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Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
Jam City, Inc. · Games

What’s the catch? Multiple ad networks bundled — measured, backed by SDKs in the app package.

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

2 on the catch list · analyzedConfidence: High6 signal sources1,282 reviews scannedNot human-reviewedas of 2026-10-06
 Which version this describes

App Store

This analysis describes version 7.3.1 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-06 . The app may have changed since.

The store currently lists version 7.3.1, updated 2026-10-03.

Google Play

This analysis describes version 7.3.0 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-06 . The app may have changed since.

The store currently lists version 7.3.0, updated 2026-10-02.

What the analysis found

Each finding shows what agreed and how strongly. Automated analysis

The catch list 2

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
Measuredfrom SDKs in the app packageartefact 84e5b25dca9e…
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
Reported by users: Progress pauses until you wait or pay
Reported by 67 usersReported by users, not measured — nothing we can inspect could show this either wayview evidence
Use is rationed by an energy/hearts/lives meter that runs out and forces a wait or a purchase.
What we saw: Raised by 67 distinct reviewers — 11.3% of the 592 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
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 2

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: Aggressive ad load
One source onlyShown, not confirmed — the only source is user reviews.view evidence
Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.
What we saw: Aggressive ad load: raised by 10 distinct reviewers (1.4% of 690 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 5 distinct reviewers (0.8% of 592 reviews scanned)

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.

Progress pauses until you wait or pay

This game is really great and allows players to get the feeling of being in hogwarts themselves. But the problem is that the time taken for energy to recharge is very time consuming and makes difficult to get tasks done. it will really be…

5★ · Google Play · 2026-09-05

I don't like the updated energy part. Earlier b4 he update, 1 point of energy recharged in 2 minutes and min. 37 energy were there. But after the update, 1 point of energy is recharged after every 4 minutes and min. energy got reduced to…

4★ · Google Play · 2026-09-10

Fine game, decent UI & is easy to navigate with exposure. The real trouble comes with time-classes & tasks have a time limit, while the energy that players use to complete these things requires you to wait four minutes for just 1 energy…

3★ · Google Play · 2026-09-15

Aggressive ad load

great game for harry potter fans just be prepared to either send alot of money or watch a lot of adds for energy

5★ · Google Play · 2026-09-08

it takes 4 minutes to generate 1 energy token while most tasks take up to 4 energy tokens. the game lies by saying you can get 3 free energy tokens for watching an ad but you can watch 20 ads in a row and you still won't get the 3 free…

1★ · Google Play · 2026-09-05

I love it. u get to actually do stuff and there's no ads popping up every 10 seconds (yes, there's still ads but not all the time)!!I love this game!!!! 🩷🩷🩷

5★ · Google Play · 2026-09-28

Pay to progress

it's all pay to win

2★ · Google Play · 2026-09-04

Pay to play….not for people who want to play for free — This is a good game but unless you are willing to pay money to progress in the game I don’t see a point in downloading….the energy system is horrible and slow, you can’t through a…

1★ · App Store · 2026-09-26

Pay to win — Boo JK Rowling 👎👎👎

1★ · App Store · 2026-09-11

What this app sells

Every purchase the store discloses. Store listing
 What this app sells
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 2026-10-06 Version analyzed: 7.3.1 (App Store), 7.3.0 (Google Play)6 independent signals1,282 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.