Pulse
Concrete pains from app reviews — and how strong they are
- Night sky and astronomy
The sky on screen doesn't match the real one
Pain 8 out of 10, strong. 191 reviews, in 28 of 53 apps. - Night sky and astronomy
The new comet isn't in the app
Pain 5 out of 10, noticeable. 72 reviews, in 16 of 53 apps. - Night sky and astronomy
The telescope won't respond to the app
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 51 reviews, in 6 of 53 apps. - Night sky and astronomy
The sky map doesn't move with my phone
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 45 reviews, in 18 of 53 apps. - Night sky and astronomy
Go beyond the Solar System
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 41 reviews, in 9 of 53 apps. - Night sky and astronomy
Pluto, Uranus and asteroids are missing
Pain 3 out of 10, mild. 32 reviews, in 12 of 53 apps. - Night sky and astronomy
The forecast says clear, but it's cloudy
Pain 3 out of 10, mild. 28 reviews, in 4 of 53 apps. - Night sky and astronomy
Set my observing location by hand
Pain 3 out of 10, mild. 28 reviews, in 15 of 53 apps. - Night sky and astronomy
The app misses the satellite overhead
Pain 3 out of 10, mild. 25 reviews, in 9 of 53 apps. - Night sky and astronomy
It gets my location or time wrong
Pain 3 out of 10, mild. 23 reviews, in 12 of 53 apps. - Night sky and astronomy
Add James Webb, the Voyagers and other probes
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 25 reviews, in 6 of 53 apps. - Night sky and astronomy
Famous galaxies and nebulae are missing
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 22 reviews, in 10 of 53 apps. - Night sky and astronomy
A sky widget for the home screen
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 22 reviews, in 7 of 53 apps.
How we count
The sample is up to 500 recent App Store reviews for each of about 100 popular apps per category. We look for each need across all of the category’s reviews and check a random sample of matches by hand: at least 80% are correct.
“Pain” is a rough score from 1 to 10: half comes from the share of the category’s reviews that mention it, 30% from how many such reviews there are in total, 20% from the share of apps where it comes up. It is not search demand and not market size.
In words: 1–3 mild · 4–6 noticeable · 7–8 strong · 9–10 acute.