Direct "rate in iTunes" link in my app?

Question

I've seen posts here on Stackoverflow that describe how to allow users to be directed to apps on the app store.

Is there a way to link directly to the rating and comments form in the App Store?

Pendley

i don't think this is possible as far as I am aware - I haven't seen this in any apps either - they usually provide links to the store, which will then launch the AppStore app. – Expressly

possible duplicate of App store link for "rate/review this app" – Peculiarize

See also UI for rating an app during deletion – Peculiarize

I wrote a library for doing this with minimal effort on your part: github.com/nicklockwood/iRate I'd recommend using a library rather than rolling your own solution. It may seem like a simple problem but the library takes care of a whole bunch of extra stuff, like automatically prompting the user based on time installed or number of uses, etc, and ensures that the user isn't prompted unless they have a network connection. – Osvaldooswal

AskingPoint has a free App Analytics API that includes a Rating Widget that will take users directly to your App Store page for you. www.askingpoint.com - It uses your App analytics to only ask your best users to rate you. - Settings for who sees it are adjusted from account dashboard in real-time. - Its localized into 32 languages. Full disclosure, im a Co-Founder. But check it out it's free. – Rheotaxis

Answer 1

Answers here are outdated.

This works on my end (Xcode 5 - iOS 7 - works only on Device, not simulator!):

itms-apps://itunes.apple.com/app/idYOUR_APP_ID

For versions lower than iOS 7 use the old one:

itms-apps://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?type=Purple+Software&id=YOUR_APP_ID

Amniocentesis

Can we do this rating without redirecting to appstore?Like just pass the value to some api? – Ousel

@abhi1992 Currently there is no way to do that. I don't think Apple would give this kind of option to developers in the future at least not thorough direct API without an apple OS screen. – Amniocentesis

Answer 2

This IS possible using the technique described on this blog:

http://www.memention.com/blog/2009/09/03/Open-Reviews.html

basically you call UIApplication openURL with the following:

NSString* url = [NSString stringWithFormat: @"itms-apps://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?type=Purple+Software&id=%@", myAppID];
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL: [NSURL URLWithString: url]];

To get your app ID before your app is available in the app store, use iTunesConnect to define your new app - give it a name, description, icon, screenshots, etc. Once defined, you can get the Apple ID from the Identifiers section for the app.

EDIT:

Here is a secondary url/method that works:

NSString* url = [NSString stringWithFormat:  @"http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?id=%@&pageNumber=0&sortOrdering=1&type=Purple+Software&mt=8", appid];

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL: [NSURL URLWithString: url ]];

I believe the difference between the two is that the first technique (itms-apps://) will launch the App Store app directly while the second one (http://) will launch it indirectly via a redirect resulting from the http web URL. This would have to be confirmed; this is only my recollection.

Headline

@Pendley - it would be great if you could mark this as the correct answer if it worked out for you. – Headline

Note - the "type=Purple+Software" has to be there and it has to be literally "Purple Software" - it's not the name of your company, it's a codename for iPhone applications :) I wasted an hour before I figured this out... – Seymour

Is there a difference between method 1 and method 2 in your answer? If so, could you specify that in the answer? If not, could you specify that in the answer? :) – Caitlyncaitrin

The first one doesn't work with Cordova/PhoneGap and window.open() but the 2nd one does. – Flong

Answer 3

Simple method that I am using is;

 -(void)rateApp {

     [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:[@"itms-apps://itunes.apple.com/app/" stringByAppendingString: @"id547101139"]]]; }

Wehrle

Answer 4

You can also use SKStoreProductViewController as an alternative. It will open the store in your app. You may like it better than opening another app, especially on iPads.

Softener

Answer 5

Thanks to Ahment swift version:

            UIApplication.sharedApplication().openURL(NSURL(string: "itms-apps://itunes.apple.com/app/id951334398")!)

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