Apple Design:
Avoid pestering people. Repeated rating requests can be
irritating, and may even negatively influence people’s opinion of
your app. Consider allowing at least a week or two between
requests, prompting again after people demonstrate additional
engagement with your experience.
Prefer the system-provided prompt. iOS, iPadOS, and macOS offer
a consistent, nonintrusive way for apps and games to request
ratings and reviews. When you identify places in your experience
where it makes sense to ask for feedback, the system checks for
previous feedback and — if there isn’t any — displays an in-app
prompt that asks for a rating and an optional written review.
People can supply feedback or dismiss the prompt with a single tap
or click; they can also opt out of receiving these prompts for all
apps they have installed. The system automatically limits the
display of the prompt to three occurrences per app within a
365-day period. For developer guidance, see
RequestReviewAction.
There are a lot of apps that eschew a lot of these guidelines. I mean, how do you avoid pestering people when the entire idea of an alert asking for a rating/review is, by nature, pestering? It’s an oxymoron, like saying “Don’t pester people when you pester them.”
I actually knew about the system setting to opt out of these prompts. On iOS it’s in Settings → Apps → App Store: In-App Ratings & Reviews. On MacOS, it’s in the App Store app’s Settings window. On both platforms, it’s on by default. This is one of several settings that I would change, personally, but choose not to, as a critic / pundit / know-it-all, so as to have more of the standard experience that most users get. If you’re annoyed by these prompts though, you should feel free to turn them off.
★ Friday, 17 April 2026