How we pick.
AllApps exists because most app recommendations are written by people who get paid when you click. We are not. Here is exactly how a list gets made, so you can decide whether to trust it.
One constraint per list.
Every list starts with a single hard rule: buy once, works offline, no account, open source. An app is in or out on that rule alone. We do not weigh it against other virtues. If the rule is “one-time purchase”, a beautiful subscription app does not get an honourable mention. It is not on the list.
Four to six apps, never more.
A list of forty is a directory. We keep each list short enough that you can read every entry before deciding. If more than six apps qualify, we pick the ones that differ from each other most, so the list covers the real choices rather than repeating one.
We print the catch, where there is one.
When an app has a real drawback — something that would genuinely make you pick a different one — we write it down and show it at the same size as the praise. It is never shortened, muted or hidden behind a click. When an app has no such drawback, we say nothing rather than manufacture a complaint, because a caveat invented to fill a slot is worth less than an empty one.
Facts are pulled, not typed.
Prices, ratings, version numbers and update dates come from the App Store’s own data feed. We do not write them by hand, and we do not put them in sentences, because a sentence goes stale and a data field does not. When a fact changes, the page changes with it. When a fact cannot be pulled, we mark it unverified rather than guessing.
We take no money from anyone on the list.
No ads. No affiliate links. No sponsored placements, no “featured” tier, no review copies accepted after the first list was written. Store links go straight to the store with nothing attached. AllApps is paid for by Pilas Studios out of its own pocket, and if that ever changes you will read it here first.
What we re-verify, and when.
Facts refresh automatically. The written parts do not, so every list carries the date a person last read it end to end. If a pulled fact changes in a way that could break the constraint — a one-time app adds a subscription, say — the page is pulled from search and marked as under review until someone has looked. We would rather show you nothing than show you something wrong.
What we get wrong.
We will miss apps. We will hold opinions you disagree with. We will occasionally be late to notice a change. Corrections are made in place and noted at the bottom of the page. If you know something we should, write to us. We read everything and answer most of it.