Real store listing. Store data comes from public listings; the assessment type and evidence coverage are labeled on this page.

Word Search

Get the incredibly addicting word search game that everyone is talking about!

Italic Games
Multiple ad networks — Code from multiple ad networksDeletion (dev says) — Developer says you can request data deletion
Google Play rating4.8★467.2K ratings
PriceFreeListed price
Age4+Store age rating
CategoryGames
DeveloperItalic Games

At a glance

Full report

From our automated analysis, 10 Oct 2026. Every label links to its evidence in the full report below.

This analysis describes version 2.2.8 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-10 . The app may have changed since.

The store currently lists version 2.2.8, updated 2026-10-08.

Preview

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

Store screenshots supplied by the developer.

About this app

Get the incredibly addicting word search game that everyone is talking about! Expand your vocabulary and show off your spelling skills as you search for all the hidden words.

Word Search (also known as Word Seek, Word Find, Word Sleuth or Mystery Word) is a word game that consists of the letters of words placed in a grid. The objective of this puzzle is to find and mark all the words hidden inside the box. The words may be placed horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

Word Search Features:

- 100+ different categories for your different moods

- Starts off easy but gets challenging fast

- Replay categories in Time mode or Classic mode

- Daily challenges to earn extra rewards

- Use the Hints when you get stuck

- Enjoyable graphics with easy controls

- NO WIFI? NO PROBLEM! Enjoy the word search puzzle anytime, anywhere!…

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

2 published · 1 shown, not confirmed

Things to watch for 1

Findings that met the published evidence standard.

Multiple ad networks bundled

Measured

Bundles 5 distinct ad networks / mediation SDKs: Amazon Publisher Services, AppLovin MAX, Google Mobile Ads (AdMob / Ad Manager), Meta Audience Network and 1 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.

Package artefact

sha256:1b5bce898d2321627c18cd2bfa8d6b3f27c55d53ddbdfae7ee2f7b3a1496fe80

Positives 1

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

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 store listing
Agreement
A measured fact from one deterministic, checkable source.
Where measured
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 1

Open observations that have not cleared the evidence bar.

Aggressive ad load

One source only

Aggressive ad load: raised by 13 distinct reviewers (2.0% of 644 reviews scanned)

Sources
User reviews
Agreement
Only one kind of source so far. Shown, not counted.
Where measured
From Google Play reviews

This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.

Definition

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

Open evidence

What reviewers report

644 reviews read · 1 review-based observation

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

Aggressive ad load

Shown, not confirmed

Great game. Too many ads. I had to close app srversl times to continue to play the next level l am on level 100 now.

4★ · Google Play · 2026-09-03

very good for mind muscle train. but to many commercials to many ads

5★ · Google Play · 2026-10-10

to many ads

4★ · Google Play · 2026-08-27

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

Measurements

8 measured · 0 not assessed

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.

From store data and reviews

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
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
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 app package we scanned

Android package 2.2.8, scanned 10 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.

Measurement vocabulary 1.4 · how these are measured

Versions and dates analysed

Assessed 10 Oct 2026

This analysis describes version 2.2.8 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-10 . The app may have changed since.

The store currently lists version 2.2.8, updated 2026-10-08.

Store update history

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

Google Play

Version 2.2.8 · 2026-10-08

No release notes were provided for this version.

Version 2.2.7 · 2026-09-02

No release notes were provided for this version.

Assessment record

Status
Automated analysis
App identifier
word-search-google-com-mobilegame-wordsearch
Assessment date
10 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
644
Package examined
Android · 2.2.8 · scanned 10 Oct 2026
Measurement vocabulary
1.4
Human inspection
Not completed

Assessed 2026-10-10 from 644 user reviews, the app's package, the store listing and its privacy label.

How this page was produced

Analyzed 2026-10-10 Version analyzed: 2.2.86 independent signals644 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
4.76 ★ · 467,195 ratings
Version
2.2.8
Updated
8 Oct 2026
Price
Free
Age rating
4+
Size
Not supplied
Open in Google Play
Developer
Italic Games
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.