Pulse
Concrete pains from app reviews — and how strong they are
- White Noise & Sleep Soundscapes
The sound cuts out in the middle of the night
Pain 5 out of 10, noticeable. 80 reviews, in 34 of 82 apps. - White Noise & Sleep Soundscapes
You can hear the loop restart
Pain 3 out of 10, mild. 36 reviews, in 24 of 82 apps. - White Noise & Sleep Soundscapes
Play sounds on a speaker or TV
Pain 3 out of 10, mild. 36 reviews, in 18 of 82 apps. - White Noise & Sleep Soundscapes
The sound stops when the screen locks
Pain 3 out of 10, mild. 36 reviews, in 18 of 82 apps. - White Noise & Sleep Soundscapes
You can hear voices in the recording
Pain 3 out of 10, mild. 35 reviews, in 21 of 82 apps. - White Noise & Sleep Soundscapes
A sleep timer that turns the sound off
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 32 reviews, in 11 of 82 apps. - White Noise & Sleep Soundscapes
The in-app alarm doesn’t go off
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 31 reviews, in 11 of 82 apps. - White Noise & Sleep Soundscapes
Mix several sounds at once
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 27 reviews, in 13 of 82 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.