iOS

How to disable in-app ratings and review requests on iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 11, 2017

Apple included a handy new feature in iOS 10.3 beta to give people the power to disable in-app prompts seeking feedback in one fell swoop. Apps that use the new SKStoreReviewController API can invoke a new standardized prompt offering users to provide a rating or write a review without taking them to the actual App Store. This feature has been available on and off for beta testers and should be available to the public in an upcoming update to iOS 10.

These in-app prompts for ratings and reviews can be disabled at once for all apps installed on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch which support the feature. This tutorial provides step-by-step instructions for how to disable in-app ratings and review requests in iOS.

How to disable in-app ratings and review requests on iPhone and iPad

To opt out of receiving these feedback prompts, do the following:

1) Launch Settings on your iOS device.

2) Tap iTunes & App Stores.

3) To disable all in-app prompts for App Store reviews and ratings, flip the switch In-App Ratings & Reviews switch to the OFF position.

This will prevent all apps that are installed on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch from asking for product feedback in the form of App Store ratings and reviews. Again, this toggle has no bearing on apps on your device that do not use iOS 10.3's new SKStoreReviewController API.

Please think twice before disabling in-app ratings and reviews.

As I explained before, the new API streamlines the product feedback experience with standardized prompts limited to three per year per app. As Apple itself suggests, you should help developers and other users know what you think by letting apps ask for product feedback.

Like before, your submitted ratings are valid for the App Store territory where you originally purchased the app. You can also leave ratings and write reviews for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch apps directly in App Store, and for macOS apps in Mac App Store.

You can also leave ratings for Apple TV apps, but not submit reviews.

About in-app ratings and review requests

iOS 10.3 beta gives users the power to silence in-app prompts seeking App Store feedback.

In the past, developers were free to interrupt the experience and inundate users with pesky prompts asking them to provide a rating or write a review on App Store.

With the new SKStoreReviewController API, developers simply choose when they’d like to prompt the user and identify places in their apps where it makes sense to ask for feedback, and the system takes care of the rest.

The system allows users to submit a rating through the standardized prompt and authenticate with Touch ID to write and submit a review, all without leaving the app.

The API limits these requests to three prompts per app in a 365-day period. The counter is not reset when the app is updated. The hope here is that the new API will encourage developers to strategically ask for feedback for major updates only.

Previously, many apps would aggressively ask for feedback after each and every update because App Store erases an app's average rating with each submitted update. Apps that don't use the aforesaid API can still put up a bespoke prompt seeking feedback “at appropriate times throughout the user experience,” according to Apple.

App makers that use iOS 10.3's new SKStoreReviewController API save time because the system decides when to pull up these in-app prompts and how they're rendered.

Users benefit from having the standardized prompt and the ability to write a review or submit a rating without leaving the app they're in.

When the user sees an in-app prompt seeking App Store feedback, he or she can authenticate with Touch ID to write and submit a review, right there and then.

“The system’s rating prompt offers a familiar, efficient experience that’s designed to engage the user with minimal impact,” explains Apple.

As a bonus, developers can at long last respond publicly to App Store reviews.

Any questions?

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Customize the Control Center toggle button statuses with CCStatus

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 10, 2017

Control Center houses a bevy of toggles that make accessing certain iOS features more convenient. Whenever you toggle one of the features on or off, a status update appears at the top of Control Center that lets you know what you changed.

A new free jailbreak tweak called CCStatus by iOS developer harrywantstodev lets you customize these strings of text so that your customized statuses appear when you toggle buttons on or off instead.

WAStatusVolume brings a WhatsApp-inspired volume HUD to iOS

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 10, 2017

The jailbreak community has brought forth a myriad of different solutions for replacing the ugly stock volume HUD in iOS, but one of my favorites so far is a new jailbreak tweak dubbed WAStatusVolume by iOS developer midkin.

This tweak takes a WhatsApp Messenger-styled approach to making the volume HUD experience better by taking the same volume indicator you’d normally see in the WhatsApp Messenger app and making it available system-wide.

TapToOpen lets you interact with your Lock screen notifications with a tap

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 10, 2017

You can either swipe on or use a 3D touch gesture to interact with with notifications on your Lock screen. The swipe reveals options for clearing or replying to the notification, while the 3D Touch gesture opens a quick reply interface instead.

A new free jailbreak tweak called TapToOpen by iOS developer gilshahar7 adds a new way to interact with your notifications by letting you tap on them to interact with them.

See more at a glance in the Music app with MusicMoreColumns

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 9, 2017

Apple’s own Music app underwent several major UI changes since the debut of Apple Music, and one part of the latest redesign is how the app displays two columns of your music on the screen at once.

Because two columns can be limiting, and because modern iPhones have larger displays, a new free jailbreak tweak called MusicMoreColumns by iOS developer HiDan enables three columns in the Music app so you can see more at a glance.

This tweak makes your iPhone animations bouncier

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 9, 2017

Bouncy10 is a new free jailbreak tweak by iOS developer Rishanan that gives iOS a system-wide fun and quirky animation makeover rather than the smooth and boring animations you've become to used to.

It takes a bouncier approach to iOS animations, and more importantly, they're fully adjustable, allowing you to have a different animation effect than other Bouncy10 users.

QuickFlash puts a flashlight button on your Lock screen

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 9, 2017

Having quick access to your iPhone's LED flash is always convenient, and that’s why Apple built their own Flashlight toggle into iOS when they introduced Control Center with iOS 7. But now, you can make accessing the flashlight even easier.

A new free jailbreak tweak called QuickFlash by iOS developer Ziph0n adds a flashlight button to the bottom right of your Lock screen, allowing you to turn on the flashlight with just a tap.

How to gift iTunes credit on iPhone and iPad

Steffen Reich ∙ Updated May 8, 2023

A particularly cruel proverb says there's more than one way to skin a cat. True or not for cats, its intended meaning certainly applies to sending iTunes gifts and gift cards to your loved ones. For years, Apple has done their homework to make sure we can easily swoop up gift cards for iTunes at most retailers, online through services such as PayPal and also directly gift apps or music we come across and want to share immediately.

On top of the bevy of options available, there's another simple trick to send (any desired) iTunes credit to a fellow application user, right through iTunes or the App Store on iOS. While on no account a hidden gem, we haven't called attention to it before on iDB, so let's bring you up to speed on it if necessary.

Jailbreak tweaks of the week: ColorGram, HUDPlayer, & more…

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 7, 2017

The jailbreak community has been pretty unpredictable lately; just as you begin to think Cydia is going through a lull, developers surprise you with a bevy of fun and useful new releases.

In this piece, we'll discuss all of the jailbreak tweaks that were released throughout the week, starting with our favorites. We'll outline the rest of them afterwards.

FolderAutoClose 10 automatically closes folders after launching apps from them

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 7, 2017

Any time you open a folder to launch a containing app, and then you close it, you find yourself back inside the folder where you originally launched that app rather than on the main Home screen.

A new free jailbreak tweak dubbed FolderAutoClose 10 by iOS developer yuripeyamashita is now available that automatically closes folders in the background when launching apps from them.

Hide the date from the Today page with No Date Today

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 7, 2017

Some might consider the date information in the Today page unnecessary because the date appears in several other places on your devices. If you agree, then a new free jailbreak tweak called No Date Today by TheComputerWhisperer could be useful to you.

This tweak removes the double-line date from the Today page and makes more vertical room for cramming additional Today widgets into a single screen; the benefit being that you won't have to scroll down as much to see their information.

This tweak forces Safari to load web pages in Reader or full screen mode

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 6, 2017

While browsing the web in Safari, two bars typically appear in the app: the navigation bar (top) and the toolbar (bottom). As you scroll through a page, on the other hand, the toolbar disappears and the navigation bar shrinks to conserve vertical space.

There are other modes you can use in Safari to complement the web browsing experience, such as full screen mode in landscape orientation and Reader mode in either orientation, but if you’ve ever wished Safari would just use either mode automatically for every page you visit, then you’re going to love using a new free jailbreak tweak called SafaReaderFullScroll by CydiaGeek.