Our review process is designed to help inform people who are looking for Apps about the issues, challenges and benefits an App offers. It uses an assessment of an Apps compliance with relevant regulations, standards and best practice to evaluate the App based on publicly available information on the face of the App, the relevant App Store and any associated Developer website.

It is in our view crucial to highlight Apps that have issues and challenges as much as it is important to showcase Apps that are on the face of it highly compliant and offer great value. In most cases, very low scoring Apps do not appear on the first page of search results on our sites – as search results are always ordered highest-scoring first. From extensive user testing and engagement, users fully appreciate what a ‘good score’ looks like and rarely search beyond the top 3-5 Apps in a given search area or consider Apps with scores below 65%.

By removing low scoring Apps from our platforms, we take away the ability for users to discover the flaws and challenges with a given App and increase not decrease the risk that they engage with an unsuitable App. Similarly, our health care professional community often report that patients present findings from Apps that they have been using in support of self-diagnosis etc. Clinicians find the ability to search for that App on our site useful in this scenario and where the App in question has again achieved a low score, this information allows the professional to discuss this with the patient, and, ultimately, direct the patient to a more reliable or suitable app for their needs.