App Store RejectionGuideline Google Play — Reviews — Ratings and Reviews Policy

You Can't Ask for 5-Star Reviews or Incentivize Ratings on Google Play

Offering rewards for reviews, only prompting happy users, or using the In-App Review API incorrectly are all policy violations. Google has seen every trick and enforces this hard.

What Apple said

“Our review team has determined that your app violates the Ratings and Reviews policy. Your app appears to solicit ratings using incentives, direct users to rate only after positive interactions in a way that manipulates the rating average, or use the In-App Review API in a manner inconsistent with our guidelines.”

What this actually means

Google Play's ratings need to reflect genuine user experiences. Offering coins, features, or any benefit in exchange for a review is prohibited. Only prompting users you've identified as satisfied (through sentiment detection) to skew ratings positively is prohibited. The In-App Review API has specific rules about how often and when you can call it.

What Apple needs to see

  • In-App Review API called at natural, appropriate moments — not triggered by sentiment filters or satisfaction gates
  • No incentives, rewards, or anything of value offered in exchange for ratings or reviews
  • Review prompts that apply equally to all users, not just those the app has identified as satisfied
  • Reasonable frequency of review prompts — Google recommends at most a few times per year per user
  1. 1Remove any sentiment detection or NPS-style gates that only prompt satisfied users for reviews
  2. 2Remove all reward systems tied to leaving a review — no coins, no feature unlocks, no discount codes
  3. 3Audit your In-App Review API integration and ensure it follows Google's guidelines on timing and frequency limits
  4. 4Pick a natural moment for review prompts — after a level completion, after a successful action, not after detecting the user is happy
  5. 5Update your terms of service at yourapp.baseterms.com/terms to ensure it doesn't imply users will receive benefits for reviewing

While you're at it — Apple also requires these pages for every app.

Fix this rejection, then make sure you're covered on the compliance side too. Apple requires every app to link to a hosted Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Support page, and Data Deletion page. No link means another rejection — just for a different reason.

Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
Support Page
Data Deletion Page
Generate my compliance pages — $9

Common questions

Can I show a custom satisfaction prompt before showing the Google review dialog?
No. Funneling only satisfied users to the Play review and sending unhappy users elsewhere (like email support) is exactly the pattern Google prohibits. The In-App Review API should be shown to users regardless of detected sentiment.
How often can I show the In-App Review prompt?
Google's API has internal rate limiting — it may not show the dialog even when you call it, if it's been shown recently. Google recommends not calling the API more than a handful of times per user per year. The system decides whether to actually show the dialog based on its own policies.
What's the difference between asking for a review and review manipulation?
Asking is fine — 'Are you enjoying the app? Leave us a review!' to all users is acceptable. Manipulation is when you filter by satisfaction, offer rewards, or create friction for negative reviews while smoothing the path for positive ones. The intent and mechanism matter.