In-App Rating Prompt is the system dialog that asks users to rate an app without leaving it — StoreKit's RequestReviewAction on Apple platforms and the In-App Review API on Google Play.
An app requests the prompt, but the store decides whether to show it. On Apple platforms, StoreKit displays it at most three times in a 365-day period to someone who hasn't rated the app on that device, and never in TestFlight builds; the older SKStoreReviewController is deprecated in favor of RequestReviewAction. Guideline 5.6.1 requires this API and disallows custom review prompts. Google Play enforces a time-bound quota whose exact value it doesn't publish: calling the flow more than once in a short period, such as under a month, may show nothing, and the API never reports whether a review was left or the dialog even appeared.
Because the budget is small and display isn't guaranteed, timing decides the prompt's value. Apple's guidance is to ask only after people have shown engagement — a completed level or task — to avoid first launch, onboarding, and mid-task interruptions, and to leave a week or two between requests. Both platforms advise against triggering it from a "Rate us" button, since it may not appear. Ratings feed the visible average and, per Apple, can influence search ranking, so practitioners fire the prompt at moments of success and keep a write-a-review link in settings for users who want to rate on their own.
Example
A running app requests the rating prompt only after a user saves a third completed run — never at launch or mid-workout. A separate "Rate this app" row in settings links straight to the App Store's write-a-review page, so the prompt's limited displays aren't wasted on it.