Pulse
Concrete pains from app reviews — and how strong they are
- Password managers
Videos in the vault won't play
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 58 reviews, in 13 of 95 apps. - Listening to music
Music stops when the screen goes off
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 67 reviews, in 18 of 95 apps. - Night sky and astronomy
Go beyond the Solar System
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 41 reviews, in 9 of 53 apps. - Couples
My partner on Android can’t join
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 29 reviews, in 12 of 35 apps. - Listening to music
My own cover for a song or playlist
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 66 reviews, in 18 of 95 apps. - Running
The coach’s voice and my music clash
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 47 reviews, in 17 of 50 apps. - Menus and shopping lists
Print the list, menu or recipe
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 32 reviews, in 16 of 54 apps. - AI Species Identifier (Plant/Bug/Animal)
Diagnoses the plant but won’t say how to fix it
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 43 reviews, in 15 of 48 apps. - Travel planning
The app can't find my booking
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 63 reviews, in 18 of 90 apps. - Stock investing
Missing the stocks and markets I need
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 73 reviews, in 24 of 73 apps. - Habits
Check off habits on Apple Watch
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 78 reviews, in 26 of 98 apps. - Weather
Says no rain while it's raining outside
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 61 reviews, in 33 of 92 apps. - Ride-hailing apps
The final fare is higher than quoted
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 50 reviews, in 21 of 90 apps. - Notes and knowledge base
Make words bold or italic
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 68 reviews, in 33 of 91 apps. - AI Companion & Roleplay Chat
Characters don’t stay in character
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 24 reviews, in 16 of 43 apps. - Food delivery apps
Meal kit ingredients arrive spoiled
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 82 reviews, in 16 of 94 apps. - Food delivery apps
My order goes to the wrong location
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 82 reviews, in 23 of 94 apps. - Focus and productivity
Can’t hear the timer when it ends
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 43 reviews, in 16 of 75 apps. - Calories and nutrition
Fiber and vitamins, not just macros
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 70 reviews, in 35 of 95 apps. - AI writing assistants
The AI censors harmless requests
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 50 reviews, in 20 of 91 apps. - Guitar: tuner and learning
Any tuning, not just standard
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 42 reviews, in 16 of 61 apps. - Stock investing
Trading signals lose money
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 68 reviews, in 14 of 73 apps. - Focus and productivity
A home-screen widget
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 42 reviews, in 20 of 75 apps. - Photo editors
Effects aren’t made for darker skin
Pain 4 out of 10, noticeable. 104 reviews, in 31 of 100 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.