How to Respond to App Store and Google Play Reviews

Both stores let developers publicly respond to reviews that include text.

Apple App Store

• App Store Connect: open your app, go to the ratings and reviews area, and respond to individual reviews. Users with the appropriate role on your team can write responses.
• App Store Connect API: the App Store Connect API exposes customer reviews and developer responses, so tools can list reviews and post responses programmatically. API keys are created in Users and Access → Integrations, and the .p8 private key can only be downloaded once.

Google Play

• Play Console: open your app and use the reviews section under ratings and reviews to read and reply.
• Google Play Developer API: the Reply to Reviews API lets you list and reply to reviews. Note that the API only returns reviews created or modified in roughly the last week, and only reviews that include text. Older history lives in the monthly review reports you can export from Play Console (see our guide to Google Play review history).

If you ship on both stores, that means two consoles, two sets of permissions and two places to check every day. That split is the main reason teams centralize replies in one tool.

Both stores publish guidance on developer replies. Read the originals before you write a reply playbook; the summary below is a starting point, not a substitute.

Apple

Apple's Ratings, Reviews, and Responses page encourages developers to respond to feedback, address bugs and feature requests, and keep responses relevant and respectful. Responses are public, and Apple notes that you can edit a response after posting it.

Google Play

Google's Play Console help on viewing and replying to reviews includes guidelines for replies. In broad terms, replies should stay on topic and should not include things like personal information, promotional or incentive content, or inappropriate language. Check the current page for the exact list, since Google updates these guidelines.

Practical rules that keep you inside both policies

• Never ask for or repeat personal data (email, phone, order IDs) in a public reply. Point people to a support channel instead.
• Do not offer rewards, discounts or perks in exchange for changing a rating.
• Do not argue, mock or reveal anything about the user beyond what they wrote.
• Keep promotional language out. Mentioning a fix in a specific version is fine; advertising another product is not.

The Google Play limit is documented in the Reply to Reviews API docs. If you keep one shared reply library for both stores, write every template to fit in 350 characters. Our response templates follow that rule.

A reliable structure for most replies:

1. Acknowledge the specific issue. Repeat the concrete detail they gave ("the app freezes on the checkout screen") so it is clear a person read it.
2. Give something useful. A workaround, a status ("fixed in 4.2"), or a clear next step.
3. Offer a private channel when you need details: a support email or in-app help, never a request for personal data in the reply itself.
4. Sign off as a human or team ("Sam, Support") if your brand allows it.

Things that make replies worse:

• Identical copy-paste text on dozens of reviews. Readers notice, and it signals that nobody read the review.
• Defensiveness, blame ("you must be using it wrong") or sarcasm.
• Promises you cannot keep, such as dates for features that are not scheduled.
• Corporate filler ("we value your feedback") with no substance after it.

Templates are fine as a starting point. Personalize at least the first sentence and the specific detail every time.

Few teams can answer every review the day it arrives. A simple priority order keeps the important ones from getting buried:

1. 1–2 star reviews describing a reproducible problem (crash, login failure, payment issue). These are the most likely to change after a fix and often reveal bugs.
2. Reviews mentioning money: billing, subscriptions, refunds. Point to the right refund flow quickly.
3. Recent reviews on the latest version. They reflect your current build and are the most visible.
4. 3–4 star reviews with a suggestion. A short thank-you plus status on the idea builds goodwill.
5. 5 star reviews. Nice to answer when you have time; a brief, specific thanks is enough.

Some reviews are better left alone: spam, abusive content or reviews that are clearly about a different app. Report abuse through the store tools rather than replying.

Replies are not one-shot. On both stores you can edit an existing response, and the reviewer can edit their review afterwards. Apple says users are notified when you respond and can choose to update their review; Google Play describes a similar flow in its help article. Exact notification behavior is controlled by the stores and can change.

That makes the follow-up reply one of the most valuable things you can do:

• When a user reports a bug, reply with an acknowledgment and track the issue internally.
• When the fix ships, edit or update your reply: "This is fixed in version 4.3. Thanks for reporting it."
• The reviewer may revisit and update their rating. Even if they do not, future readers see a resolved issue instead of an open complaint.

To make this work, you need to remember which reviews are tied to which bug. Routing bug reports into your tracker helps; see how to turn app reviews into Linear issues.

Two numbers tell you whether your reply process is healthy:

• Response rate: the share of reviews (or of text reviews) that received a developer reply in a period. Track it overall and for 1–2 star reviews separately.
• Average response time: how long it takes from a review being posted to your reply. Median is useful too, since a few old reviews answered late can skew the average.

Set a target that matches your staffing, for example replying to every 1–2 star text review within two business days, and check it weekly. Watch the trend after releases: a spike in reviews usually means response time slips unless you plan for it.

Review Expert puts App Store and Google Play reviews in one place and lets your team reply without switching consoles:

• Connect your apps under Apps & Businesses using an App Store Connect API key and a Google Play service account. Reviews sync history first, then roughly every 5 minutes.
• Filter the review table by rating, platform and date to work through your priority list.
• Write a reply in Review Expert and it is posted back to the store through the official APIs. Existing replies can be updated the same way. Every team role (owner, admin, reviewer) can reply.
• The dashboard shows response rate and average response time alongside rating trends, so you can see whether you are keeping up.

AI-drafted replies and auto-reply rules are coming soon; today, replies are written by your team. See Reply to reviews and Dashboards for details.