How ranking works

What decides an app's organic rank?

Every published app with at least 3 reviews gets a rank, like “#4 in Puzzle”. Ranks are recalculated regularly from:

• Rating quality. A weighted (Bayesian) average of on-platform ratings, so a single 5-star review can't beat an app with many good reviews.
• Recent activity. New reviews in the last two weeks.
• Helpfulness and interest. Helpful votes on reviews, upvotes and followers. These count for a little, so a burst of votes can't outweigh honest reviews.
• A small boost for new apps in their first month, so new developers get seen.

Apps with fewer than 3 reviews show as “New” and appear in Needs feedback.

What's the difference between upvotes and ratings?

An upvote says “I like this” and takes one click. A rating comes with a written review that says what worked, what to improve and what broke. Upvotes never change an app's stars. Sort by “Most upvoted” to see what the community likes most.

How does Launch of the Day work?

Developers pick a launch day while submitting an app or later, up to 60 days ahead and at most once every 30 days. On that day, midnight to midnight UTC, the app appears on the launches board, ranked by the upvotes it gets that day. When the day ends, the top three apps with at least one vote earn a #1, #2 or #3 Launch of the Day badge, which stays on their page. Weekly and monthly boards rank the same launch-day votes. Launches can't be bought: sponsored spots never appear on the board.

Where do ratings come from?

Only from reviews written on this site. We never import, display or use Google Play or App Store ratings, review counts or downloads.

What are sponsored spots?

A few places at the top of some pages are paid placements, always marked Sponsored. Developers bid a daily amount and the highest bid shows first. They pay only while shown.

• Sponsored apps show their real, unchanged rating and reviews.
• Payment never affects reviews, stars, organic rank or search results below the sponsored row.
• Only published apps in good standing can be sponsored.