# Ratings Mechanics

How App Store ratings actually behave, per-storefront isolation (your US stars show...

- Repository: https://github.com/rshankras/claude-code-apple-skills (846 stars)
- Category: Mobile
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-07-24
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add rshankras/claude-code-apple-skills --skill ratings-mechanics -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add rshankras/claude-code-apple-skills --skill ratings-mechanics -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add rshankras/claude-code-apple-skills --skill ratings-mechanics -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add rshankras/claude-code-apple-skills --skill ratings-mechanics -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add rshankras/claude-code-apple-skills`

## Description

How App Store ratings actually behave, per-storefront isolation (your US stars show nowhere else), the never-reset rule, phased release + manual release as rating protection, and where prompting/replying fit. Use when planning ratings strategy for new markets, considering a ratings reset, setting release options, or diagnosing "why is my rating missing in country X.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Ratings Mechanics

The rating is an asset with mechanics most developers learn the hard way. This skill covers the
four rules that aren't obvious from the ASC UI. Prompting *code* lives in
`generators/review-prompt`; reply *writing* lives in `app-store/review-response-writer`, this
skill is the strategy layer that tells you when each matters.

## When This Skill Activates

- Localizing or expanding into new storefronts ("why does my app show no rating in Japan?")
- Considering the "reset ratings summary" option on a version release
- Choosing release options before submitting (phased vs immediate, auto vs manual)
- Planning a per-market ratings strategy alongside `product/localization-strategy`
- A bad build or review-bomb is threatening the rating

## Rule 1: Ratings are per-storefront, they do not travel

Your 4.8★ from 2,000 US ratings renders as **no rating at all** on the Japanese storefront until
Japanese users rate the app there. Every storefront starts from zero.

Consequences:

- ✅ Entering a new market = re-running the early-days ratings playbook *in that market*: prompt
  eagerly (within guidelines), localize the prompt moment, reply to every early review.
- ✅ Weight `requestReview` triggers by storefront maturity, a market with 12 ratings needs the
  prompt more than the home market with 5,000.
- ❌ Assuming social proof transfers with the binary. A localized listing with zero local ratings
  converts like an unknown app, because there it *is* one.
- The written-review pool is also per-storefront: expect empty review sections in fresh markets
  and seed them via TestFlight communities or launch outreach in that region.

## Rule 2: Never reset the ratings summary

ASC offers a reset when you release a new version. It is almost always a mistake:

The rest: https://github.com/rshankras/claude-code-apple-skills/blob/HEAD/skills/app-store/ratings-mechanics/SKILL.md