How to Respond to App Store Reviews: Apple's Reply Rules

You can answer any review of your app in App Store Connect, no matter when the writer left it. As of November 2026, one response shows on your product page for each review. It can take up to 24 hours to appear, and the writer gets a notice and can update the review.

This guide is for iOS developers who own their listing. It covers where reviews appear, who can reply, what a good reply says, and what happens after you send it. Each rule comes from the Apple page that states it.

Where do ratings and reviews appear?

Your summary rating is specific to each territory. It shows on your product page and in search results, next to your app. Ratings and reviews can influence how your app ranks in search (Apple's search page). They rank next to text matches in your title, subtitle, keywords, and primary category, plus downloads and other user behavior.

Apple names these factors but publishes no weights for them on these pages. So treat replies as trust work with readers, not as a rank lever you can tune. For the keyword field's own rules, see the keyword field guide.

Written reviews stay on your product page even if you reset the summary rating with a new version. Apple tells you to use resets sparingly: a fresh average with few ratings can put new readers off (Apple's ratings page).

Some readers also see a short summary of recent reviews, written by a large language model. As of November 2026 it covers English in the United States plus eight more storefronts. They are Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Apple refreshes it on a rolling basis.

You can also ask for ratings from inside the app with SKStoreReviewController. Apple lets each app show the prompt up to three times in a 365-day period. Ask at a satisfying moment, such as after a finished task or level, and never break the reader's flow. Keep your support contact easy to find, in the app and on the product page, so problems reach you before they reach the review thread.

What are the limits side by side?

Four actions, four rule sets. The table lists them as of November 2026.

Read the table this way. Answering is free and always open. Asking is counted. Resetting is bound to a version and wipes no text. Abusive content takes the report path, not the reply box.

How do you reply to a review?

Follow these steps in App Store Connect.

1. Check your role. You need the Account Holder, Admin, or Customer Support role. With only the Customer Support role, you land directly in Ratings and Reviews after you select the app.
2. Open your app list, select your app, then open Ratings and Reviews.
3. At the top right, select the platform that holds the review.
4. Write your response and send it. It shows as pending in App Store Connect until it appears, up to 24 hours later.
5. You can also send, edit, and delete responses through the App Store Connect API instead of the web form (Apple's reply help).

What does a good reply contain?

Apple describes the ideal response in plain terms:

• Short, and direct about the feedback.
• Respectful. No personal data, no marketing, no spam.
• Friendly, in your brand's voice. Personal, not pasted.
• Fast on the lowest ratings and on reports of technical faults in the current version.
• Honest about action. Say that you hear the issue and that you work on it.
• Tied to the fix. When a release repairs reported faults, note the fix in your release notes and answer those reviews again. For how release notes work, see the release notes guide.
• Timed to the release. Answer new and changed reviews fast after a big release, and switch on mail alerts for answered reviews that the writer later edits.

What happens after you reply?

The writer gets a notice and can update the review. You can change or remove your text at any time. Only the newest version shows, and readers can see that you edited it. Responses display on iOS 10.3 and later, macOS 10.6.6 and later, and visionOS 1 and later.

Route some reports away from your queue. Download or billing complaints belong to Apple Support: point the writer there, and Apple handles the store-side case itself. Offensive material or spam takes the Report a Concern path instead of an answer, and the writer never learns that you flagged it.

Your current star average may appear in marketing if the number is exact and current. A written review needs the writer's permission first.

What this doesn't cover

This guide covers only the App Store. Google Play runs another console with other rules.

It states the reset rules but does not walk the reset clicks. The table above holds what Apple guarantees; Apple's reset help holds the full path.

It gives no instructions for fake or paid reviews. That ground is forbidden here: this blog never presents rating manipulation as an option.

It claims no rank math. These pages state no character limit for responses and no weight for ratings in rank, so this guide invents neither.