How we research and test apps
AppStack HQ publishes two kinds of pages, and the byline of each one tells you which it is: "Data collected" for a data study, "Last tested" for a hands-on test.
Data studies
A data study maps every app in a category, not just the famous ones, straight from the App Store:
- Finding the apps. We search the App Store with the terms people actually use, in English, Spanish and other local languages, in every country where the topic is big. For padel that's 12 countries, from Spain and Sweden to Argentina and the UAE.
- Ratings. We add up each app's ratings across 15 App Store countries. A US-only count makes apps that are popular in Spain or Italy look like they have no users.
- Prices. We read every app's App Store page for its in-app purchases and sort apps by how they charge: free, subscription, one-off unlock or paid upfront. Prices are US prices; they differ by country.
- User reviews. We read the written reviews of the most-rated apps in every language they come in, and group the 1- and 2-star ones by what went wrong.
- Features. When a data study says an app supports something, such as golden point scoring, that's what its developer's App Store description claims. We say so on the page.
- The data is public. Each study links to a CSV of every app, so you can check our work or use it in your own.
What a data study can't tell you is how well an app works in your hands. That's what hands-on tests are for.
Hands-on tests
A hands-on test means using each app for the job it's made for, on the devices you'd use it on: during real matches for padel apps, and for weeks of play-money trading for simulators. Each test page names the devices, the app versions and the test date, and shows our own screenshots and measured numbers.
For padel apps we measure: scoring accuracy over full matches (missed taps, wrong points, how easy it is to undo), which scoring rules work (advantage, golden point, star point, tie-breaks), battery used per hour, whether the app works with the iPhone left in the bag, what's saved to Apple Health, and what the free version does before it asks you to pay.
For trading practice apps we measure: whether prices are live, whether spreads and fees are simulated, whether the app teaches or only lets you click buy and sell, how hard it pushes you toward a real-money broker, whether you can practise without an account or ID check, and what's free.
How we pick winners
We don't force one overall ranking when apps are built for different people. Instead we name a winner for each kind of need ("best free scorekeeper", "best for shot tracking") and say why, based on the evidence on the page. Apps don't pay to be included, and we don't take payment for placement.
Dates
A page's date changes only when its data or tests change. Every page keeps a changelog at the bottom. Prices, ratings and versions shown in each app's box are refreshed from the App Store every week, with the date they were checked.
Corrections
If something in a page is wrong or out of date, email hello@appstackhq.com. We fix factual errors and note the fix in the page's changelog.