, say so in the release notes, and reply to the reviews that named it.
Can I offer a reward for a rating?
No. Both stores forbid paying or rewarding users for ratings or reviews.
Does replying to reviews change the rating?
Not by itself. A reply to a low-star review can lead its author to update the rating once the problem is fixed.