One change is the addition of section 1.1.7. This new paragraph requires developers to use the official in-app rating UI added in iOS 10.3 and states that they ‘will disallow custom review prompts’ going forward.
When the new App Store rating API was introduced in the iOS 10.3 beta period at the start of the year, adoption was optional but Apple warned that it would eventually become mandatory.
The language is pretty clear-cut, use the Apple API and stop using custom implementations. The change to the Apple API has some advantages and drawbacks for developers and users.
Developers like the new API because it allows customers to provide a rating without leaving the app; custom implementations would pop an alert that ultimately navigated to the App Store. The integrated Apple rating prompt lets users pick 1-5 stars and press Done, without losing the context of what they were doing in the third-party app.
