Reviews on the Apple App Store

Apple will regulate how many times mobile app developers can ask for a review after the user has opened/closed it. I have an iPhone and I think the review requests are not that disturbing, but if Apple has decided this, it is because they actually are. So an advise for all the mobile app development companies here: do not ask for a review every single time the user opens your app.

That's a tricky matter. From one side, people don't like to feel like they are forced to do something, so they won't rate an app, that is imposing to them. But from the other hand, they are depending on app store rates. We will see in the future, if the Apple decision was the right one.

Yes it sometimes irritates the users but on the other hand helps the developers to improve the apps through knowing what exactly the user wants.

With Apple’s solution, apps are allowed to bug you for reviews only three times per year, you can leave a rating from the prompt without leaving the app, and once you leave a rating, that app can never bother you for a review again.

Let's see if it works...

This is True, a lot of clients deliberately has asked us to have review pop ups, and we have advised them to have a limit number of pop ups, that too when a user have successfully completed the App flow, this ensures the user have had a chance to go through the complete App and now is ready to share a genuine feedback which would help the developer and organization to have the best of best Application.

Earlier this year, we published an article about all App Store and Google Play Store's restriction. Check it out here: App stores restrictions and filters

Reviews are the only way mobile app developers can make out how is applications UI and UX everytime an update is plugged-in. So regulating the number of times review is collected by applications can be a measure for filtering out the applications which are not robust and need to plug-in updates more frequently for better functioning.
Instead of limiting the review request, the developers should focus on minimal updates before the OS is updated.

Ratings and reviews influence how your app ranks in search results, and can affect whether someone downloads your app. Users can rate your app on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. They can also add a written review for iOS and macOS apps.

Individual ratings inform your app’s summary rating, which is displayed on your product page and in search results. This summary rating is specific to each territory on the App Store and you can reset it when you release a new version of your app. However, we recommend using this feature sparingly; while resetting the summary rating can ensure that it reflects the most current version of your app — useful if an update addresses users’ previous concerns — having few ratings may discourage potential users from downloading your app. In addition, keep in mind that resetting your summary rating does not reset your app’s written reviews. Past reviews will continue to display on your product page.

It used to take around 7+ days but since May 2016 Apple have cut review times down to around 24 hours. Apps are often reviewed in a matter of hours now.