Why your App Store ratings look different in different countries

Are App Store ratings global or country specific?

They are territory specific. Apple says the summary star rating shown on the product page and in search results is associated with each App Store territory. A rating visible in one country therefore does not describe every customer worldwide. See Apple's ratings and reviews explanation.

Start with the context you can verify. Record the country or region displayed, the app's identity and the platform. Two screenshots of a similar-looking app page are not enough to establish a discrepancy if those details differ.

Keep separate concepts separate: a rating is a star score; a written review contains customer feedback; a chart ranking is the app's position in a particular chart. The number of written reviews is not a substitute for the rating count, and a five-star score does not mean the app sits first in a chart.

How do you check ratings for another country?

For an app you manage, open App Store Connect, choose the app and go to Ratings and Reviews. Select the platform, then the country or region. You can also narrow written reviews by version, star rating and response status. Apple's viewing instructions describe these controls.

Make a comparison note with these fields:

• App name and App Store ID.
• Platform and country or region.
• Summary star rating and rating count, exactly as displayed.
• Date checked and any review filters you applied.
• Repeated issues in recent written reviews.

Compare one dimension at a time. First keep the platform fixed and change the country. Then, if necessary, inspect another platform separately. This makes it easier to explain whether the difference concerns a different audience, a different app experience or simply a different view.

How much does a small rating count matter?

A lot when you are deciding how confident to be. A rating based on a handful of people can change sharply after one more response.

Illustrative arithmetic, not a claim about Apple's display algorithm: four five-star ratings have a simple average of 5.0. Add one one-star rating and that average becomes 4.2. With forty five-star ratings, adding one one-star rating produces an average of about 4.90. The new rating carries the same score, but its effect on each small dataset is different.

Do not average displayed country averages to announce a global rating. They may represent very different numbers of ratings, and the displayed figures may be rounded. Retaining the individual country figures is clearer than publishing a misleading combined number.

What should you investigate when one country rates your app lower?

Read the actual complaints before choosing an explanation. A low score alone cannot tell you whether the issue is translation, reliability, pricing expectations or an unmet feature request. Avoid assuming that a whole country thinks alike.

Make a small issue list containing the symptom, version mentioned, country, how you will test it and whether other reports describe the same thing. Then check relevant conditions: date and number formats, long translated labels, measurement units, permissions, network behaviour and the particular task the customer attempted.

Original example: imagine two reviews saying a budgeting app rejects a decimal comma. Test amount entry with that region's settings before rewriting the product page. A reproducible parsing bug gives you a concrete fix. A general claim that the app needs better localisation gives you much less to work with.

When translating feedback, preserve uncertainty around technical terms. If the meaning is unclear, ask a fluent reader or seek more detail through your support channel.

Does changing the app's language change its country rating?

Language and territory answer different questions. Translating your listing changes the information people can read; it does not make every country's star score the same.

Apple also distinguishes localised App Store metadata from languages supported inside your app. Translating the description does not translate the app's interface. Its localisation guide explains how metadata languages are selected and displayed.

Check the promise and the experience together. If your screenshots show a translated workflow, verify that someone choosing that language can complete it. Ask a tester to follow the full journey from product page to first useful result. Keep their observations about wording separate from functional bugs so each has a clear owner, even when both owners are you.

Should you reset your App Store summary rating?

A reset is a publishing decision worth considering carefully. Apple allows a summary-rating reset with a new version, while existing written reviews remain. Its design guidance highlights the trade-off between reflecting the updated app and having fewer ratings.

Before considering a reset, write down what changed in the product and why the existing summary no longer represents it well. Keep a record of the previous figures for your own analysis. Do not treat a reset as evidence that the underlying problems have been solved.

For most day-to-day work, the more useful loop is straightforward: identify the issue, test it, ship a verified fix and update the relevant review response. Our review reply guide includes examples you can adapt without promising an outcome you cannot control.

How do you keep up with reviews across countries?

Pick a regular review window and prioritise current problems. Perch brings reviews from different countries into one inbox, alongside your app's other numbers. Review replies require a connected key with suitable permissions; the setup guide covers that connection.

Keep the country beside each observation, but let the specific customer experience lead your next action.