App rejected due to Appirater

chemistry · July 2012

Looks like apple is beginning to reject apps that asks people to rate apps.

The thing is I already set my appirater configuration to 10 days, and 50 uses.
Debug mode is OFF for sure.

It took them 5 days In Review to get rejected. From my server they did open my app 200 times :| !
So my guess is they now turn the change the time on your system and keep reopening it or something.

rocotilos · July 2012

I guess it now becomes "gaming" the appstore to use Appirater.
They were ok before it because there was a "rate upon delete" in the iOS.

But for me Appirater is not "gaming", because users normally don't care to return
to the app page after they bought it. So we remind them and open the review page for them
by asking.

So no, i disagree with this rejection.

esoteric · July 2012

Did they specifically say "Rejected due to asking users to review"?
5 days In Review seems like a really long time just to get rejected for that reason.

chemistry · July 2012

The resolution center message was:

3.10: Developers who attempt to manipulate or cheat the user reviews or chart ranking in the App Store with fake or paid reviews, or any other inappropriate methods will be removed from the iOS Developer Program

The thing is I had tonnes of apps accepted with appirater included before, i hope its not their new standard.

Mountain Tiger · July 2012

wow, I hope this isn't true. If this was true it would totally screw up new apps because they would have a huge competitive disadvantage against all already existing apps in the app store as 'ask to rate' has already become pretty much some sort of standard.

MarkC · July 2012

Just roll your own?!

rocotilos · July 2012

chemistry said:
The resolution center message was:

3.10: Developers who attempt to manipulate or cheat the user reviews or chart ranking in the App Store with fake or paid reviews, or any other inappropriate methods will be removed from the iOS Developer Program

The thing is I had tonnes of apps accepted with appirater included before, i hope its not their new standard.

Seriously wtf!?!

mediaspree · July 2012

Finally got my app back in review this morning after a separate rejection but it also contains AppiRater. (they said nothing about it the first time) I'll let you know how it goes over here...

mer10 · July 2012

I recently had a new app approved that does have a prompt asking for a rating, but it didn't use Appirater. I'd probably take MarkC's advice and roll your own. Did you use the [Appirater userDidSignificantEvent:YES] method?

foany · July 2012

This is one way to reduce their review workload! Who wants to update an app now?

Paul Slocum · July 2012

What Appirater settings did you use? It could be that they'll reject it if they get the popup when they're testing it, but if you set a delay of a few days so they don't see it then you'll be fine?

Regardless, I was already planning on removing Appirater on my next update because I think it's kind of annoying -- I'm going to put a rating button in the help menu instead.

esoteric · July 2012

Paul Slocum said:
What Appirater settings did you use? It could be that they'll reject it if they get the popup when they're testing it, but if you set a delay of a few days so they don't see it then you'll be fine?

Regardless, I was already planning on removing Appirater on my next update because I think it's kind of annoying -- I'm going to put a rating button in the help menu instead.

Unless they are actually rejecting apps for having Appirater I would advise against taking it out from personal experience.
I've had a "Rate us" button in my Settings page of an app since it's launch, was getting a few reviews, nothing major. But the update I put Appirater in and after the 4 days I had the settings set too, since then i've been receiving 50+ more 5 star reviews almost everyday (It's been 3-4 months now)

rocotilos · July 2012

Paul Slocum said:
What Appirater settings did you use? It could be that they'll reject it if they get the popup when they're testing it, but if you set a delay of a few days so they don't see it then you'll be fine?

Regardless, I was already planning on removing Appirater on my next update because I think it's kind of annoying -- I'm going to put a rating button in the help menu instead.

chemistry mentioned that his server shows app was opened 200 times. this could happen in a few days.

Renaissance77 · July 2012

I have Appirater present in a couple of projects, but not active. I'm going to remove it to be sure it's presence doesn't cause any problems.

I also agree that it's annoying - App's with Appirater certainly annoy me, and I don't think that seeing it has ever inspired me to leave a review.

A much better approach is to put a "rate this app" link on your app's "About" screen.

rocotilos · July 2012

well, just to add to the stats, I review some games that i have from appirater-like alerts. i nvr open their about page, ever. just play the game thats all. when presented a direct link to rate, i normally jump to review it esp if i love the game.

KarlJay · July 2012

Given the state of the app store, I think getting more reviews is very important and Apple killing an app for using this kind of tool only hurts devs. I don't think it's asking much for someone to rate an app, after all, it's just a one time event. It's not like they have to rate it every day.

Resubmit and see what happens, if you can, maybe have the rate screen come up only after a few days of use.

HemiMG · July 2012

If Apple does have a problem with Appirater, it's probably similar to the problem that we had with the "rate on delete" feature. It skews the bias of the ratings. People who don't like your app aren't going to open it enough to see the appirater popup. I guess I'll be removing it from the apps I use it on when I next update them.

chemistry · July 2012

I recently had a new app approved that does have a prompt asking for a rating, but it didn't use Appirater. I'd probably take MarkC's advice and roll your own. Did you use the [Appirater userDidSignificantEvent:YES] method?

No i did not.

rocotilos · July 2012

HemiMG said:
If Apple does have a problem with Appirater, it's probably similar to the problem that we had with the "rate on delete" feature. It skews the bias of the ratings. People who don't like your app aren't going to open it enough to see the appirater popup. I guess I'll be removing it from the apps I use it on when I next update them.

IMO the rate upon delete is nothing like appirater. ALL who deletes app obviously dislike it to the max n the only rating that comes from that is a negative one star review, always.

while appirater is just a prompt after detecting multiple use of the app. not necessarily they will like the app..and the review will be anything from 2 stars to 5 stars.

just my 2 cents.

MarkC · July 2012

Seriously, the App Store is looking more and more a complete pile of turd. Whatever happened to their beloved App Curation process? Everything is free/freemium in the searches, they're pissing devs off at every opportunity. While they hold all the cards, and always have, it won't take long for the staunch 'never going to Android' crew to do just that... IMO :)

AragornSG · July 2012

I don't know Mark, I'm on both markets and I keep saying "this is another reason Android fails against iOS" time after time, as I hit various issues. That, and the fact that you can't really compare the money.

MarkC · July 2012

But didn't they change something the other week that is now more favourable towards paid apps? That's where my thinking was coming from... :)

mer10 · July 2012

chemistry said:
I recently had a new app approved that does have a prompt asking for a rating, but it didn't use Appirater. I'd probably take MarkC's advice and roll your own. Did you use the [Appirater userDidSignificantEvent:YES] method?
No i did not.

I'd try using it. In my app it takes about four hours of user interaction to see it. In my experience my reviewers haven't tested it for that long to get there or for it to be an issue.

Trybius · July 2012

A new app and an update to an app have both just gone into review that use Appirater. I'll let you know how I fare.

mediaspree · July 2012

Almost 36 hours later from my app (with appirater) going into in review...it hasn't even been opened yet...Not look forward to THIS rejection...

RickSDK · July 2012

my app was just approved 2 days ago and it uses appirator. I think they rejected your app for a different reason. Asking users to rate your app is not "gaming the system"

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