Spades

★ Top Developer (awarded 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015) ★ ★★ Our biggest upgrade…

AI Factory Limited
Google Play rating4.6★234.6K ratings
PriceFreeListed price
Age4+Store age rating
CategoryGames

What we found

Full report

Serious warnings 2 confirmed warnings. Checked: 400 reviews, the Android app’s code, the store listing and the privacy label.

Money

  • Free to download.

Ads

From our automated analysis, 26 Oct 2026. Every label links to its evidence in the full report below.

This analysis describes version 1.994 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-26 .

The store currently lists version 1.994, updated 2026-08-24.

Preview

Screenshot 1Screenshot 2Screenshot 3Screenshot 4Screenshot 5Screenshot 6Screenshot 7Screenshot 8

Store screenshots supplied by the developer.

About this app

★ Top Developer (awarded 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015) ★

★★ Our biggest upgrade: May 2017. See end of description for full details! ★★

AI Factory's Spades has been substantially updated and is now much stronger, with a new bidding system. Its new game intelligence allows it to make creative plays that conventional programs cannot make, often breaking the usual rule-of-thumb to find new winning plans.

The new CPU players will now also talk to each other - and you - in speech bubbles and smile or frown to let you know how they feel!

AI Factory's Spades brings this classic 4-player contract trick taking card game to Google Play. Created to the same high standard as the rest of our games, Spades supplies classy graphics, super smooth gameplay, highly scalable difficulty & much more. Spades has never been so good!…

From the developer’s store description.

For developers and the curious

The full report

The evidence, sources, measurements and versions behind every label above.

Findings and evidence

4 published · 5 shown, not confirmed

Things to watch for 2

Findings that met the published evidence standard.

Multiple ad networks bundled

Measured

Bundles 9 distinct ad networks / mediation SDKs: Amazon Publisher Services, AppLovin MAX, Fyber / Digital Turbine Exchange, Google Mobile Ads (AdMob / Ad Manager) and 5 more

Sources
SDKs in the app package
Agreement
A measured fact from one deterministic, checkable source.
Where measured
Found in the Android app’s package
Definition

The package embeds several distinct advertising or mediation SDKs — a stack built for ad volume, not for a single house ad.

How we know

Package artefact

sha256:0ce85a7bdafab98db9aaf796293e62b1fafe3fbc857c41631a24f088fabf6c2e

Aggressive ad load

2 independent sources agree

Aggressive ad load: raised by 15 distinct reviewers (about 1 in 27 reviews we read)

Sources
User reviews and the app's own on-screen text
Agreement
2 independent kinds of source agree.
Where measured
Found in the Android app’s package. From Google Play reviews
Definition

Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.

Open evidence
How we know
Share and sample
3.8% of the 400 reviews read.

Positives 2

Specific evidence of a useful property, within the stated scope.

States a price, or offers a one-time purchase

Measured

Offers a one-time or lifetime purchase: "Would you like to enjoy this app without the distraction of ads? Then download and enjoy the paid version, forever free of ads, with just a one-time purchase!"

Sources
The app's own on-screen text
Agreement
A measured fact from one deterministic, checkable source.
Where measured
Found in the Android app’s package
Definition

The app's own text offers a one-time or lifetime purchase, or reviewers report that the price is stated clearly.

How we know

Package artefact

sha256:0ce85a7bdafab98db9aaf796293e62b1fafe3fbc857c41631a24f088fabf6c2e

Developer says data deletion can be requested

Measured

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

Sources
The app's own on-screen text and the store listing
Agreement
A measured fact from one deterministic, checkable source.
Where measured
Found in the Android app’s package. From the Google Play listing
Definition

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.

Open evidence

One source only — shown, not confirmed 5

Open observations that have not cleared the evidence bar.

Pay to progress

One source only

The app's own text says: "Upgrade to Paid version, or install our Gin Rummy and Hearts games to unlock more decks!"

Sources
The app's own on-screen text
Agreement
Only one kind of source so far. Shown, not counted.
Where measured
Found in the Android app’s package

This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.

Definition

Advancement or competition is gated behind spending money rather than playing.

How we know

Package artefact

sha256:0ce85a7bdafab98db9aaf796293e62b1fafe3fbc857c41631a24f088fabf6c2e

Paywall blocks the basics

One source only

The app's own text says: "This is the free version with ads, but you have the paid version installed Please open the paid version to play without ads"

Sources
The app's own on-screen text
Agreement
Only one kind of source so far. Shown, not counted.
Where measured
Found in the Android app’s package

This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.

Definition

The core of the app — not extras — sits behind payment, or previously-free function moved behind a paywall.

How we know

Package artefact

sha256:0ce85a7bdafab98db9aaf796293e62b1fafe3fbc857c41631a24f088fabf6c2e

Trial terms not stated in the app's own text

One source only

Offers a trial ("View Paid Version") and states no renewal price, renewal date or auto-renew notice anywhere in the app's own text

Sources
The app's own on-screen text
Agreement
Only one kind of source so far. Shown, not counted.
Where measured
Found in the Android app’s package

This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.

Definition

The app's own screens offer a free trial without stating, beside it, what happens when the trial ends. Read this as context rather than as a charge: renewal terms are normally shown on the store's purchase sheet instead, which we cannot see, and we can only observe one kind of evidence for this — so it is shown, but never counted as a charge.

How we know

Package artefact

sha256:0ce85a7bdafab98db9aaf796293e62b1fafe3fbc857c41631a24f088fabf6c2e

Usable without an account

One source only

The app's own text says: "No, thank you"

Sources
The app's own on-screen text
Agreement
Only one kind of source so far. Shown, not counted.
Where measured
Found in the Android app’s package

This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.

Definition

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.

How we know

Package artefact

sha256:0ce85a7bdafab98db9aaf796293e62b1fafe3fbc857c41631a24f088fabf6c2e

Works offline

One source only

The app's own text says: "Thanks for your interest. We will share more once you're back online."

Sources
The app's own on-screen text
Agreement
Only one kind of source so far. Shown, not counted.
Where measured
Found in the Android app’s package

This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.

Definition

The app's own copy describes working without a connection — offline mode, downloading for offline use, or content saved for later. Shown because readers filter on it; it is a feature, not a fairness property, and never counts for or against an app.

How we know

Package artefact

sha256:0ce85a7bdafab98db9aaf796293e62b1fafe3fbc857c41631a24f088fabf6c2e

What reviewers report

400 reviews read · 1 review-based observation

400 reviews read for this analysis. Each observation keeps the sample and store it was based on.

Aggressive ad load

Published finding

to many ads

3★ · Google Play · 2026-07-01

too many ads

3★ · Google Play · 2026-06-30

to many ads and not easy to get out of them but it's cool game

4★ · Google Play · 2026-05-28

A sampled review illustrates one person’s experience. It does not establish a finding on its own.

Measurements

8 measured · 0 not assessed

“Not assessed” means we could not measure it. It is never a zero and never a pass.

From store data and reviews

Developer replies to reviews
Replies to at least 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
The store description doesn’t list prices (most don’t)
Cancelling, in the store description
The store description doesn’t say how to cancel (most don’t)
Themes reported by reviewers
1 theme 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 app package we scanned

Android package 1.994, scanned 26 Oct 2026. These describe that package, not the current store version.

Sensitive permissions
None requested
Counted against a fixed list of eighteen sensitive Android permissions: sixteen runtime permissions, among them location, camera, microphone, contacts and SMS, and two the user must switch on in system settings, drawing over other apps and usage access. Requesting one is not itself a finding.
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
1–2 found
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
3–9 found
Counted as distinct SDKs in the package we scanned. One mediation bundle can contribute several, so this is not a count of advertisers.
How we know

Supporting measurements: not a complete list of possible harms or positives. Measurement vocabulary 1.4 · how these are measured

Versions and dates analysed

Assessed 26 Oct 2026

This analysis describes version 1.994 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-26 .

The store currently lists version 1.994, updated 2026-08-24.

Store update history

Each store’s release notes, as the developer wrote them. They are the developer’s words, not ours.

Google Play

Version 1.994 · 2026-08-24

No release notes were provided for this version.

Assessment record

Status
Automated analysis
App identifier
spades-google-uk-co-aifactory-spadesfree
Assessment date
26 Oct 2026
Sources used
6 independent signals: user reviews, SDKs in the app package, the app's own on-screen text, the app manifest, the store listing and the store privacy disclosure
Reviews read
400
Package examined
Android · 1.994 · scanned 26 Oct 2026
Human inspection
Not completed

Assessed 2026-10-26 from 400 user reviews, the app's package, the store listing and its privacy label.

How we know
Measurement vocabulary
1.4

How this page was produced

Analyzed 2026-10-26 Version analyzed: 1.9946 independent signals400 reviews scannedConfidence: HighNot human-reviewedVocabulary v1.13Methodology v1.3
Signals run: user reviews, SDKs in the app package, the app's own on-screen text, the app manifest, the store listing and the store privacy disclosure.

Store facts

Google Play

What the stores publish. Store ratings are the stores’ numbers, not Appworthy’s, and are never averaged across stores.

Google Play

Store rating
4.62 ★ · 234,568 ratings
Version
1.994
Updated
24 Aug 2026
Price
Free
Age rating
4+
Size
Not supplied
Open in Google Play
Developer
AI Factory Limited
Category
Games
Listing price
Free

No itemized purchase list is available for this listing.

Method and limits

What this report can and cannot show

How the automated analysis works

This assessment is produced automatically. Six independent signals are read — user reviews, SDKs in the app package, the app's own on-screen text, the app manifest, 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.

Limits of this report

  • A package scan is static. It identifies code and text in one Android build. It does not measure a live ad session, test a deletion request, or count the steps needed to cancel.
  • Reviews keep their sample. A review-only charge shows distinct reviewers, the share and the sample size, and is published only once it clears that label’s published threshold. Calibration labels are machine-drafted and not yet confirmed by a person.
  • Not assessed is a state. It is never a zero and never a pass.
  • A missing label is not a clean bill of health. It means the evidence did not support one, not that the app is problem-free.
Not yet human-reviewed. A hands-on test can confirm or contradict a finding and adds its own measurements; it does not change a measurement row. Hands-on inspections are not yet open.

Request a correction

[email protected]

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.