We build apps. We use apps. We never stopped wanting to see the next one.

Apps400 is a review project run by developers and everyday software users who share the same habit: opening something new to find out how it was put together.

Good software gets buried. Someone who has spent a year building a product deserves a place where it is looked at properly, described accurately, and put in front of people who care about that category.

A review request goes out.
Whoever knows the category picks it up.

SaaS and websites

Browser-based tools for work — project management, invoicing, scheduling, automation, analytics, and the growing pile of things that used to be desktop software.

Mobile apps

iOS and Android, from launch-week releases to the quiet utilities that have been dependable for years and never got written about.

Games

Mobile and console titles, covered for design, progression and whether the monetisation respects the player.

Why we do this

We wanted the kind of write-up we look for ourselves before installing something, and could rarely find.

A launch pad, not a listing

A new product needs somewhere on the open web that explains what it does, in plain language, on a page that stays up. We try to be that page for what we cover.

Something worth reading

Enthusiasts want to know whether a tool is worth their afternoon. Developers want to see what the field already looks like before they build into it. Both are welcome here.

Reaching the right people

Our readers are fellow builders and the serious business users who try things properly. A smaller audience than a viral post, and a far more useful one.

How we review

A review here is a description before it is a verdict.

We set out what the product is for, what it does well, where the gaps are, and how it sits next to the other tools doing the same job. Comparison is most of the value. Almost nothing exists in a category of one, and a reader choosing between three options is better served by knowing which suits them than by a score out of ten.

To write that honestly, the product has to be used. Not skimmed, not read about. Installed, signed into, filled with real data and pushed until something gives. Three things get our attention every time.

User experience

How long until a new user does the thing they came to do. Where the friction sits, and whether it was a decision or an oversight.

Data integrity

Whether your work is safe and yours. Sync behaviour, offline handling, export options, and what happens to your data if you leave.

Ease of use

Whether the product stays usable once it is full. Plenty of tools are pleasant when empty and unmanageable at scale.

Who writes the reviews

A community of freelancers and working app developers, signed up as reviewers. Not a newsroom, and not anonymous content writers — people who build software for a living and review the categories they already know.

  1. A request arrivesFrom a developer, or from something we found and wanted covered.
  2. It goes to the groupPosted in our private Slack, where the reviewer community sees it.
  3. Someone volunteersWhoever knows that category takes it, uses the product, and writes it up.
  4. Editorial refines itOur team checks the claims, edits for clarity, and publishes.

If you build software and enjoy taking new tools apart, this is an open door. Join the reviewer community.

How we treat developers

We have shipped software ourselves, so we know what it feels like to read a review of something you spent a year on. Our job is to describe a product accurately, limitations included. It is not to humiliate a team or torpedo a launch for a sharper headline.

  • No spoilers, no sabotageWe don't publish anything designed to damage a product or the people who made it.
  • Criticism with a reasonWhere we point at a gap, we say why it matters and who it affects.
  • Right of replyTell us we got something wrong and we will check it, correct it, and say that we did.
  • Updates welcomeProducts move. Send us a major release and we will revisit the piece rather than leave a stale verdict standing.
  • Fair to the categoryComparisons name real alternatives, including ones we have no relationship with.
  • Software onlyWe stay in our subject. Off-topic promotional content gets declined however it is framed.

The wider network

Apps400 is one of a group of independent review sites run by the same editorial team. Each covers a different corner of the same subject, which lets a product land in front of the audience that actually cares about it.

WebAppRaterSaaS and web applications Gadget400Gadgets, hardware and apps Game400Mobile and console games AppsMirroriOS and Android reviews AppsThunderApps reviewed AppsListoCurated app lists AppsMammaApps for parents and kids Apps4ReviewFeatured reviews for new apps AppsTimesIndian app industry news AppiodReviews and developer resources AppsVuesApp reviews and discovery AppsNowResources for app developers

Work with us

Whether you built something, want to review something, or want to reach the people who do both.

Submit your appSend us what you built and we will take a proper look at it. Become a reviewerJoin the community and pick up the categories you know. AdvertiseReach developers and business users across the network.

Anything else, including corrections: [email protected].