“Too many ads.”
Independent automated assessment · 6 signal sources · 3,939 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-06.
4.4 ★2,255,365 ratings
100M+Downloads
17+Age rating
157 MBApp size
Free · In-app purchasesIn-app purchases
About this app
Welcome to ShortMax — a premium streaming platform for your favoriate short dramas, reels and TV videos!
As a leading global platform for bite-sized entertainment, ShortMax is redefining the way you stream. Discover fast-paced, emotionally gripping stories designed to fit perfectly into your everyday life — cinematic drama, powerful storytelling, and unforgettable plot twists, all in short, easy-to-watch episodes.
Enjoy access to 50,000+ trending short dramas and movies in 19 languages, anytime and anywhere. Whether you love sweet Contemporary Romance, CEO secrets, Fated Werewolf Romance, payback stories, or dramatic Rise and Revenge arcs, every episode delivers a shocking twist in just about one minute.
● Why millions choose ShortMax
[Your Short Drama Universe]…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
The evidence behind this assessment
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 2.27.0 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-06 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 2.27.0, updated 2026-09-21.
Google Play
This analysis describes version 2.27.0 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-05 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 2.27.0, updated 2026-09-28.
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
Does not say 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
From the package we downloaded and read — version 2.27.0, scanned 2026-10-04.
Permissions Android classifies as dangerous
1–2 requested
Counted against the eighteen permissions listed in collect-package.ts. A dangerous permission is one Android asks the user to grant; requesting one is not itself a finding.
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
3 or more found
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
10 or more found
Counted as distinct SDKs in the package we scanned. One mediation bundle can contribute several, so this is not a count of advertisers.
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.
The catch list 4
Charges we publish at a strength we stand behind: measured from an artefact, agreed by independent sources, or reported by enough users to clear that charge's own published bar.
Multiple ad networks bundled
The package embeds several distinct advertising or mediation SDKs — a stack built for ad volume, not for a single house ad.
What we saw: Bundles 16 distinct ad networks / mediation SDKs: Amazon Publisher Services, AppLovin MAX, BidMachine, Chartboost and 12 more
Aggressive ad load
Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.
What we saw: Progress is gated behind watching an ad: "Watch ad to unlock the next episode for free"
Reported by users: Hard to cancel
Cancelling the subscription is blocked, hidden, multi-step, or simply does not take effect.
What we saw: Raised by 126 distinct reviewers — 6.3% of the 2,005 reviews scanned on this store leg (App Store).
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: Raised by 153 distinct reviewers — 7.6% of the 2,005 reviews scanned on this store leg (App Store).
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: 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 17 distinct reviewers (0.8% of 2005 reviews scanned)
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 5 distinct reviewers (0.2% of 2005 reviews scanned)
In the app's own text: Countdown-timer purchase pressure
The app's own purchase copy attaches a deadline to buying — a countdown, 'offer ends in', 'limited time' — or ships a countdown view on a purchase-screen layout.
What we saw: Deadline pressure in the app's own copy: "Limited Time Offer"
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“worst. Too many Ads. lus they are dragging the story from 1 episode to 10 episode. It is irritating.”
“excessive adds, minimal viewing and overpriced membership!!!!”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version 2.27.0.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Items shown8
Lowest$3.49
Highest$24.99
Weekly Pass Pro$19.99
Weekly Pass Pro$9.99
One-time Purchase$9.99
One-time Purchase$3.49
One-time Purchase$14.99
Show 3 more purchases
One-time Purchase$4.99
One-time Purchase$19.99
One-time Purchase$24.99
Google Play does not publish per-purchase prices.