“I signed up for a free trial and was charged NZ$151.99 for an annual subscription about a week later. When I asked for a refund, I was repeatedly bounced between Headway and Google Play, with both telling me to contact the other. It took…”
Independent automated assessment · 3 signal sources · 995 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-05.
4.5 ★292,869 ratings
10M+Downloads
12+Age rating
229 MBApp size
FreeIn-app purchases
About this app
Meet Headway — #1 most downloaded book summary app! We summarize key ideas from the world’s nonfiction bestsellers so you can get essential knowledge to crush your goals.
More than 50 million people have already joined the Headway community to become the best versions of themselves. How about hopping along on this self-growth journey? ———————
WHAT YOU GET WITH HEADWAY
* 1700+ book summaries to change your life Learn the main ideas from any nonfiction bestseller in less than 15 minutes. Whether you want to listen or read, we have you covered with concise summaries on any topic.
* Daily microlearning session Start your day by tapping through a portion of bite-sized ideas. It’s the best way to build your routine around fun and easy growth!…
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.
App Store
This analysis describes version 400.6 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-05 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 400.6, updated 2026-09-23.
Google Play
This analysis describes version 3.179.0 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 3.179.0, updated 2026-09-25.
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 at least 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
States no price and billing period
Cancelling, in the store description
Says how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
3 or more 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
65–79% 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.
Positive evidence 1
Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.
Developer says data deletion can be requested
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
What we saw: The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
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: Trial converts to a charge
The free trial demands a payment method up front and/or rolls into a paid subscription with no usable warning.
What we saw: Trial converts to a charge: raised by 8 distinct reviewers (1.7% of 466 reviews scanned)
Reported by users: Hard to cancel
Cancelling the subscription is blocked, hidden, multi-step, or simply does not take effect.
What we saw: Hard to cancel: raised by 12 distinct reviewers (2.3% of 529 reviews scanned)
Reported by users: Reports of unexpected charges
A large number of reviewers report being charged when they did not expect it — including being charged after cancelling during a free trial, or when a trial turned into a paid plan without warning. We cannot see anyone's billing, so this is published as an attributed user report: what reviewers say, and how many of them said it.
What we saw: Surprise charges: raised by 26 distinct reviewers (4.9% of 529 reviews scanned)
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“I wanted to try the app out to see if it's for me. I knew I couldn't commit to paying a full year right up front. I immediately canceled the free trial to avoid a charge, so I could go back to review the other options available. Today's…”
“scam. it says you get a free trial but instantly charges you. I am disputing this with my bank and reporting them from fraudulence to Google play”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version 400.6.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Items shown0
Lowest—
Highest—
Google Play does not publish per-purchase prices.