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GeoGuessr
GeoGuessr AB · Games

What’s the catch? Paywall blocks the basics — reported by 64 users.

Analyzed automatically from 6 independent signals that had to agree — not a hands-on test, and not human-reviewed.

1 on the catch list · analyzedConfidence: High6 signal sources1,018 reviews scannedNot human-reviewedas of 2026-10-05
 Which version this describes

App Store

This analysis describes version 4.4.3 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-05 . The app may have changed since.

The store currently lists version 4.5.0, updated 2026-10-01.

The app has been updated since this analysis. The findings on this page describe version 4.4.3, not the version now listed on the store.

Release notes for the newer versions, in the developer’s own words:

Version 4.5.0 · 2026-10-01
Adding Battle Pass to Duels Performance improvements to Party Bug fixes and improvements

Google Play

This analysis describes version 11.12 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.

The store currently lists version 11.13, updated 2026-09-19.

What the analysis found

Each finding shows what agreed and how strongly. Automated analysis

The catch list 1

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.

Reported by users: Paywall blocks the basics
Reported by 64 usersReported by users, not measured — nothing we can inspect could show this either wayview evidence
The core of the app — not extras — sits behind payment, or previously-free function moved behind a paywall.
What we saw: Raised by 64 distinct reviewers — 12.0% of the 532 reviews scanned on this store leg (App Store).

Context 1

Measured and published because a reader would want to know — deliberately not a charge. The measurement alone does not show a harm.

Cheapest and priciest options are far apart
MeasuredPublished as context — deliberately not a charge · from the store listingview evidence
The disclosed in-app purchases span an unusually wide price range. Published as context: the cheapest and priciest items may be different kinds of product entirely, so the spread alone deducts nothing.
What we saw: In-app purchases run from USD 3.49 to USD 71.99 — a 21x spread across 10 items

Positive evidence 2

Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.

No advertising SDKs
Measuredfrom SDKs in the app packageartefact 4e36db2595af…
No advertising or mediation SDK of any kind was found in the package.
What we saw: No advertising or mediation SDK among the 6 SDKs detected in the package
Developer says data deletion can be requested
Measuredfrom the store listingview evidence
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: Progress pauses until you wait or pay
One source onlyShown, not confirmed — the only source is user reviews.view evidence
Use is rationed by an energy/hearts/lives meter that runs out and forces a wait or a purchase.
What we saw: Energy / timer gating: raised by 8 distinct reviewers (1.5% of 532 reviews scanned)
Reported by users: Pay to progress
One source onlyShown, not confirmed — the only source is user reviews.view evidence
Advancement or competition is gated behind spending money rather than playing.
What we saw: Pay to progress: raised by 6 distinct reviewers (1.2% of 486 reviews scanned)
From the store listing: Usable without an account
One source onlyShown, not confirmed — the only source is the store privacy disclosure.view evidence
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.
What we saw: The store privacy disclosure (3 entries) links no contact details or identifiers to the user — consistent with an app that does not require an account. Self-reported by the developer.

What reviewers said

Verbatim excerpts from public store reviews, shown as corroborating user reports. They are not Appworthy audit evidence, and a quotation is not proof of the finding it sits under.

Paywall blocks the basics

The gameplay is very challenging but fun overall. The only problem i have with this game is that other than the daily challenge, all other gamemodes are locked behind a paywall... I'm somewhat disappointed.

4★ · Google Play · 2026-06-18

genuinely everything that is free on the web is paid, even playing BY YOURSELF? what's the point if I can't even play except daily challenges which doesn't work, I just installed it and played a daily game and when I want to play again it…

1★ · Google Play · 2026-07-03

Now that the game has "made it big" they made the terrible decision to move 99% of gameplay (except for literally 5 daily challenge level) behind a paywall. Previously we were able to play levels & challenges, and I gladly paid for it…

1★ · Google Play · 2026-08-15

Progress pauses until you wait or pay

to play you need tickets and of you run out then you have to pay money

3★ · Google Play · 2026-05-18

Turned a free game into a paid subscription — I remember when this game was free to play, then it made us use tickets that would recharge overtime to play which was slightly annoying but still enjoyable. Now you can only do the daily…

2★ · App Store · 2026-09-22

Tickets lost even if I’m right? — You can play five games with your five tickets before you have to wait 30(!!!) minutes for another one, EVEN IF YOU GET SEVERAL OF THEM RIGHT. These games need to start considering the idea that people…

2★ · App Store · 2026-05-23

Pay to progress

pay to win

1★ · Google Play · 2026-06-17

it used to be fun but now it's just a pay to win every thing I click on says I have to pay for pro it is just pointless i will play the game if they bring back normal mode again but for now I suggest unless you wanna spend money don't buy…

2★ · Google Play · 2026-08-24

this whole game is p2w, shame on you.

1★ · Google Play · 2026-08-28

What this app sells

Every purchase the store discloses. Store listing
 What this app sells

From the store listing. Billing terms are read from each purchase’s name — the stores don’t publish them — so treat them as a strong hint, not a disclosure.

Subscriptions2
GeoGuessr Pro MonthlyMonthly$3.49
GeoGuessr Pro YearlyYearly$23.99
Show 7 more purchases we couldn’t categorise

These are really on sale; we just can’t tell from the name whether they recur.

Pro UnlimitedTerm not stated$6.99
Pro MobileTerm not stated$4.99
Pro UnlimitedTerm not stated$47.90
Pro MobileTerm not stated$35.90
EliteTerm not stated$71.99
UnlimitedTerm not stated$6.99
UnlimitedTerm not stated$47.90
This list is cut off. Apple shows at most 10 in-app purchases, and this app is at the limit — so it very likely sells more than we can see.
Google Play doesn’t publish per-purchase prices, so this list covers the other store only.

How the automated analysis works

Automated, corroborated, and never human-reviewed without a person.

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.

 Not yet human-reviewed

Several measurements above say “Not assessed” because no artefact we hold can answer them. A human review is what resolves those — and it can remove a favourable band as easily as add one.

Hands-on inspections are not yet open.

 How this page was produced
Analyzed 2026-10-05 Version analyzed: 4.4.3 (App Store), 11.12 (Google Play)6 independent signals1,018 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.