General Questions
- Why should I connect an App Store or Google Play account?
Connecting your store account gives you access to advanced features:
- Reply to reviews connect – Reply to user reviews and report concerns directly. For Android apps, you can also access rating data from the console, detailed review insights (app version, OS, device), country-level data, and beta reviews.
- ASO connect – Unlock ASO Analytics, including traffic and download data by keywords, to track and improve your app’s visibility.
- Do I have to share my credentials to connect the store? Is it safe?
The type of access you provide depends on the connection method:
- App Store Connect
API Connect method – Enter an API key.
2FA method – Use your Apple ID login and password with two-factor authentication.
Invite User method – Simply invite our Apple ID as a user with the necessary permissions.
- Google Play Console
Service account method – Upload a special JSON file generated in your console.
Invite User method – Send us an invite to your Google Play Console account.
Security assurance: All personal data is kept secure. Any credentials or access details are stored safely and are only available to team members within your account.
See detailed instructions for connecting App Store and Google Play.
- Which Google Play connection method should I use: API or Invite?
- Invite method – Easier to set up. You only need to invite our email under Users and Permissions in your Google Play Console.
- Service Account (API) method – Most frequently used for reviews collection. It’s more stable and provides complete functionality. However, if the service account connection is disrupted (e.g., permissions change), there may be a temporary pause in reviews collection, as the system won’t automatically switch to another method.
- Replies priority – Replies are always sent via API (Service Account) when available. If API isn’t set up, the Invite method is used.
For a more detailed comparison, see Google Play Console Data Connections.
- What’s the difference between Google Play the Invite method and Invite - Countries?
- Invite method – Connects your Google Play Console to AppFollow to reply to reviews. This connection type is also required to access ratings data from the console.
- Invite – Countries – Works in addition to the Invite method and provides:
- Country-specific review data with filters for regional insights
- App version information for each review
- Faster reviews collection
- What permissions does AppFollow need when connecting to our app stores (Google Play and App Store)? Does AppFollow get access to analytics, revenue, or install data?
The minimum roles required for replying to reviews are:
- Google Play: Reply to reviews
- App Store Connect: Customer Support
With these roles, AppFollow cannot access downloads, revenue, or analytics data.
If you want AppFollow to display downloads data in your workspace, you can grant additional permissions (see the Google Play and App Store guides for more information) - but even then, AppFollow never reads revenue or other sensitive analytics data.
Troubleshooting
- Something is wrong with the connection (e.g., replies could not be posted or the ASO report is not loaded). How do I know what the issue is?
1. Check the connection status on the Source Connections page.
If a connection is highlighted in red and the status shows “Error”, it needs attention.
Hover over the connection to see detailed error information.
2. Attempt to reconnect. If that doesn’t work, remove the connection and set it up from scratch.
3. Contact support if the problem persists.