What we check, and what we do not
Short version: we read Apple's public App Store catalogue and report what is in it. We have
not installed these apps on a test device. Everything below is about being precise on that line.
What we do
- Read the listing directly from Apple. Download size, minimum iOS version, current version
number, release date, last update date, rating and number of ratings, supported languages, and the
developer name all come from the same public catalogue Apple serves to the App Store itself.
- Work out what those numbers imply. A minimum of iOS 16 means an iPhone 7 cannot install the
app. A 166 MB download means you need 166 MB free before anything gets cleaned. Those are not opinions,
they follow from the data, and they are the sort of thing a store page will not point out.
- Re-check monthly. Versions, sizes and minimum iOS change. Every page carries the date it was
last checked.
- Say when we do not know. Apple does not publish subscription prices in the catalogue, so we do
not quote them anywhere. A made-up number would be worse than none.
What we do not do
- We do not install and test the apps. So we cannot tell you how many gigabytes any of them
freed on a real phone, and we never claim a figure.
- We do not audit them for security. Passing Apple's review is not the same as an independent
audit, and we have not run one.
- We do not rank on the feature list. Every app claims roughly the same features and we cannot
verify them from outside. We rank on things that are checkable.
What we rank on
- Track record: number of ratings and the score.
- Download size: whether it fits on a phone that is already full.
- Minimum iOS: which phones can install it at all.
- Last update: whether anyone still maintains it.
Our own app is ranked by exactly the same four, which is why it does not come first: on track record it
is far behind everything else on the site.