Pulse
Concrete pains from app reviews — and how strong they are
- Journaling and mood
Backdate an entry for a missed day
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 27 reviews, in 17 of 95 apps. - Meditation and mindfulness
The guide never stops talking
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 36 reviews, in 22 of 100 apps. - Notes and knowledge base
Notes right on the Apple Watch
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 25 reviews, in 10 of 91 apps. - Period tracker
A postpartum and breastfeeding mode
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 23 reviews, in 15 of 75 apps. - Sleep trackers and alarms
You can hear the loop restart
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 28 reviews, in 13 of 94 apps. - AI photo
Several people in one photo
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 34 reviews, in 15 of 100 apps. - Habits
Can’t shift the day to fit a night schedule
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 27 reviews, in 16 of 98 apps. - Notes and knowledge base
Access notes from a computer
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 24 reviews, in 17 of 91 apps. - Notes and knowledge base
Colored text and highlighting
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 24 reviews, in 17 of 91 apps. - Calendars and tasks
More repeat options
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 38 reviews, in 25 of 100 apps. - Crypto & investing apps
Alerts when the price hits my level
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 24 reviews, in 11 of 93 apps. - AI photo
It gets people’s gender wrong
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 32 reviews, in 17 of 100 apps. - Sleep trackers and alarms
An Apple Watch app
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 26 reviews, in 15 of 94 apps. - Language learning
Robotic voices instead of native speakers
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 32 reviews, in 17 of 100 apps. - Period tracker
A cycle widget for the home screen
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 21 reviews, in 14 of 75 apps. - Faith, Prayer & Bible
Can’t make the Bible text bigger
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 30 reviews, in 18 of 88 apps. - Meditation and mindfulness
Back-to-back tracks until I’m asleep
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 32 reviews, in 15 of 100 apps. - Personal finance
Budget by paycheck, not by calendar month
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 26 reviews, in 18 of 99 apps. - Meditation and mindfulness
A home-screen widget
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 31 reviews, in 17 of 100 apps. - Workouts and fitness
A workout widget for the Home Screen
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 26 reviews, in 17 of 91 apps. - Workouts and fitness
Sync with Strava and Garmin
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 25 reviews, in 17 of 91 apps. - Faith, Prayer & Bible
Listen to the Bible, not just read it
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 26 reviews, in 16 of 88 apps. - Faith, Prayer & Bible
A daily verse or prayer-time widget
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 26 reviews, in 16 of 88 apps. - Language learning
Can't start at my level
Pain 2 out of 10, mild. 27 reviews, in 18 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.