Rating and gifting from an iOS app
Two features which we’re often required to enable within an iOS app are those of rating the app and gifting the app. Currently both these features are implemented by utilising different link schemas. Both of the methods used utilise slightly random looking URL schemas so it’s quite possible that Apple will standardise these methods and/or break these examples in future, but for now they work just fine.
Note that both the following are intended to work from an iOS device. To use them from a computer will require iTunes.
Rate this app
To enable “Rate this app” functionality from within an iOS app, create a link as follows:
The above link is for rating our Monarchy Explorer app. To customise it, simply change the “id=429156997″ string to use a different app ID. Any yes, the “type=Purple+Software” string is required (apparently a reference to the fact that the iPhone’s project name was “purple” whilst it was under development).
Gift this app
To enable “Gift this app” functionality from within an iOS app, create a link as follows:
The above link initiates the gifting experience to gift our Monarchy Explorer app. Again, to customise the gifting URL simply change the “salableAdamId=429156997″ string to use a different app ID. On the device, gifting is fulfilled through iTunes rather than the App Store which can feel a bit strange. It’s also a relatively convoluted process consisting of about 4-5 screens including login and entering the details of the recipient.
