Ask for a rating

Runs on: your Mac (the app).

Ratings help people trust the app, and they help it in search. iOS has one system prompt for this. It shows the stars and an optional review, without leaving the app. Apple decides when the prompt really shows. This guide adds it at a good moment, within Apple’s rules, plus a “Rate the app” row for the settings screen.

What it costs

Nothing. The Expo package is expo-store-review. It has native code, so it needs a new build. Ship it with a release, not as an EAS Update.

Apple’s rules

Checked on 2026-10-01 against Apple’s StoreKit documentation (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/requesting-app-store-reviews) and the App Review Guidelines.

• At most three times a year. iOS shows the prompt at most three times in 365 days to a person who has not rated the app. After a rating, it shows again only for a new version, and only when more than 365 days have passed.
• It may show nothing. Your code cannot know whether it showed. So never call it from a button: the tap may do nothing. Never show your own message because it did not show.
• Only the system prompt. Guideline 5.6.1 says to use Apple’s API, and Apple does not allow custom review prompts. So do not ask “Do you like the app?” first, to send happy users to the prompt and unhappy users to email. Expo’s documentation also says not to ask questions before the prompt.
• Never gate anything on it. No feature, reward or discount for a rating.
• Testing. In a development build the prompt always shows. In TestFlight it never shows.

Steps

1. Install the package

From the Expo app folder:

npx expo install expo-store-review

Then make a new development build (expo-app.md, step 5).

2. Pick a success moment

Ask right after the user got what they came for: they saved their third recipe, finished a workout, or shared a result. The moment is yours to pick. Apple only limits how often the prompt shows.

Do not ask:

• on the first launch, or right after sign-up,
• after an error, a failed purchase or a crash,
• in the middle of a task, or on a paywall,
• from a button tap.

3. Ask once the moment comes

Count the successes, and ask after a few of them. AsyncStorage is fine for this counter: it is not a secret (expo-app.md, step 9).

// src/review/askForReview.ts
import AsyncStorage from "@react-native-async-storage/async-storage";
import * as StoreReview from "expo-store-review";

const KEY = "review.successCount";
const ASK_AT = [3, 10, 30];   // iOS shows it at most 3 times a year anyway

// Call after a success, once the success screen shows.
export async function onSuccess() {
  const n = Number((await AsyncStorage.getItem(KEY)) ?? "0") + 1;
  await AsyncStorage.setItem(KEY, String(n));
  if (!ASK_AT.includes(n)) return;
  if (await StoreReview.isAvailableAsync()) await StoreReview.requestReview();
}

Then call it where the success happens:

await saveRecipe(recipe);
showSaved();
void onSuccess();

isAvailableAsync() returns false in TestFlight. requestReview() returns nothing, whether the prompt showed or not.

4. A “Rate the app” row in settings

A row the user taps on purpose is fine. It opens the App Store page, where the user can write a review:

import { Linking } from "react-native";

// The app's Apple ID: ascAppId in eas.json. It is not a secret.
const APP_STORE_ID = "1234567890";

export const openWriteReview = () =>
  Linking.openURL(`https://apps.apple.com/app/id${APP_STORE_ID}?action=write-review`);

This link is Apple’s own. It works only after the app is live in the store.

Where the values go

Check it works

• In a development build, reach the success moment three times. The prompt shows.
• In TestFlight, nothing shows. That is expected.
• In the store build you cannot force the prompt. Check that the code path runs, for example with a log line or a crash-report breadcrumb.
• The settings row opens the App Store page of your app, on the review form.

Common errors

• Nothing shows in TestFlight. Expected. Test in a development build.
• Nothing shows in the store build. The yearly limit is used up, or the user turned off in-app rating requests in the App Store settings on the iPhone. Neither is a bug.
• Cannot find native module 'ExpoStoreReview'. The package was added without a new build, or shipped in an EAS Update. Make a new build.
• A rejection under Guideline 5.6.1. The app shows its own rating prompt, or asks a question first. Use only requestReview().
• The settings row opens an empty page. The app is not live yet, or the ID is wrong. Use the numeric Apple ID, not the bundle identifier.

Wrong or out of date? Fix it on GitHub.