# Review and rating strategy

URL: https://storelift.net/guide/review-and-rating-strategy/
Language: en
Updated: 2026-08-31

"How many reviews does it take to rank" is a separate, measured question — see how many reviews to rank, near-zero correlation in our own dataset. This page asks something different: what do the two stores' own APIs actually let you do when asking for a review, and what do both explicitly forbid.

## Apple: requestReview, capped at 3 per 365 days

Apple's own page states it plainly: if the user hasn't rated or reviewed the app on this device, StoreKit shows the ratings-and-review request a maximum of three times within a 365-day period. You can call the API as often as you want in code — the system itself throttles how often the prompt actually appears, so the developer doesn't control frequency directly.

- If the user already rated, the prompt doesn't reappear.
- The 365 days is a rolling per-user window, not tied to app version.
- Trying to game the system into showing it more often is explicitly called out as not allowed in Apple's own guidance.

## Google Play: In-App Review API, quota undisclosed

Google's own documentation does NOT publish a number: "Google Play enforces a time-bound quota on how often a user can be shown the review dialog. Because of this quota, calling the launchReviewFlow method more than once during a short period of time (for example, less than a month) might not always display a dialog." No figure — just "less than a month" as an illustrative example.

NOTE: Google's own guidance also bans asking the user any question BEFORE or WHILE showing the prompt — including a satisfaction question ('Do you like the app?') or a predictive one ('Would you rate this 5 stars?'). Pre-filtering to happy users before triggering the prompt is against Google's own rule, not just a gray area.

## What both stores ban, despite different quota mechanics

Different throttling mechanism, same two bans: rewarding a review with a discount, unlock, or benefit, and asking a qualifying question up front so only satisfied users see the prompt. This page doesn't suggest a tactic beyond what's already public — it lists what each store's own API documentation states as the limit and the prohibition.

## FAQ

Q: Can I call requestReview as often as I want?
A: You can call it as often as you want in code, but StoreKit itself throttles the actual display: at most 3 times in 365 days if the user hasn't rated yet. Trying to trigger it more often than that is trying to work around the system's own limit, which Apple's guidance calls out directly.

Q: What is Google Play's in-app review quota?
A: Google's own documentation doesn't publish the number — it only gives "less than a month" as an example of a period where a second call might not show a dialog, and notes the quota can change.

Q: Does this page answer how many reviews it takes to rank?
A: No — that's a separate, measured finding; see how many reviews to rank. This page only covers what each store's own API rules and prohibits.