Pulse
Concrete pains from app reviews — and how strong they are
- Translators
Photo translation can't find the text
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 40 reviews, in 13 of 38 apps. - Yoga
Do yoga with my Apple Watch
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 56 reviews, in 13 of 66 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. - Teleprompter and captions
Videos come out silent or out of sync
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 28 reviews, in 9 of 41 apps. - AI Companion & Roleplay Chat
More characters to choose from
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 28 reviews, in 14 of 43 apps. - AI Companion & Roleplay Chat
My companion lashes out at me
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 28 reviews, in 14 of 43 apps. - Step counter
Steps don’t update until I open the app
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 61 reviews, in 24 of 66 apps. - Translators
Spoken translation is too fast
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 39 reviews, in 20 of 38 apps. - Study flashcards
Pictures on cards don’t show up
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 31 reviews, in 10 of 34 apps. - Fishing
The bite forecast doesn’t match my catch
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 31 reviews, in 8 of 41 apps. - Fishing
Tide times don’t match reality
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 31 reviews, in 13 of 41 apps. - Notes and knowledge base
Add photos right into a note
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 77 reviews, in 29 of 91 apps. - Recipe & meal-planning apps
Keep my allergens out of recipes
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 64 reviews, in 28 of 79 apps. - Plant care
Doesn't say how to treat the plant
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 39 reviews, in 17 of 64 apps. - Ride-hailing apps
Drivers demand more than the app price
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 56 reviews, in 19 of 90 apps. - AI Companion & Roleplay Chat
Voice calls don’t feel real
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 27 reviews, in 10 of 43 apps. - Study flashcards
Can’t move decks between apps
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 30 reviews, in 11 of 34 apps. - Sleep trackers and alarms
It counts me as asleep when I’m awake
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 85 reviews, in 21 of 94 apps. - Translators
Right language, wrong variant
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 37 reviews, in 13 of 38 apps. - AI assistants
The AI’s knowledge is out of date
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 63 reviews, in 21 of 58 apps. - Weather
A home-screen weather widget
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 66 reviews, in 27 of 92 apps. - Baby tracking apps
Not built for twins
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 47 reviews, in 19 of 61 apps. - Weather
Weather on my Apple Watch
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 65 reviews, in 20 of 92 apps. - Weather
Severe weather alerts don't arrive
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 65 reviews, in 21 of 92 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.