Review score: 91 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 6,069 ratings
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One of the strongest meal planning apps out there: import recipes from any website, auto-generate a consolidated grocery list from your weekly menu, scale portions, and sync with Instacart.
Praised
Import recipes by URL from any site or Instagram Reels, automatic portion scaling, one combined grocery list from multiple recipes, ingredient tagging and search, cross-platform web and mobile
Complaints
Importing from Facebook comments or TikTok requires manual link copying, keyboard covers the notes field when adding items, no standardized units of measurement
Best for: People who take meal planning seriously and want one place for recipes, weekly menus, and a grocery list
Review score: 82 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.9★ · 78,964 ratings
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The top pick in this category for combining lists and recipes: powerful sync, recipe import from websites, and Alexa integration. Weak spots are data privacy and occasional sign-in problems after switching devices.
Praised
Seamless sync across all devices. Import recipes from websites and auto-generate grocery lists. Alexa integration for voice-adding items. Store and category organization. Rock-solid reliability for years.
Complaints
List data ended up with Amazon without explicit user consent. Recovering an account after a device switch is a nightmare and support is unresponsive. Alexa integration has degraded since Amazon made changes.
Best for: People who seriously plan meals for the week, maintain a recipe library, and want a shared grocery list with a partner. The best option in the category for active households.
Review score: 72 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 83,530 ratings
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A mature shared grocery list app with real-time sync, Apple Watch support, and Alexa voice input. Recent UI updates have frustrated many long-time users, but the core feature still works reliably.
Praised
Real-time sync across devices. Great Apple Watch integration. Store section organization. Item autocomplete. Customizable categories.
Complaints
Alexa integration is broken for some users after an update. The latest redesign moved things around and made common actions harder. Limited color label options and some are hard to read.
Best for: Couples and families who share a grocery list, Apple Watch users, and anyone who wants collaborative planning without a subscription.
Rank 4. Review score: 72 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.6★ · 2,645 ratings
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A thoughtful meal planner with a recipe library, grocery list generation, and inventory tracking. Despite a dated interface, it remains a favorite tool for people who take weekly menu planning seriously.
Praised: Recipes, menus, and grocery lists all work together as one system, website recipe import, inventory tracking for pantry items, long-term developer support and no subscription required
Complaints: Import does not work with every site and often needs manual cleanup, the interface looks visually dated, no import from YouTube or social media, device sync occasionally fails, no shared access for couples
Best for: People who seriously maintain a cooking archive and plan menus for the week and do not care about modern design
Rank 5. Review score: 71 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 1,084 ratings
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A solid macro-based meal planner that auto-generates a plan and grocery list, but strictly limits keto diets and non-standard macronutrient ratios.
Praised: Automatically generates a meal plan based on your macros and preferences, the free version gives you full functionality, grocery list is built from the plan
Complaints: Refuses to build a plan if macros fall outside its recommended range (keto, high-protein diets), no metric system support, allergens are sometimes ignored
Best for: People with a standard macro balance who want a ready-made weekly meal plan without doing it manually
Rank 6. Review score: 70 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 105,187 ratings
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A simple and reliable to-do list that many people use as a grocery list. Not built for groceries specifically, but it works steadily and is genuinely free. The main pain points are occasional disappearing items and a clunky reordering feature.
Praised: Truly free with no hidden limits. Quick to add tasks and photos. Works without an account.
Complaints: List items disappear when the app is closed, a recurring bug for multiple users. No easy drag-to-reorder. No time-based reminders in the free version.
Best for: Anyone who wants the simplest free list possible and is not looking for grocery-specific features like categories or recipes.
Rank 7. Review score: 67 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 1,238 ratings
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A visually appealing meal planner with solid structure, but recipe ingredients are not automatically transferred to the grocery list and there is a language bug that displays Dutch instead of English.
Praised: Pleasant design that motivates you to stick to your plan, easy recipe adding
Complaints: Recipe ingredients do not automatically populate the grocery list, interface language bug shows Dutch instead of English, no collaborative editing for families
Best for: People who want a visually clean weekly meal plan without deep analytics
Rank 8. Review score: 66 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 29,086 ratings
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The best recipe organizer in its class: browser import, photos, and Instagram import all work cleanly. But the monetization model hides the real price (phone plus computer equals around fifty dollars), and there is no family sharing.
Praised: One-click recipe import from any source, flexible portion scaling, grocery list creation from your menu
Complaints: Separate purchase required for each platform without a clear warning upfront, no family sharing inside the household, some users have lost recipes
Best for: Someone who stores recipes only on their own phone and does not plan to share them with family members
Rank 9. Review score: 65 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.7★ · 53,553 ratings
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A long-time veteran of the category with solid store and category organization, but it has degraded in recent months with frequent freezes and sync failures between family members.
Praised: Flexible sorting by store aisle order. Per-item price tracking. Barcode scanning. Years of stability before recent updates.
Complaints: The app freezes regularly mid-use. Sync between devices breaks and does not recover even after contacting support. Social login is required for shared list features.
Best for: Users who need a list with flexible categories and price tracking and are okay with occasional freezes.
Rank 10. Review score: 65 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 676 ratings
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A social recipe planner with a free model and easy Instagram import, but it runs unstably with frequent crashes and ads injected right into recipe steps.
Praised: One place for recipes from any source, one-tap import from Instagram, a social feed without like counters, grocery list generated from a recipe
Complaints: Frequent crashes on launch, ads inserted directly into recipe steps and sometimes cannot be closed, iPad version is not properly adapted
Best for: Cooking enthusiasts who want a free app with a social feature and can tolerate occasional crashes
Rank 12. Review score: 63 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 520,136 ratings
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A supermarket flyer aggregator that genuinely helps deal hunters. The main limitation is coverage: if your store is not in the database, the app is useless.
Praised: All store ads in one place. Fast search to see which store has a specific item on sale this week. Watchlist notifications for deals on items you track.
Complaints: Search returns irrelevant results and items from stores outside your area. Many regional chains are not in the database. In-app prices sometimes do not match store prices.
Best for: Budget-conscious shoppers who plan trips across multiple stores to get the best prices for the week.
Rank 13. Review score: 62 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 28,459 ratings
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An extremely simple grocery list with no extras, fast and clear to use, but there is no undo for deleted items and only one list is supported, which is a dealbreaker for some users.
Praised: Instant use without sign-up, minimalist interface, one tap to check off items
Complaints: No way to undo accidentally deleting the entire list, only one list for everything, items sometimes duplicate with no explanation, ads appeared in newer versions
Best for: Someone who wants to open an app and just add milk without dealing with settings, categories, or cloud sync
Rank 14. Review score: 62 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 9,765 ratings
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A clean and attractive shared list app with a simple interface, but sync is unreliable and the app has gradually degraded: Apple Watch support was dropped and the Alexa integration is broken.
Praised: Clean and intuitive interface, easy onboarding with no learning curve, good icon and visual category support, reliable for years for some users
Complaints: Sync deletes items instead of merging duplicates when two people add the same thing, Apple Watch support was removed, Alexa integration is broken, Siri adding does not work despite being advertised
Best for: People who value a clean minimalist interface and basic family sync without demanding reliability for high-stakes scenarios
Rank 15. Review score: 62 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 2,173 ratings
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A macro tracker with an adaptive algorithm for your goals, but it is slow, crashes frequently when entering data quickly, and does not sync with other fitness apps.
Praised: Algorithm automatically recalculates macros based on progress, suggests meal ideas for the remaining macros in the day, clean interface
Complaints: Crashes on quick-add, no integration with Apple Health or MyFitnessPal, weak food database for Australia and the UK, every action requires a network request
Best for: Athletes and bodybuilders who want precise macro targeting without manual configuration
Rank 16. Review score: 60 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.6★ · 52,061 ratings
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A genuinely functional meal planner with ready-made recipes and an automatic list for Walmart or Instacart. Recipe quality is basic, billing is opaque, and the app pushes Walmart on every screen.
Praised: Automatic grocery list from selected recipes for the week. Walmart and Instacart integration for one-tap ordering. Wide selection of meal plans for different diets.
Complaints: The grocery list multiplies ingredient quantities by the number of recipes instead of combining them. Recipes are bland with minimal seasoning. Walmart ads on every screen even for paid subscribers. No renewal notifications and charges happen without warning.
Best for: Busy families who need a ready-made weekly plan without picking recipes themselves and who already shop at Walmart.
Rank 17. Review score: 58 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.5★ · 9,970 ratings
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A solid old-school grocery list with a pantry section and shared access that worked reliably for years, but sync has started glitching, ads appeared without warning, and support has gone silent.
Praised: Purchase history for quick list repeats, pantry section with transfer to grocery list, Apple Watch support
Complaints: Sync between two users is unreliable, barcode scanner is broken, ads appeared in the free version, data sometimes disappears after updates
Best for: Small families who want a shared grocery list without a subscription or unnecessary features
Rank 19. Review score: 58 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 351 ratings
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A vegan recipe app from the Coconut Bowls brand with a built-in grocery list, but some users cannot open it at all and the recipe library is small for the annual subscription price.
Praised: Beautiful recipe photos, linked grocery list, recipes are reportedly genuinely tasty and approachable
Complaints: App fails to launch for some users on iOS, too few recipes for the annual subscription price, heavy bias toward oil-based dishes with no filter, the snacks section duplicates other sections
Best for: Fans of the Coconut Bowls brand and people just starting out with plant-based eating who want simple and visually appealing recipes
Rank 20. Review score: 55 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 249,114 ratings
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A technically capable recipe aggregator with auto-import from any source, but a monetization model built around a forced trial and a hidden subscription seriously undermines trust. The product works, there is no feature fraud, but the billing practices are predatory.
Praised: Flawless recipe import from websites, videos, and photos. Auto-generated grocery list from recipes. Excellent library organization and search.
Complaints: Subscription does not go through the App Store, so users cannot see or cancel it through system settings. The 5 to 8 recipe limit before the paywall is very low. Import occasionally fails.
Best for: People who actively collect recipes from the internet and are willing to pay a subscription, but only if they understand the terms before signing up.
Rank 21. Review score: 55 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.7★ · 24,075 ratings
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A grocery list with cross-device sync and purchase memory. The concept works, but sync breaks periodically and new subscription restrictions have frustrated long-time users.
Praised: Purchase history memory, Apple Watch support, multiple lists for different stores
Complaints: Cross-device sync is unreliable even on a paid plan, aggressive subscription banners, old lists get lost after updates
Best for: Couples and families who want a shared list, if the sync is actually working
Rank 22. Review score: 55 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.6★ · 2,218 ratings
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A simple in-store calculator that tracks your running total with tax. It solves exactly one problem and does it reasonably well, but crashes and pushy review requests get in the way.
Praised: Automatic tax rate detection via location, quick per-item total with tax, simple and clear interface with no clutter
Complaints: Ten-item limit in the free version, no single combined list across multiple stores, frequent crashes when entering a price, aggressive repeat prompts to rate the app within the same session
Best for: Shoppers who want to track their budget in the store and see a running total with tax in real time
Rank 24. Review score: 55 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.6★ · 574 ratings
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A linked meal planner and grocery list with fast recipe import, but it suffers from interface freezes and illogical UX: you cannot add an existing recipe to a plan without creating a new one.
Praised: Fast recipe import from websites, auto-generated grocery list from the weekly plan, can share the plan with a partner
Complaints: App freezes and becomes unresponsive, you cannot add a saved recipe to the plan in one step, no checkbox feature for marking items as purchased
Best for: Families who need a connected meal plan and grocery list for the week, if missing checkboxes in the list is not a dealbreaker
Rank 25. Review score: 53 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.4★ · 583 ratings
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A visual grocery list with item photos and sync that is slowly degrading: image search from the web was removed and ads are now impossible to dismiss.
Praised: Visual item cards with photos, sync with others, easy sorting by category
Complaints: Web image search was removed without explanation, ads block the interface and cannot be closed, data has been lost several times after updates
Best for: People who want a visual list with their own photo library of items and can tolerate aggressive ads
Rank 26. Review score: 52 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.5★ · 3,603 ratings
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A veteran of the category with a rich history going back to Palm Pilot, but development has effectively stopped: sync breaks at the worst possible moment, support does not respond, and there have been no meaningful updates in years.
Praised: Flexible organization across multiple store lists, aisle sorting, barcode and photo support, extensive accumulated lists from years of use
Complaints: Sync between two people's phones regularly stops working right in the store, support does not respond to requests, no significant updates since 2019, search sometimes shows ads instead of the item you need
Best for: Long-time users with large accumulated lists who have nowhere to migrate and are willing to live with unreliable sync
Rank 27. Review score: 52 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.7★ · 1,649 ratings
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A recipe assistant with a beautiful step-by-step guide, but crashes, broken web import, and a forced migration from another app have pushed away loyal users.
Praised: Step-by-step instructions with photos, grocery list generation from recipes, clean design
Complaints: Frequent crashes and freezes, Walmart cart integration is broken, BudgetBytes users lost their recipe history, link import is unstable
Best for: Beginner cooks willing to tolerate instability for the sake of a large recipe library
Rank 28. Review score: 52 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.7★ · 1,077 ratings
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A new grocery list app with auto-sorting by category and item photos, but the release is rough: data gets wiped after updates and the deals feature does not work for anyone.
Praised: Automatic sorting by department, item photo search, saves past purchases without retyping
Complaints: Entire list wiped after an update, multiple attempts needed to add a single item, deals never appear for any user
Best for: People who want something smarter than a notes app and are okay with instability
Rank 29. Review score: 52 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.6★ · 456 ratings
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A grocery list app with item photos and shared access, but aggressive ads with hidden close buttons and data loss after updates make it unfit for regular use.
Praised: Ability to add a photo of any item, multiple lists for different stores, real-time family access
Complaints: Ads in Chinese with no close button, hidden and moving ad close buttons, sync breaks after updates and wipes all data, barcode scanner does not work on branded products
Best for: Users willing to pay to turn off ads and who do not need reliable data transfer between devices
Rank 30. Review score: 50 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.7★ · 11,177 ratings
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The most ambitious concept in the category: scans receipts, tracks your pantry, and builds a grocery list from what you have left. But store sync breaks, the price is hidden until the very end, and bugs keep piling up.
Praised: Receipt and barcode scanning, expiration date tracking, recipe suggestions based on what is already in the fridge
Complaints: A $10 per month subscription is hidden until the end of onboarding, Kroger and Amazon sync periodically fails, customer support is unreachable when there are payment issues
Best for: An organized home cook willing to pay for full pantry control, if the app is running reliably
Rank 31. Review score: 48 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.7★ · 9,847 ratings
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A shared grocery list app that has degraded due to aggressive ads: banners cover the entire list while you are shopping and sponsored items get added to your list without your permission.
Praised: Real-time family list sync, automatic category sorting, multiple lists for different stores
Complaints: Full-screen ads cover the list while shopping, sponsored items are added to your personal list, AI categorization broke sorting and dumps everything into 'other', periodic crashes after updates
Best for: Families who are okay with ads in exchange for free sync, or willing to pay for a subscription to get a clean experience
Rank 32. Review score: 46 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.5★ · 3,829 ratings
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An offline grocery list with multi-store and category support that falls apart on the basics: no sync between your own phone and iPad, shared access for couples costs extra, and the UX is not intuitive.
Praised: Support for multiple stores with separate lists, flexible category customization, developer responds quickly to support requests
Complaints: No sync between devices for the same user, shared access requires a separate purchase, no list search, no button to delete completed items, app automatically creates new items without user input
Best for: Solo shoppers who shop at several different stores and do not need sync or shared access
Rank 33. Review score: 44 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.7★ · 13,935 ratings
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A massive recipe database with an organizer and meal planner, but ads cover recipe instructions even after paying for Pro, saved recipes disappear, and canceling a subscription is a battle.
Praised: Millions of recipes in one place, ability to add your own, folder organization, offline access
Complaints: Ads persist after buying Pro, recipes and folders disappear without warning, customer support does not answer calls, subscription cancellation is blocked
Best for: Someone who needs a huge recipe library and does not care about the reliability of their own stored data
Rank 34. Review score: 44 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.8★ · 7,574 ratings
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A visually appealing list organizer with icons and colors that has gradually been choked by a paywall and technical failures: lists delete themselves, the app stops opening, and password reset does not work.
Praised: Wide selection of icons, colors, and fonts for styling lists, simple and clear for basic needs, saves data on reinstall
Complaints: Lists spontaneously delete themselves or get created empty, app stops opening after updates, password recovery does not work, shared access is paid-only, aggressive paywall
Best for: Solo users who want a good-looking list with no reliability requirements and no need for shared access
Rank 35. Review score: 44 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.1★ · 384 ratings
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A simple grocery list with a solid basic concept that has not been updated in years and has an unfixed critical bug: a persistent sync popup appears even when the app is on a single device.
Praised: Simple and fast, support for multiple lists, drag-to-reorder items, basic functionality with no clutter
Complaints: A popup about list changes on another device appears even when the app is on only one phone, no updates in years, item duplication on manual entry, no aisle grouping
Best for: Someone looking for a simple list with no extras and willing to live with an unfixed sync bug
Rank 36. Review score: 41 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.5★ · 4,695 ratings
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An app with an ambitious feature set (inventory, recipes, smart clearing) that works unreliably in practice: freezes, crashes, broken sync, and a smart grouping tool that duplicates items instead of merging them.
Praised: The idea of combining inventory and grocery list in one place, aisle sorting, multi-store support, no ads in the base version
Complaints: App is slow on any device, smart clearing duplicates items instead of merging, Mac version crashes constantly, app periodically stops opening, support is unreachable
Best for: Patient users willing to invest time in setup in exchange for no ads and the inventory concept
Rank 38. Review score: 38 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.7★ · 721 ratings
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An ultra-minimalist list with no categories, no photo support, and no real sharing, which was also broken by a recent update that shuffled item order and added a forced subscription.
Praised: Easy to add items, no account required, takes up minimal space
Complaints: List order randomly reshuffles after an update, sharing only works as a text message, no printing, subscription is pushed without warning
Best for: Solo users with no need for shared access, willing to accept no categories and ongoing instability
Rank 39. Review score: 36 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.6★ · 1,199 ratings
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A functional grocery list with store sorting that was ruined by aggressive ads: they appear right in the middle of shopping and cannot be dismissed for several seconds.
Praised: Sorting items by aisle and store, simple interface for maintaining an ongoing list
Complaints: Forced audio ads with no close button for users who previously paid, periodic total data loss, no sync between devices
Best for: People willing to pay for a clean ad-free experience and confident in stable data storage
Rank 40. Review score: 36 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.2★ · 464 ratings
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A grocery list app with categories and a pantry feature built on dishonest monetization: it has locked users out of their own data multiple times without warning.
Praised: Department-based categorization, multi-list by store, pantry tracking
Complaints: Bait-and-switch: free features become paid without notice and block access to existing data, sharing and sync do not work
Best for: Not recommended to anyone under the current monetization policy
Rank 41. Review score: 35 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.3★ · 333 ratings
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A basic grocery list app with preset categories that the developer broke with a design update. Before that it was already suffering from a data-wiping crash and aggressive rating prompts on first launch.
Praised: Preset item categories save time during initial setup, left-swipe to delete works as expected
Complaints: Crash that wipes all data during list entry, mandatory review prompt on the very first use, an update broke the familiar interface, developer responds rudely to criticism in reviews, no cross-device sync
Rank 42. Review score: 32 out of 100. App Store rating: 3.2★ · 569 ratings
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A cult minimalist grocery list with a 15-year history, but abandoned by its developer: editing and reordering items crashes the app on every modern iOS version.
Praised: Extremely simple interface like a paper list, multiple stores, autocomplete from history
Complaints: Last update was six years ago, any editing causes a crash, no real-time sharing, data resets periodically
Best for: Only for existing users with an old iPhone and a list already filled in. No reason for new users to try it.
Rank 43. Review score: 29 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.5★ · 599 ratings
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A grocery list app built around the concept of a reusable master list, but entirely broken: editing any item causes a crash and the developer has not fixed this bug in years.
Praised: The master list concept for reuse across shopping trips, clean interface with no ads
Complaints: Editing any item crashes the app (a bug that has existed for years), no real-time sharing, app freezes offline
Best for: Hard to recommend to anyone given the unfixed critical bug
Rank 44. Review score: 22 out of 100. App Store rating: 4.6★ · 1,394 ratings
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A basic grocery list completely ruined by aggressive ads: popups block the interface right in the store, and scam warnings about your phone being hacked appear in the ad flow.
Praised: Simple list structure by store, works offline
Complaints: Ads cover the list and cannot be closed, scam popups about device hacking, no cross-device sync, cannot rename a list
Best for: Not recommended to anyone in its current state
About scores
Two scores — two sources
They help compare apps, but they don’t replace checking your own job.
Review score · up to 100
The stored score from inApp research on review texts. It rates the app overall in the archive, not the reliability of any one feature.
Store rating · up to 5
The rating from the app’s page when the data was collected. The current rating and version may differ.
In the archived sample for this topic: 44 apps and 9,801 reviews read. That is the total size of the research, not the number of reviews per app.
A gap between the scores doesn’t prove manipulation. The calculation date and the full scoring method aren’t in the mobile archive. Compare the job descriptions and the source quotes, and check the terms in the current version.
