The URL gets them one step closer at least. The fewer barriers there are the better. Having it occur within the app would be ideal though. Especially if there were feedback if the event was successfully completed.
If “rateApp” has been deprecated, then what is the best way to link to Google Play and Amazon Appstore for reviews now?
You still call native.showPopup() but in appStore mode:
http://docs.coronalabs.com/api/library/native/showPopup.html#appstore
This will load the app’s store page and there should be a link to the Rate the app from there.
Rob
Rob - unnecessary steps reduces the conversion rate. It may seems like a trivial thing for a user to do, but in reality there is a significant drop-off as non-technical users simply don’t realize they need to perform that extra step.
Below is the code I use for Apple and Google stores.
Notes:
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On the Google Play Store, the “Write a Review” button appears as soon as you open the specified URL, so no issues there.
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This code is tested on all iOS versions except 8. EDIT: Tested the Purple+Software URL (mentioned in point 4 below) on iOS 8 and it works well.
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In iOS 7.0.X, there is a limitation because of which we cannot land on the review page directly. The _ itms-apps _ URL is used to circumvent this problem. In this case, the user will have to manually navigate to the review page (haven’t found a better workaround so far).
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For all other iOS versions, the _ Purple+Software _ URL will take the user directly to the review page. This is what we want.
local deviceType = system.getInfo ( “platformName” ) local deviceVersion = system.getInfo ( “platformVersion” ) local appleAppID = “XXXXXXXXX” local googleAppID = “XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX” local urlPrefix = “http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?id=” local urlSuffix = “&pageNumber=0&sortOrdering=2&type=Purple+Software&mt=8” if deviceType == “iPhone OS” then if string.find ( deviceVersion, “7.0” ) then system.openURL ( “itms-apps://itunes.apple.com/app/id” … appleAppID ) else system.openURL ( urlPrefix … appleAppID … urlSuffix ) end elseif deviceType == “Android” then system.openURL ( “https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=” … googleAppID ) end
it seems now apple wants user to go to the details page only.
To write a review user actually has to tap Review then tap write a review.
I checked out some recent games and all linked to the details page.
Apple still allows direct access to the Reviews “tab”.
If you use this URL (where 00000000 is your iTunes app id):
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews ?mt=8 &type=Purple+Software &id=00000000
…you’ll get straight to the review tab. I’ve tested this with my recent apps approved in January 2015.
It also depends on which iOS version you’re running since Apple usually breaks this from time to time. Up until iOS 6 everything was fine but in iOS 7 and iOS 8 they broke the functionality with the “.0” release but eventually fixed the issue in an update.
When testing with iOS 8.1.3 it works just fine.
Thanks for the info! I tested on iOS 8, it works!
Btw why not use this one instead of itunes,apple.com which links direct to the app store?
itms-apps://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?mt=8&type=Purple+Software&id=000000000http was used for backward compatibility reasons (at least this was true for iOS 4 and 5). itms-apps didn’t work well with the review page. Also, I’ve used the http approach for 4 years and it has worked well, so I haven’t had any reason to update it.
I agree that itms-apps would be a logically cleaner approach as long as backward compatibility to iOS 7 and iOS 6 is maintained.
I wish we’d have direct access to the StoreKit (or whatever Apple calls it that lets us open it within the app). Conversion rates are so much better when the player doesn’t even have to leave your app. It also works incredibly well to cross promote your users across titles. Kicking them out to the App Store really isn’t ideal.
Corona team, will you be adding this any time soon?
Corona cannot do that as Apple doesn’t allow it. The same restriction applies to native developers as well. In fact, Google has the same approach. One reason I can think of is to prevent developers from getting to know the user’s rating/review. When the user chooses to rate the app, control is handed over to the ‘App Store’ app. What the user does from thereon is never communicated back to the developer’s app.
I believe Apple can however take a leaf out of Google’s book and simplify the whole reviewing process as mentioned in this article.
@Prathap
Ah, didn’t realize you couldn’t rate from those App Store popups. It would still be nice to have the feature. Show users your other app and get them to download it without getting kicked out to the App Store.
Re: StoreKit: Engineering work queue is full of really important and good things right now. StoreKit is not something I’ve heard being mentioned by Engineering. There is an existing request at the feedback site:
It has 12 votes at the moment. Frankly this looks a lot like what native.showPopup() already does (based on the attached image), but for this to get any consideration, this is going to need be voted up.
In the mean time, you can use Corona Enterprise or CoronaCards and implement it yourself.
Rob
I filed a bug report on this independently. Not sure how Corona could be aware of this and not fix it, considering it’s a simple url change for “rateApp”. Rob, thanks for the responses; while using StoreKit would certainly be nice, it’s not at all required to fix this basic functionality.
it seems now apple wants user to go to the details page only.
To write a review user actually has to tap Review then tap write a review.
I checked out some recent games and all linked to the details page.
Apple still allows direct access to the Reviews “tab”.
If you use this URL (where 00000000 is your iTunes app id):
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews ?mt=8 &type=Purple+Software &id=00000000
…you’ll get straight to the review tab. I’ve tested this with my recent apps approved in January 2015.
It also depends on which iOS version you’re running since Apple usually breaks this from time to time. Up until iOS 6 everything was fine but in iOS 7 and iOS 8 they broke the functionality with the “.0” release but eventually fixed the issue in an update.
When testing with iOS 8.1.3 it works just fine.
Thanks for the info! I tested on iOS 8, it works!
Btw why not use this one instead of itunes,apple.com which links direct to the app store?
itms-apps://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?mt=8&type=Purple+Software&id=000000000http was used for backward compatibility reasons (at least this was true for iOS 4 and 5). itms-apps didn’t work well with the review page. Also, I’ve used the http approach for 4 years and it has worked well, so I haven’t had any reason to update it.
I agree that itms-apps would be a logically cleaner approach as long as backward compatibility to iOS 7 and iOS 6 is maintained.
I wish we’d have direct access to the StoreKit (or whatever Apple calls it that lets us open it within the app). Conversion rates are so much better when the player doesn’t even have to leave your app. It also works incredibly well to cross promote your users across titles. Kicking them out to the App Store really isn’t ideal.
Corona team, will you be adding this any time soon?
Corona cannot do that as Apple doesn’t allow it. The same restriction applies to native developers as well. In fact, Google has the same approach. One reason I can think of is to prevent developers from getting to know the user’s rating/review. When the user chooses to rate the app, control is handed over to the ‘App Store’ app. What the user does from thereon is never communicated back to the developer’s app.
I believe Apple can however take a leaf out of Google’s book and simplify the whole reviewing process as mentioned in this article.