“Bait and switch — They wait until they get courts to mandate it for thousands of users because it’s free and then they charge money. It’s not even a good app and paying a subscription doesn’t get you any additional features. No AI to help…”
Independent automated assessment · 3 signal sources · 506 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-04.
4.7 ★39,306 ratings
—Downloads
4+Age rating
159 MBApp size
FreeIn-app purchases
About this app
WE KNOW CO-PARENTING And that is why AppClose is the most downloaded co-parenting app in the world, with more than 3.1M downloads, and has more daily and monthly active users than any other co-parenting app in the world. AppClose has been court-ordered in all 50 states, as well as Canada, UK, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, based on user-supplied data. Every feature in AppClose exists to keep children first — SO THERE IS ONE PLAN, AND EVERYTHING IS IN IT. No tiers, no upsells, no add-ons. No limits on calling, call recording, storage or records exports. Messaging, recorded calls, calendars, notes, pets, expenses, payments and court-ready records, for one price, with 60 days free — includes all features, no payment, no commitment. Fee waivers are available for qualifying families experiencing financial hardship and for survivors of domestic violence.…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
Evidence and review signals
This is where the page changes from an app-store listing into an evidence report: findings, important reviews, pricing and a dated history.
Which version this describes
When we ran this analysis, and what the store lists now.
This analysis describes version 3.4.77 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 3.4.78, updated 2026-10-01.
The app has been updated since this analysis. The findings on this page describe version 3.4.77, not the version now listed on the store.
Release notes for the newer versions, in the developer’s own words:
Version 3.4.78 · 2026-10-01
Thank you for using AppClose. We update the app regularly to make it better for you. Today’s update includes: • Performance and stability enhancements Please make sure to update your app so you’re using the latest version. If you discover a bug or error, please be kind and let us know at [email protected]. Our innovative and hardworking IT team is always ready to help and will fix any issues right away.
What we measured
Each line is a measurement published as a measurement, never a verdict.
Each line is a measurement, published as a measurement. Where we have not looked, the line says so rather than reading as a zero.
Developer replies to reviews
Replies to fewer than 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
States no price and billing period
Cancelling, in the store description
Does not say how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
2 themes reported
Counted from the reviews we have read for this app. "No theme reported" means no theme reached our reporting threshold — it is not a finding that nothing is wrong with this app, and we do not say it is.
Five-star share of ratings
80–89% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.
In the package we scanned
No package has been scanned for this app, so nothing is published about what it ships. That is an absence of evidence about the app, not a finding about it.
Graded bands · predicate set 1.4 · how these are measured
What the analysis found
App-specific findings, grouped by what each one rests on. How they are graded lives on its own page.
One source only — shown, not confirmed 3
A single kind of evidence. We publish these because withholding them would be the bigger distortion, and we do not treat any of them as a finding we stand behind.
Reported by users: Reports that the ads misrepresent the app
Reviewers repeatedly report that the app is not what its advertising showed. We never see the ad creative itself, so nothing we collect can corroborate or refute this — it is published as an attributed user report: what reviewers say, and how many of them said it.
What we saw: Misleading advertising: raised by 7 distinct reviewers (1.4% of 506 reviews scanned)
From the store listing: Usable without an account
The app's own screens offer a way past sign-up — guest access, skipping, or browsing before registering — rather than gating the product behind an account. The store's privacy disclosure is checked alongside it: that disclosure is self-reported, so it corroborates this credit rather than establishing it.
What we saw: The store privacy disclosure (8 entries) links no contact details or identifiers to the user — consistent with an app that does not require an account. Self-reported by the developer.
Reported by users: Paywall blocks the basics
The core of the app — not extras — sits behind payment, or previously-free function moved behind a paywall.
What we saw: Paywall blocks the basics: raised by 19 distinct reviewers (3.8% of 506 reviews scanned)
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“Bait and Switch — I wonder how many people they were able to get this court ordered to have since it was free. To turn around and put it behind a pay wall knowing that it would cost more to get parenting plans changed. -Developer responds…”
“Bait and switch — Awesome how you got all these court orders to require your ‘free’ app and now change it to paid. I hope every user complains to the FTC and to their state attorney and you’re banned from ever participating in something…”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version 3.4.78.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Business modelFree
Prices and terms as disclosed by the store listing.