Skip to main content
Ticket rules turn reviews that match certain conditions into support tickets automatically. When a review needs more than a public reply, AppReply creates a ticket in your connected helpdesk so your support team can follow up directly. This is one-way triage: the conversation continues in your helpdesk, and the ticket’s status shows on the review. You can also create a ticket from a single review by hand: see Create a ticket by hand.
The Integrations page: App integrations, Helpdesk connections, and the rules section, with no rules created yet
Ticket rules are a Pro-plan feature. On a lower plan you can still see any existing rules, and disable them, but creating, editing, or re-enabling one requires Pro.

Supported helpdesk providers

Zendesk

OAuth connection. Create an OAuth client in your Zendesk Admin Center first. You enter its OAuth Client ID and OAuth Client Secret, plus your Zendesk subdomain, and set the redirect URL in Zendesk to the one the connect dialog shows. Some organizations are offered a one-click connection instead.

Intercom

OAuth connection. Needs your own Intercom OAuth app (its OAuth Client ID and OAuth Client Secret) and a default requester email. Set the redirect URL in Intercom to the one the connect dialog shows.

Salesforce

Email connection. You paste your Salesforce Email-to-Case address and confirm it from Salesforce. Each review becomes one email that Salesforce turns into a Case. No sign-in or package is needed.

Freshdesk, Help Scout, Front or any helpdesk by email

Email connection. You paste the address your helpdesk makes tickets from and confirm it there. Each review becomes one email that your helpdesk turns into a ticket.
Connect your helpdesk provider on the Integrations page before creating ticket rules. It’s a top-level item in the sidebar (grouped with Applications and Scorecard), not under Settings.

Setting up a ticket rule

1

Connect your helpdesk

Go to Integrations and connect your Zendesk, Intercom or Salesforce account under Helpdesk connections. Ticket rules can’t be created until at least one connection exists.
2

Create a ticket rule

In the Ticket rules section of the same page, click Create Rule (or Create your first rule when there is none yet). Give it a Rule name, pick the Helpdesk connection it should use, and choose the Application it applies to: All apps, or one specific app. To filter by country, pick one App Store app.
3

Set the rating threshold

Pick a threshold from the dropdown: 1 star only, 2 stars or below, 3 stars or below, 4 stars or below, or All ratings. Reviews at or below the threshold trigger the rule.
4

Add optional conditions

Under Additional conditions (optional), click Add condition to narrow the rule further: Keywords, Topic, Language, Review length and Country. A review must match the rating and every condition you add. See Filter by topic and country.
5

Configure the ticket

Set the ticket subject template, a default priority, and optional tags (see below).

Filter by topic and country

A rule can send only the reviews your support team should see, for example crash reports from Germany. Click Add condition under Additional conditions (optional) and pick a condition.
The Add condition menu: Keywords, Topic (reviews tagged with certain topics or categories), Language, Review length, and Country (App Store storefronts, App Store apps only)
The panel says A review must match every row. A review becomes a ticket only when it matches the rating threshold and every condition.

Topic

A topic condition matches reviews that Analytics has tagged with any of the topics you pick, for example App crashes & freezes.
1

Add a Topic row

Click Add condition and choose Topic. The row reads is any of.
2

Pick topics or a category

Type in Add a topic or category and pick a topic from the list. You can also pick a whole category under Categories, which covers every topic in it, including topics added to it later. Add as many as you need.
A Topic row with crash typed in the search box and App crashes & freezes offered under Topics. Rows without a value say: Pick a value, or this row filters nothing.
Topics need Analytics switched on, and they work for your own apps only, not for competitor apps you track. There is only is any of: a rule can’t say “not this topic”, because a review that has not been analysed yet would look like it has no topic and would be sent. When the ticket is created. Analytics tags a review a few minutes after it arrives in AppReply, so a topic rule creates the ticket when the topic arrives, on the next run after that. Rules run every 10 minutes. A topic rule looks at topics tagged in the last 24 hours, and never at topics tagged before you created the rule, last changed its topics, or moved it to another app or helpdesk. Creating a topic rule, or adding a topic to one, does not send a batch of older reviews to your helpdesk.

Country

A country condition matches reviews by the App Store storefront they were left on.
1

Pick one App Store app

Set Application to one App Store app. Country is offered only then. It is not offered for All apps or for a Google Play app, because Google Play does not say which country a review came from.
2

Add a Country row

Click Add condition and choose Country. Pick from or not from.
3

Pick the storefronts

Open All countries, search with Search a storefront and pick one or more countries, for example Germany.
The Create ticket rule window for an App Store app, rated 2 stars or below, with two conditions: Topic is any of App crashes & freezes, and Country from Germany. Create Rule is enabled.
Then set the ticket fields and click Create Rule, or Update Rule when you edit a rule.

Rows that are not finished

A row without a value says Pick a value, or this row filters nothing. You can’t save the rule until you finish the row or remove it with its x.

Changing the app drops conditions it can’t keep

Topics belong to one app, and Country needs one App Store app. If you change Application after adding them, AppReply removes the conditions the new choice can’t keep and tells you so above the conditions, for example: “Removed the country condition. It only applies when every watched app is an App Store app. Removed topics that belong to apps this rule no longer watches.”
The Create ticket rule window after switching Application to a Google Play app: a notice says the country condition and the topics of the other app were removed

Language includes regional variants

A Language condition also matches regional variants of the language. German matches German reviews from Austria and Switzerland too.

Limits

  • Topic and Country, like all ticket rules, need the Pro plan.
  • For App Store apps, pick single topics. A topic that reaches the rule only through a category does not create tickets for App Store reviews yet.
  • A rule with a Country condition and no Topic rarely creates a ticket for now. A rule without a topic only checks reviews that were posted in the store in the last 2 hours, and App Store reviews usually reach AppReply later than that. Country works only on App Store apps, so most of those reviews are already too old for the rule when they arrive. Add a Topic condition to the rule to avoid this: a topic rule creates its ticket when the topic is tagged, whatever the review’s date.
  • At most 25 topic tickets are created per run. If your helpdesk refuses a ticket, AppReply tries again on later runs while the topic is less than a day old. A helpdesk that fails 3 times in a row gets no more topic tickets until the next run.
  • A review still becomes at most one ticket per helpdesk connection, whichever rule finds it first.

Ticket details

Each ticket includes the full review text and metadata so your support team has context without switching tools.

Subject templates

The ticket subject is a template you control, with variables that pull in review metadata: {rating}, {app_name}, {author_name}, and {review_text_preview}. The default is:

Priority

Each Zendesk or Intercom rule has a single default ticket priority (Low, Normal, High, or Urgent) applied to every ticket it creates. Salesforce rules have no priority. Set it based on what the rule targets: rules that target very low ratings or urgent keywords should default to a higher priority than rules covering general feedback.

Tags

Add a comma-separated list of tags to a Zendesk or Intercom rule; every ticket it creates carries those tags, which helps your support team categorize and route them at a glance (e.g. app-review, triage).

Cooldown

Each review creates at most one ticket per helpdesk connection. If a review already has a ticket in that helpdesk, any further matching rule on the same connection creates nothing, whatever the cooldown is set to. The rule form still has a cooldown field in hours, but today it has no effect on whether a ticket is created.
If a reviewer edits their review with a new complaint after a ticket was created, follow up in the existing ticket in your helpdesk. AppReply does not open a second ticket for the same review on the same connection. With Salesforce, AppReply emails the edit as an [UPD] message in the same thread, as described in the Salesforce integration.

Create a ticket by hand

You can also create a ticket from one review, without a ticket rule:
1

Open the review

On a review card in the reviews feed, click Create ticket. The button shows on reviews of your own apps once a helpdesk is connected.
2

Check the ticket

In the Create Helpdesk Ticket dialog, check the pre-filled Subject and Priority. The priority is set from the star rating: Urgent for 1 star, High for 2 stars and Normal otherwise. If you have more than one connection, pick the helpdesk. You can also add tags. For Salesforce, the priority and tags are not shown.
3

Create it

Click Create ticket.
A ticket created by hand does not depend on any ticket rule, rating threshold or cooldown. Once a review has a ticket, its card shows the ticket’s status from your helpdesk instead of the Create ticket button. The conversation with the customer continues in your helpdesk.

Send past reviews

A ticket rule only sees new reviews. To also send the matching reviews from the past 7, 30 or 90 days, send them once from the rule. AppReply counts the reviews first and tells you how many tickets that makes. Nothing is sent until you confirm, and you can stop at any time. Sending past reviews works with Zendesk and Intercom connections. It needs the Pro plan (or the Pro trial), like every ticket rule.

Start from a rule

  • On a new rule: at the bottom of the Create ticket rule form, in Past reviews, tick After saving, send matching reviews from the past too. Press Create Rule. The rule is saved and the Send past reviews dialog opens.
  • On a saved rule: press the pencil on the rule in Ticket rules. In Past reviews, press Send past reviews…. It uses the saved rule, so save any changes to the rule first. The form closes and the Send past reviews dialog opens.
The Past reviews section of the Edit ticket rule form: a hint that the rule only sees new reviews and that you see how many tickets the past reviews make first, and the Send past reviews button

Count, then send

1

Choose how far back

Under Reviews from the past, pick 7 days, 30 days or 90 days. Reviews that already have a reply are left out. To include them, tick Include reviews that already have a reply. Then press Count reviews. Counting takes a few seconds.
The Send past reviews dialog: Create a Zendesk ticket for each review from the past that matches Negative reviews, the choice of 7, 30 or 90 days with 30 days selected, the Include reviews that already have a reply checkbox, and the Count reviews button
2

Check the count

The dialog says how many tickets it will create, for example “This creates 20 Zendesk tickets, one for each review from the past 30 days that matches “Negative reviews”.” A short list under it says what was left out, for example reviews that already have a ticket, reviews that already have a reply, and the newest three hours, which the rule handles itself.
The count in the Send past reviews dialog: This creates 20 Zendesk tickets, one for each review from the past 30 days that matches Negative reviews. Tickets go out one a second and you can stop at any time. Below, the reviews left out, and the Back and Create 20 tickets buttons
3

Send

Press Create 20 tickets (the number is the count). To change the period, press Back: that throws the count away. Confirm within 30 minutes, or count again.If nothing is left to send, the dialog says that no reviews from that period match the rule and still need a ticket, with Change period and Close.

Follow it and stop it

Under the rule in Ticket rules, a line shows the progress, for example “Sending past reviews: 3 of 20”, with a Stop button. It updates every few seconds.
A ticket rule named Negative reviews in the Ticket rules list, with the line Sending past reviews: 3 of 20 and a Stop button
Stop ends it before the next ticket. A ticket that is being created at that moment is kept. When it ends, the line says how many tickets were sent, for example “Past reviews sent: 20 tickets”, or “Past reviews stopped after 7 tickets (18 skipped)”, and it stays for a day. In Zendesk or Intercom, each past review arrives as an ordinary ticket, the same as the tickets the rule creates for new reviews, with the rule’s subject, priority and tags.

Limits of sending past reviews

  • Zendesk and Intercom only. Not Salesforce or other helpdesks connected by email.
  • Periods are 7, 30 or 90 days, counted by the review’s date in the store. The newest three hours are never included: the rule itself handles those.
  • At most 100 tickets per send. When more reviews match, the newest are sent. Send again for the next ones.
  • At most 300 past reviews per helpdesk in any 24 hours.
  • One send at a time per helpdesk.
  • One ticket a second. 100 tickets take about two minutes.
  • Your own apps only, never competitor apps you track, and only reviews from the countries you monitor for each app.
  • No duplicates. A review gets at most one ticket per helpdesk, whether from a rule, Create ticket or a send of past reviews. A review that gets a ticket or a reply between the count and the send is skipped.
  • If three tickets in a row don’t go through, the send stops and the rule’s line says why. It also stops if the rule is deleted, the helpdesk is disconnected, the Pro plan ends, or the send takes more than a day.
  • If you edit the rule while past reviews are being sent, the send keeps the subject, priority and tags it started with.

Questions about past reviews

No. A review never gets a second ticket on the same helpdesk. If you count the same period again, the dialog says those reviews already have a ticket and are left out.
Yes. Send again: the next send takes the next newest reviews, up to 300 a day for each helpdesk.
Not yet. 90 days is the longest period.
The rule sends those itself, so the newest three hours are left out.
Not yet. Use Create ticket on a single review instead.
Stop ends it. Tickets already created stay in your helpdesk: close or delete them there.
Maybe. AppReply counts that review as not confirmed and does not send it again in a later send. Look for it in your helpdesk.

Enabling and disabling rules

Each rule has its own on/off switch. Disabling a rule is always available, even on a downgraded plan, so you can silence old rules without losing their configuration. When you turn a topic rule back on, it can send matching reviews whose topics were tagged in the last 24 hours, up to 25 per run. If your organization loses Pro access while a rule is still enabled, the rule goes dormant: it stops creating tickets, and shows a Not firing warning saying a Pro plan is required until you either re-enable it (after upgrading) or disable it.

Questions about topic and country

Analytics tags the topic a few minutes after the review arrives. The ticket follows on the next run after that, and rules run every 10 minutes.
No. Google Play does not say which country a review came from, so Country is offered only for a rule on one App Store app.
No. A review that has not been analysed yet would look like it has no topic and would be sent, so topics only offer is any of.
No. A topic rule ignores topics tagged before you created it. A rule without a topic checks the reviews that were posted in the store in the last 2 hours, as soon as it is on.
Rules whose conditions are all finished work as before, except that a Language condition now includes regional variants. If an older rule has a row without a value, it sends no tickets and shows Pick a value, or this row filters nothing. Finish the row or remove it, then save the rule.
The topic was removed or merged into another in Analytics. The rule keeps working on its other topics. Remove the old topic from the rule and pick the topic again.
Switch Analytics on to use a Topic condition. If you switch Analytics off later, topic rules stop finding new topics.

Combining ticket rules with auto-replies

Ticket rules and auto-reply automations can work together, since they’re independent systems. For example, you might auto-reply to a 1-star review with an empathetic response while a ticket rule creates a Zendesk ticket at the same time for your support team to investigate. This gives the reviewer an immediate public acknowledgment and ensures your team follows up privately.
Make sure your support team knows that these tickets come from app reviews. The user may not have provided an email address, so replies through the helpdesk may not reach them directly.

Next steps

Triggers

Learn more about the conditions you can use to target specific reviews

Actions

Configure the response methods for your auto-reply automations