App Store Now Requires Developers To Use Official API To Request App Ratings, Disallows Custom Prompts

One of the new App Store policy changes made this week is the addition of section 1.1.7, which requires developers to use the official in-app rating UI added in iOS 10.3 and states that they "will disallow custom review prompts" going forward. 9to5Mac reports: When the new App Store rating API was introduced in the iOS 10.3 beta period at the start of the year, adoption was optional but Apple warned that it would eventually become mandatory. It seems that time has come. Here's the relevant addition to the App Store Review guidelines: "Use the provided API to prompt users to review your app; this functionality allows customers to provide an App Store rating and review without the inconvenience of leaving your app, and we will disallow custom review prompts." The language is pretty clear-cut, use the Apple API and stop using custom implementations. The change to the Apple API has some advantages and drawbacks for developers and users.

Re:

[Just Some Guy]

They got you to comment on one, so it served its purpose.

Re:

[I'm New Around Here]

Yep. And I got modded down, so I burned up a point from someone who would have otherwise used it on an important issue. I'll call it even.

Re:

[I'm New Around Here]

Go ahead. Mod a pointless post down to oblivion. As I said, it keeps the idiots from modding the important topics.

As for being a "dickhead", I'm not the one wasting mod points over a post that basically says "I don't use Apple products, and ignore Apple stories."

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[Goaway]

Congratulations! Here is a ribbon that says "I DID NOT USE POPULAR THING" that you can wear to show your pride!

Re:

[I'm New Around Here]

Thank you! I will print it out right now and put it on my favorite suit. :^P

Shrinkage

[turkeydance]

ever shrinking

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[arglebargle_xiv]

You forgot to mention that you'd would like to subscribe to his newsletter.

Impetus for change

[Presence Eternal]

This kind of thing is pretty much why my next phone will be an iphone (if it will fit in a proper case). Love my Note 4 to death, love Nova Launcher, but I'm flat out done with verizdroid. Since I have to pick my poison, I'll choose to be ripped off on the hardware but otherwise treated like an actual customer.

GOOD

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm trying to get something done and I get a damn pop up. I don't want to rate your goddamn app. I want to finish my task and get back to real life.

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[Cmdln Daco]

The fix is for us to all start giving a rating like 'I would have given the App five stars, but it kept spamming me to rate it, so it gets one star.'

If 10% of us did this, App developers would be *afraid* to pop up their spam prompt.

serious question

[Anonymous Coward]

Where is the "appy app troll apps! guy" when the article is actually about apps?

Finally. A good change

[thewolfkin]

I don't even use apple products but this is a good idea. If you're gonna nag me at least give me a) a consistent experience and b) a way to do it without leaving the app. No more trying to decipher the UI to find the "Not Now" button.

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[anss123]

EA had some popup in a game that was so hard to decipher that it was difficult to give it anything but five stars, and also gave you a reward if you did press that five star button. I think this is made to avoid that silliness.

That said, app store/play store/windows store ratings have consistently been worthless. If an app is utter crap, it might get 4 1/2 stars. I don't know if this is because apps game the system, but the end result is the same, ratings means nothing.

Amazon/Steam is better, but even there

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[v1]

A) stop apps from nagging you to rate them
B) stop apps from presenting inconsistent, confusing ratings popups that may trick you into rating higher
C) stop apps from bribing you for a higher-than-it-deserves rating
D) stop apps from just plain fraudulently submitting 5-star ratings on your behalf

This move isn't even slightly surprising.

(and how many times do I have to click the "NO THANKS!" button when asked to rate your app? once every time I launch it? Nevermind that I've already rated it 3-4 times, each

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[swimboy]

I've run into a few apps that ask "Do you like this app?" and if you answer yes, it would ask you to rate the app. If you said no, it wouldn't prompt you to rate the app. This is probably one of the other reasons that Apple is making their API mandatory.

Need a setting

[aardvarkjoe]

What Apple needs is a setting to disallow apps from requesting a rating. If I wanted to give your app a rating, I'd go to the app store to do it. Bugging me about it is just going to annoy me and get you a 1 star rating.

It's actually very good - speaking as an App dev

[seoras]

Since they introduced the API for prompting for ratings my own apps have done very well from it.
Prompting people to leave the app, go open the app store app and try to find the rating tab was useless.
I updated with this prompt a few months ago and I've collected as many ratings in 2 months as I'd normally get in 2 years.
It's raised the Apps ranking in keyword search and increased revenue.
I'm hoping that something similar happens on with Android and Google Play.

The other good bit of news last week was that y

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[tlhIngan]

Why Apple is keeping the current version rating, I'm not entirely sure, but it should be scrapped.

Because there are apps (Example - Audyssey Music Player [apple.com]) that went from a paid app to a free app. The difference is the paid app gave you all the headphone profiles for free. The free app charged you $1.99 for every profile now.

So while the paid version got 5 stars from users who loved it and paid the $5 or whatever for it, when it went free and started charging people, it was getting 1-star ratings. Because na

What I do

[jgoemat]

Every time an app prompts me to review it, I go to the app store and leave it a 1* review. I'll say in the review why I did it. I have apps that update often and ask me for a review every time. I hope Apple's API will prevent that prompt if you've already rated an app.