How to get real feedback on your app

Checked against the official pages on November 1, 2026. Store rules change, so confirm them before you rely on them.

After months with your own app, you stop seeing it. You know where every button is and why it's there. Useful feedback comes from someone who doesn't, so the job is to make it easy for them to tell you the truth.

Watch the first minute

The first minute shows you the most. Ask someone to open the app with no explanation from you, and to say out loud what they think it does. Stay quiet. Where they hesitate is usually where a new user would leave.

Give tasks, not a tour

"Try the app" gets you "looks nice". A task gets you evidence. Write two or three things a real user would want to do:

• Create an account and add your first plant.
• Set a reminder for tomorrow morning.
• Find where to change it later.

Describe the goal, not the steps. If you name the button, you're no longer testing whether people can find it.

Ask questions that are hard to answer politely

• What did you think this app did before you opened it?
• Where did you get stuck or have to guess?
• What did you expect to happen that didn't?
• Would you open it again tomorrow? Why or why not?
• What would you remove?

Avoid "Do you like it?" and "Would you use this?". Most people say yes to be nice.

Get bug reports you can act on

Ask for the phone model, the OS version, what the tester did, what they expected, and a screenshot. A tester who owns a different phone will often find what you can't.

Decide what to fix

Sort what you hear into three groups:

• Blocks people: crashes, lost data, or anyone failing a core task. Fix these first.
• Confuses people: anything more than one tester tripped on. Fix these next.
• One person's taste: write it down and wait to see if it comes up again.

Then test the fix with someone new. Your earlier testers already know the app.

Keep feedback separate from store reviews

Honest feedback is for you. If you tie it to a review or a reward for a good rating, you get worse information and can break store rules. Google Play doesn't allow incentivized ratings or reviews, and Apple doesn't allow manipulated ones.