Nothing published. That is not a guarantee the app is problem-free.
No specific positive published.
From our automated analysis, 11 Oct 2026.
This analysis describes version 5.29.1 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-11 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 5.30.0, updated 2026-10-09.
The app has been updated since this analysis. The findings on this page describe version 5.29.1, not the version now listed on the store.
The developer’s release notes for the newer versions, where we hold them, are in Versions and dates analysed.
Store screenshots supplied by the developer.
**Stay off your phone and a tree grows. Leave early and it withers. That's Forest, the focus timer used by 60 million people worldwide.**
Top productivity app in 136 countries. Recommended by The New York Times and Business Insider.
"Forest works well, and if your goal is to be more in the moment, ignore your phone and actually talk to your friends when you are with them, this is the app for you." — The New York Times
Together, our community has planted over 2 million real trees on Earth through our partnership with Trees for the Future.
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STAY FOCUSED
Forest helps you overcome phone addiction, reduce distractions, and build deep work habits. Whether you are studying for exams, working from home, or simply trying to be more present, Forest gives you a reason to stay on task.…
From the developer’s store description.
For developers and the curious
The evidence, sources, measurements and versions behind every label above.
Open observations that have not cleared the evidence bar.
Aggressive ad load: raised by 12 distinct reviewers (0.6% of 2019 reviews scanned)
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.
Paywall blocks the basics: raised by 33 distinct reviewers (1.6% of 2019 reviews scanned)
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
The core of the app — not extras — sits behind payment, or previously-free function moved behind a paywall.
Reviewers report clear pricing: raised by 7 distinct reviewers (0.3% of 2019 reviews scanned)
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
The app's own text offers a one-time or lifetime purchase, or reviewers report that the price is stated clearly.
Nothing was published as a thing to watch for in this assessment. That is not a finding that nothing is wrong with the app.
2,019 reviews read for this analysis. Each observation keeps the sample and store it was based on.
Disappointed With Recent Updates — I’ve been using this app for years and had always enjoyed it. Even when I wasn’t using it regularly, I would recommend it to others. With these most recent updates—the focus tasks glitching, the new…
Now with noisy, endless ads — Used to love this app but in the past week they turned on super noisy, lpng, violent video game ads at the end of focus sessions which defeats the entire point of the app. giving it a couple more days but if…
I love Forest — It’s a really awesome app, but it does annoy me how many pop up ads there are, but overall, great app. Would recommend
basic features should stay basic — deleted immediately when I found out I'd have to pay to listen to a podcast while in focus mode
just put your phone away. — Pretty lame that they make you pay for the app and then disable 90% of it behind a subscription-based paywall.
Ensh*ttification has ruined it — When I originally downloaded Forest, it was a one time purchase, but now they have switched to a subscription model and screwed the original payers, we basically absolutely nothing as it’s now paywalled…
I brought this app many years ago when it was a paid app and I still love using this app !! — As a pro user (due to retaining the benefits from buying it from the AppStore with a one-time payment), I can confidently say that I absolutely…
Not as good as before — One of the reasons I bought this app was cause it was a one time purchase, but now they’ve come out with their plus subscription and keep pushing it, which is annoying. Really disappointed, feels like they’re just…
A sampled review illustrates one person’s experience. It does not establish a finding on its own.
Supporting measurements. They are not a complete list of possible harms or positives. “Not assessed” means we could not measure it — never zero, never a pass.
No package has been scanned for this app, so nothing is published about what it ships. That is an absence of evidence, not a finding.
Measurement vocabulary 1.4 · how these are measured
This analysis describes version 5.29.1 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-11 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 5.30.0, updated 2026-10-09.
The app has been updated since this analysis. The findings on this page describe version 5.29.1, not the version now listed on the store.
Release notes for the newer versions, in the developer’s own words:
This update includes fixes for known issues and general performance improvements to make your Forest experience more stable and smooth.
Each store’s release notes, as the developer wrote them. They are the developer’s words, not ours.
This update includes fixes for known issues and general performance improvements to make your Forest experience more stable and smooth.
This update includes fixes for known issues and general performance improvements to make your Forest experience more stable and smooth.
This update includes fixes for known issues and general performance improvements to make your Forest experience more stable and smooth.
Appworthy
forest-apple-866450515Assessed 2026-10-11 from 2,019 user reviews, the store listing and its privacy label. We have not scanned the app's package, so nothing on this page was read from inside the app itself.
What the stores publish. Store ratings are the stores’ numbers, not Appworthy’s, and are never averaged across stores.
No itemized purchase list is available for this listing.
This assessment is produced automatically. Three independent signals are read — user reviews, the store listing and the store privacy disclosure — and each candidate finding is filed under the sources that support it.
No charge stands on one kind of evidence — with one published exception. A finding is either a measured fact that anyone can reproduce (an ad SDK is in the package; every subscription bills weekly; the privacy label omits a tracker we can see), or it is an interpretation — and an interpretation needs independent sources to agree before it reaches the catch list. The exception is a harm only users can see: a charge may publish from reviews alone, as “Reported by N users”, once enough reviewers raise it to clear that charge’s own published bar. That agreement rule is what replaced the human reviewer, not a model’s confidence.
There is no overall score, on purpose. A 0–99 number was published here until 2026-09-15. It was withdrawn because it discriminated too weakly to be the instrument — 44.7% of every pair of apps tied — and because a single number is a verdict where a count is an observation. What publishes instead is a row of measurements, each of which says what was counted and, where we could not look, says that instead.
Findings under One source only are real reports we do not stand behind as findings. They are shown because withholding them entirely would hide a genuine complaint, and labelled because publishing them as charges would be an accusation off a single source.
Write to [email protected], or use the form. Name the finding, the app version and the evidence that needs correcting. Factual corrections are free and never depend on buying anything.