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When to Ask for App Ratings: Early vs. the "Aha Moment"

What we cover:

• Our Prompting Experience
• There's No One-Size-Fits-All Solution
• How to Find the Best Timing for Your App
• Final Thoughts

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Our Prompting Experience

We had been prompting for ratings after a workout for a long time, but then we blindly followed the common advice (e.g. here and here) and asked users for ratings at the end of onboarding. However, we saw a big drop in the velocity of ratings.

You can see from the green arrow where we changed to prompting at the end of onboarding. While the blue arrows show the rating velocity when prompting after a workout.

There's No One-Size-Fits-All Solution

While our experience suggests that waiting for the "aha moment" leads to more ratings, the best approach may vary depending on your app and audience. Here's why:

• User Behavior Differs: Some users might be happy to rate early, while others need more time to see the value.
• Context Matters: An onboarding experience that truly excites users could be a great time to ask for ratings, just as much as a milestone later in their journey.
• Testing Yields the Best Insights: Instead of assuming one approach is better, testing different strategies will help you determine what works best for your specific app.

How to Find the Best Timing for Your App

Every app has a different engagement cycle, but here are some ways to identify the best timing for rating prompts:

1. Analyze User Behavior: Look for moments when users complete a task, achieve a goal, or unlock a milestone.
2. Test Different Prompts: Test prompting users at different stages and compare rating volume and quality by using a tool like Appbot.
3. Consider Emotional Peaks: Moments of success, enjoyment, or relief are often the best times to ask for ratings.

Final Thoughts

Instead of assuming there is a single best time to ask for ratings, experiment with different approaches and see what works for your users. Our experience with 7 Minute Workout showed that prompting after the first workout led to a significant improvement in rating velocity. Whether it's during onboarding or after an impactful interaction, data-driven testing will help you make the best decision.

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About The Author

Stuart is Co-founder & Co-CEO of Appbot. Stuart has been involved in mobile as a developer, blogger and entrepreneur since the early days of the App Store. He built the 7 Minute Workout app in one night and blogged the story of growing the app to 2.3 million downloads before exiting to a large fitness device company. Previously he was the co-founder of the Discovr series of applications which achieved over 4 million downloads. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.

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