A free code for a review feels harmless when your app has six ratings and a launch next week. Apple and Google see it differently: Apple says it can expel you from its developer program, and Google says it will keep taking action against incentivized ratings. This guide quotes the rules as they read on 27 Oct 2026, shows which common setups break them, and lists what you can do without risking your account.
What counts as an incentivized review
Google gave the clearest definition in a 2017 policy post: it treats an action as incentivized "if a user is offered money, goods, or the equivalent in exchange for the action", whether the action is a rating, a review or an install. A promo code for your paid app is goods. So is a free month of your subscription, a discount, in-game currency or an entry into a prize draw.
In practice these setups all fall under the rules:
- Codes for reviews. You hand out codes and ask the people who get them to review the app, or you only give codes to people who promise to.
- Review swaps. Developers in a group or forum agree to review each other's apps.
- "Install and review" programs. A service pays people, or gives them points, to install your app and post a rating.
- Rewards inside the app. A coin bonus, an unlocked level or a discount for anyone who rates.
- Review gating. Your app asks "Do you like the app?" and sends only the happy answers to the store, while unhappy users get a feedback form.
The reward does not have to depend on a good rating. Both stores ban rewards for any rating or review. A code handed out with "reviews appreciated" underneath is a gray zone neither store addresses word for word. I treat it as a code given for a review, because that is how the person reading it will take it.
What Apple's App Review Guidelines say
Four passages of the App Review Guidelines (last updated 16 Oct 2026) cover reviews. The introduction to section 3, Business, is the broadest:
"If we find that you have attempted to manipulate reviews, inflate your chart rankings with paid, incentivized, filtered, or fake feedback, or engage with third-party services to do so on your behalf, we will take steps to preserve the integrity of the App Store, which may include expelling you from the Apple Developer Program."
That sentence names paid, incentivized and filtered feedback separately, so review gating is covered as clearly as paying for reviews. It also covers using an outside service to do it for you.
Guideline 3.2.2(x) says apps "must not force users to [rate or review the app], download other apps, or other store-related actions in order to access functionality, content, or use of the app." A feature locked until someone rates is out.
Guideline 5.6.1 sets how you may ask: "Use the provided API to prompt users to review your app; this functionality allows customers to provide an App Store rating and review without the inconvenience of leaving your app, and we will disallow custom review prompts." Your own "Enjoying the app?" pop-up counts as a custom review prompt.
Guideline 5.6.3, Discovery Fraud, catches the rest: "Manipulating any element of the App Store customer experience such as charts, search, reviews, or referrals to your app erodes customer trust and is not permitted."
What Google Play's policy says
The User Ratings, Reviews, and Installs policy opens with a summary: "We prohibit any manipulation of ratings, reviews, or install counts. This includes incentivizing feedback, using forced pop-ups, or paying for fake reviews."
The full policy reads:
"Developers must not attempt to manipulate the placement of any apps on Google Play. This includes, but is not limited to, inflating product ratings, reviews, or install counts by illegitimate means, such as fraudulent or incentivized reviews and ratings, or incentivizing users to install other apps as the app's main functionality."
Google's first example of a violation is "Asking users to rate your app while offering an incentive", shown with a notification that offers a discount for a high rating. Its list of things not to do includes "Don't offer rewards or incentives for ratings or reviews." The policy also bans reviews that contain coupons, game codes or links, so asking users to post your promo code in a review breaks it too.
Gating is covered in the In-App Reviews API guide: your app "shouldn't ask the user any questions before or while presenting the rating button or card, including questions about their opinion (such as "Do you like the app?")".
The law outside the stores
Store policy is not the only rule. If you sell to people in the EU or the US, consumer law applies to reviews too.
In the EU, the Omnibus Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/2161) changed the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive from 28 May 2022. The European Commission summarized the review part this way: "selling, buying and submitting false consumer reviews in order to promote products is prohibited." The same change requires businesses that show reviews to tell consumers how they handle them. In a January 2022 check of 223 websites, the Commission found 176 that did not say whether incentivized reviews were banned or flagged.
In the US, the FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) was published on 22 Aug 2024 and took effect 60 days later. Section 465.4 bans giving "compensation or other incentives in exchange for, or conditioned expressly or by implication on, the writing or creation of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment, whether positive or negative". Section 465.2 covers fake reviews. The FTC said the rule lets it seek civil penalties against knowing violators.
The FTC rule is narrower than the stores: section 465.4 targets rewards tied to a positive or negative opinion, while Apple and Google ban rewards for any rating. If you give no reward for reviews at all, section 465.4 has nothing to catch. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Common setups and where they stand
| Setup | App Store | Google Play |
|---|---|---|
| Free code in exchange for a review | Banned (section 3, 5.6.3) | Banned (incentivized ratings) |
| Free code with "reviews welcome" in the same post | Not addressed word for word; treat as tied to the code | Not addressed word for word; treat as tied to the code |
| Review swap with other developers | Banned (5.6.3) | Banned (manipulation of ratings) |
| Paid "install and review" service | Banned (section 3 names third-party services) | Banned |
| In-app reward for rating | Banned | Banned (Google's first example) |
| "Do you like the app?" before the store prompt | Banned (custom prompts, filtered feedback) | Not allowed by the In-App Reviews API guide |
| The store's own prompt, no reward, same for every user | Allowed (5.6.1) | Allowed |
| Free code with no conditions | Allowed | Allowed |
What you can do instead
Use the system prompt, and only the system prompt
On iPhone and iPad, Apple's ratings page says you can prompt "up to three times in a 365-day period". Apple suggests asking when people are most likely to be satisfied, "such as when they've completed an action, level, or task", without interrupting them.
On Android, Google does not publish the quota. It calls the number "an implementation detail" that can change without notice. Google also says not to trigger the review card from a button, because the user may have already hit the quota and would see nothing.
Keep the prompt separate from codes and giveaways. Do not fire it right after someone redeems a code, and do not mention reviews in the message that delivers a code. Show it on the same rules to every user.
Ask for private feedback
Private feedback is fine on both stores, and it is usually more useful. Add a feedback link in your app, answer support email fast, and put your contact details on your store listing. Beta testers can send you feedback through TestFlight on iOS. On Google Play, open testing lets anyone join your test and, in Google's words, "submit private feedback".
Reply to the reviews you get
Both stores let you reply in public. Apple asks you to keep replies on the user's comments, with no personal information, spam or marketing. Google's policy page asks you to stay on the issues the user raised and not to ask for a higher rating.
Give codes with no strings
Free codes are a fine way to get people to try your app, as long as nothing is asked in return. See how to give away your app for the options on each store, where to share promo codes for places to post them, and how to promote an app with no budget for other channels. Premium App Drops, a weekly drop of developers' codes starting on 27 Nov 2026, never attaches a review request to a code; the developers page explains how it works.
Questions people ask
Can I send free codes to journalists and bloggers?
Yes. An article on a website is not a store review. Apple's own promo code page names "reviewers" among the people the codes are for. Do not ask them to post a store rating as well.
Can I ask friends and beta testers for ratings at launch?
There is no reward involved, so Google's 2017 definition does not cover it. A burst of ratings from people you know can still look like manipulation under Apple's 5.6.3 and Google's ban on manipulating placement. The safe route is to let them meet the system prompt like any other user.
What happens if a store finds incentivized reviews?
Apple says it may expel you from the Apple Developer Program. Google's 2017 post says it will "continue to take action" against incentivized ratings and reviews. For installs bought to push an app up the rankings, the same post says Google filters them, can drop the app from the top charts and, if warranted, remove it from the store.
Is a giveaway where people must rate to enter allowed?
No. Entry into a prize draw is "goods, or the equivalent" under Google's definition, and incentivized feedback under Apple's section 3. Run giveaways where entry costs nothing and asks for nothing on the store.