Why would you need an in-app review feature

There are many reasons why users are asked to submit a store rating in an app : measure customer satisfaction, get relevant feedback on bugs and possible improvement, increase the app rating for marketing purposes. Many articles get into the do's and don'ts of in-app review on marketing and UX perspectives, but I have found very few tech articles about it.

At BAM, most apps have an in-app review feature with specific needs depending on the scope, goals and target audience of the app. Implementing in-app review correctly can have a huge impact on the store rating. Getting the positive ratings from users appreciating the app as well as negative rating providing valuable feedback allows the developing team to track the real impact of the last deployed updates.

For instance, on a large base audience app developed at BAM, the impact of the in-app review three weeks after the feature was released is :

- 2,7 ? 4,6 on the stores
- 3k ? 10k ratings

via GIPHY

How to implement in-app review

With Emma Jamin, we built a decision tree to help mobile developers and designers chose which technical solution suits their needs best. We also summarized Apple and Google guidelines on how to implement in app review and what are the technical consequences.

Decision Tree on in-app review

Guidelines on in-app review

? Apple in-app review best practices

Do :

- Ask a rating after a useful / meaningful task

- Use the Apple native modal (SKStoreReviewController), show it at most 3 times in the last 365 days.

Native iOS in-app review modal

Don't :

- Interrupt the user during a process of the app ? use a logical pause / end of process moment

- Ask for a rating repetitively

- Show the in-app rating after a specific gesture ? ex : press of a button. The native modal may not be shown by the system.

The complete guidelines from Apple : https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/ios/system-capabilities/ratings-and-reviews/

? Google in-app review best pratices

Do :

- Let the user make his opinion of the app before asking for a rating

- Used the modal design from Google, without modifying it.

Don't :

- Ask 'excessively' for a rating ? quota isn't specified.

- Show the in-app rating after a specific gesture ? ex : press of a button. The native modal may not be shown by the system.

- Ask a question that may bias user rating ? 'Do you like the app?'

- Encourage a positive rating with giveways, promotions or incentives.

More on Google guidelines: https://developer.android.com/guide/playcore/in-app-review

Useful libraries for in-app review :

React Native : https://github.com/MinaSamir11/react-native-in-app-review

Flutter : https://pub.dev/packages/in_app_review

Learn more about in-app review :

How to time in-app review by Oleksandr Bandyliuk : https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/how-to-ask-people-to-rate-apps-with-uninterrupted-tasks-3eedfb27e874