Is It Possible To Add A "Rate This App" Link To My App? - iphone

Question

Here's what I'm trying to do: I have a button on the settings page in my app - I want this to direct users to the review/rate page on the app store.
I know this is possible using [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL: .... ]; but my app is unreleased as of yet, so I don't have a URL to use.
Is it possible to implement this functionality for an unreleased app, or would I have to wait and include it as an update?
Thanks :)

Answer 1

The URL below is what you're looking for.
Just replace the 368754825 after id= with your app's Apple ID from iTunes Connect. This will take you right to the review page and won't have all the redirects like a normal link. Your App's Apple ID will not change between now and when it's on the store.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?id=368754825&pageNumber=0&sortOrdering=1&type=Purple+Software&mt=8
Update:
I tested the link I posted more than a year ago. It still works. The idea is that it won't work until your app is live. I know there's some concern about putting this link in and shipping before actually verifying it works, but it's the best option for having a review link in a 1.0. You can alternatively submit a 1.0.1 update (with link) right after 1.0 (without link) is approved which means you're only missing out on about a week's worth of reviews.

Answer 2

This is newest format for creating review form links on iOS (only works for iOS devices) [tested on 4.2]
itms-apps://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?type=Purple+Software&id=412843648
Replace the final string of 9 numbers with your app's application ID from iTunes connect or your iTunes url. This link when launched from an iOS device takes you directly to the reviews

Answer 3

Yes you can add a link.
What I did for one of my apps that wasnt released yet was point to a certain URL, like: http://www.wrightscs.com/ios/myapp/review.html which just contained an http redirect.
Once my app was released and I had the iTunes Store link, I just updated the review.html page with my apps URL.
So now my app opens the review.html link, but in return gets redirected to my app in the app store.

Answer 4

First of all you have all the data about your app when creating it on iTunes connect. The thing you need here is the "Apple ID" (you can find it on iTunes connect under the app information).
After taken this number you can use it inside your app (even hard-coded) asking users to rate it or any other thing you want to do with it.
You can use this code for doing so, This method would open the rate page for your app on the App Store without opening safari on the way like other methods here (I've put all code which seems easier to understand sometimes):
static NSString *const iOSAppStoreURLFormat=#"itms-apps://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?type=Purple+Software&id=%u";
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:[NSString stringWithFormat:iOSAppStoreURLFormat, (unsigned int)YOUR_applicationID]]];
Where YOUR_applicationID is the one you took from the app store (Apple ID).
I suggest you test that with a working app (active on the app store, even not your, You can use this one for example: 474785950) and change it afterwards. Pay attention to download the app you are rating to your device/account (You can always know the Apple ID of working apps from the link itself : http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/i-ruler/id474785950?ls=1&mt=8 it's the number just after the "id").
Moreover, For this topic I have some other things that should be considered:
1. Apple can reject your app if you are asking users to rate your app with 5 stars, Many developers does that and don't get rejected but I've been rejected couple of times just for that. Beware!
2. Asking users for just a rating mostly doesn't have a good effect, Great feedback comes only after the user used the app and really enjoyed that (users are really used to popups asking them to rate and just skip it). Also if user want to skip this process for now you want to try asking him later, And most importantly you want to ask the user to rate your app after an update (that is super important because rating is for each version!). To solve this case I suggest using iRate (or build something custom using that as starting point) which is very easy to integrate and it can ask for rating only after several days/opening times etc. and remembers to do that for each version. Can download it from: https://github.com/nicklockwood/iRate/tree/master/iRate

Answer 5

I think that the direct link to 'write the review' is undocumented. It is better to give link to the app and it will be up to user to write the review.
You can get the link to your app from your account in iTunes Connect.
You will get the link once you add a new application (not necessarily upload and make it live). That link will open your app regardless of the platform (iPhone, Mac, PC).
That link will not work un till the app is live.
This method worked for me!

Answer 6

Swift 2 version this code works for iOS 9:
let appId = "12345678"
let url = "itms-apps://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?type=Purple+Software&id=\(appId)"
UIApplication.sharedApplication().openURL(NSURL(string: url)!)