App Store

Status: beta

The App Store Connect connector is in beta: it is built and working, you can connect an app today on any plan, and we are still verifying it against real apps before dropping the label. Its card on the Review sources page carries a Beta pill. Everything below describes how it works; if anything behaves oddly, tell us — that is exactly what this phase exists to catch.

What you need first

App Store Connect has no "Sign in with Apple" flow for this. Instead you create an API key in your own App Store Connect account and give ReviewHive three things: the Issuer ID, the Key ID, and the key file itself.

That is more setup than clicking a button, and it buys you something real: there is no partner programme to apply to, no app review, and no waiting. You control the key and can revoke it at any moment.

You need the Admin or Owner role in ReviewHive.

The key must have the right role

Create a Team key with the Admin or App Manager role.

This matters more than it looks. Apple lists the Customer Support role as covering ratings and reviews, and a Customer Support key genuinely can read them — so it appears to work. But Apple refuses that same key when it tries to post a response, which means you would import your entire review history and then discover you cannot answer a single review.

ReviewHive checks this when you connect and refuses a key that cannot reply, naming the role you need. That is deliberate: a clear failure now is better than a connection that looks healthy and cannot do its job.

Use a Team key, not an Individual key. An individual key belongs to one person's App Store Connect account and stops working when they leave the team.

Create the key

1. Sign in to App Store Connect.
2. Go to Users and Access, then the Integrations tab.
3. Copy the Issuer ID shown near the top of the page.
4. Under Active, press + to generate a new key. Give it a name you will recognise, such as "ReviewHive", and choose the Admin or App Manager role.
5. Press Generate, then Download API Key.

Apple lets you download the .p8 file exactly once. Keep a copy somewhere safe. If you lose it, the key cannot be recovered — you revoke it and generate a new one.

Copy the Key ID from the same row; it looks like 2X9R4HXF34.

Connect it in ReviewHive

The wizard has three steps: Add API key, Choose app, then Done.

1. Go to Review sources, choose App Store Connect, then Connect.
2. Paste the Issuer ID and Key ID. For the private key, either upload the .p8 file or paste its contents — including the -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY----- lines.
3. Press Continue. ReviewHive uses the key to list the apps it can see, which also proves the key works before anything is saved.
4. Pick your app and press Connect app. Connect the others as separate sources if you have more than one.

The first sync starts immediately and imports your full review history. For an app with thousands of reviews this takes a few minutes; you can leave the page.

What syncs, and what does not

Reviews come in with their headline. App Store reviews have a title separate from the body, and it often carries the whole point — "Crashes on launch after 3.2". ReviewHive stores it as its own field and shows it above the review text, rather than gluing the two together.

Replies work in both directions. A response you posted in App Store Connect appears here as Replied, and a reply you send from ReviewHive appears on the App Store.

One response per review. App Store Connect allows a single response, and posting again replaces it. Editing a published reply in ReviewHive does exactly that — it replaces the previous one rather than adding a second.

Responses are not published instantly. Apple queues them for review, so expect a delay of a few hours between sending and the response appearing publicly. ReviewHive shows the review as replied straight away, so you do not answer it twice by accident.

Territory is not stored. Apple reports which storefront each review came from. ReviewHive does not keep it, because nothing in the product would use it today. Say so if you would like it — it is a deliberate omission, not an oversight.

Rotating or replacing a key

Open the source and press Replace API key. You go through the same steps with the new key.

Do this whenever you revoke a key in App Store Connect, when the person who created it leaves, or if you suspect the .p8 has been seen by someone it should not have been.

Troubleshooting

"This API key can read reviews but cannot post replies." The key has the Customer Support role. Create a new key with the Admin or App Manager role and connect that one instead. Changing the role of an existing key is not possible — Apple requires a new key.

"App Store Connect did not accept this key." Almost always one of three things: the Issuer ID belongs to a different team, the Key ID does not match the .p8 file you uploaded, or the key was revoked in App Store Connect. Check them in that order.

"This API key can see no apps." A Team key only covers apps on its own team. If your app sits on a different team, create the key there.

"This app is already connected." Another ReviewHive workspace has claimed it. One app belongs to one workspace — this is what stops two accounts from fighting over the same reviews and the same replies. Disconnect it there first.

Replies started failing after working fine. Someone changed the key's role in App Store Connect, or revoked the key. The error message names the role required; connect a new key.

Privacy

Your .p8 private key is encrypted before it is stored, is never returned to your browser after you submit it, and never appears in our logs — not even a fragment. It is used only to sign short-lived tokens for requests about the app you connected.