What are the characteristics of a successful app? Is it revenue, number of downloads, app rating, active user count, or your crash-free rating? While each metric plays a role in overall success the important factor is we have the ability to improve the metrics that are most valuable to us. For example, a primary goal for our HealthPartners app this year was to improve our 3.8 app rating. Let's explore the strategy we applied at HealthPartners that improved our app rating to 4.6 in just 12 days. This strategy is actually easier done than said.
Identify the top 3 'Make Good Happen' moments in your app
The most important tip for a successful user review is a timely prompt after the user has finished a simple and valuable workflow. For example, in our HealthPartners app we identified these following workflows as our top 'Make Good Happen' moments:
- After a user refills a prescription
- After a user schedules a clinic appointment
- After a user submits an account reimbursement
After users complete these simple and valuable workflows they will be more likely to submit a positive app review. According to our iTunes Connect metrics 93% of our reviews have been 4 stars or higher.
Trigger app review prompt
Prompting an app review requires minimal code.
if #available(iOS 10.3, *) {
SKStoreReviewController.requestReview()
}
Apple released their rating and review capabilities in iOS 10.3. Therefore, a version check is necessary if you support a prior iOS version. Otherwise the requestReview() trigger is quite simple. However, Apple will only trigger a prompt within your shipped app 3 times a year. Apple's requestReview() algorithm ultimately determines the frequency and timing of the actual prompt.
Limit app review prompt to core users (optional)
Since it's not clear when Apple may display the review prompt I wanted to avoid an app review prompt for first time users. A core user or returning user is more likely to provide positive feedback. Therefore, I limited the review prompt to core users.
App rating trends mashup
Appbot recently published an article comparing app rating trends titled, "Has iOS 11 really affected star ratings?". I performed a mashup and included HealthPartners within their rating diagram to gather a greater perspective of the improvement our app has experienced.
Are these tasks easier done than said? Simply add review prompts to your apps top 3 'Make Good Happen' moments and your ratings will improve dramatically too.
