Review Insights · Google Play
America's Test Kitchen
America's Test Kitchen · 3,538 ratings · ★ 4.1
4.1
★★★★★
3,538 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 46 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"free"
16 negative reviews mention this · 35% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Subscription-based, or free account but you have to pay to open any recipes." - Megan Ivy
2
"recipes"
13 negative reviews mention this · 28% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Subscription-based, or free account but you have to pay to open any recipes." - Megan Ivy
3
"subscription"
12 negative reviews mention this · 26% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Subscription-based, or free account but you have to pay to open any recipes." - Megan Ivy
4
"subscribe"
8 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I had the Milk Street app, which I subscribe to (print) but one day it just disappeared! When I googled it, ATK was the result I got. so, I download it but they want to charge me for it when Milk Street was free with my subscription. they'r…" - M Corbiciero
5
"access"
6 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "This app never seems to be working when I'm trying to look something up the last couple months. It's incredibly frustrating to pay for access to recipes and the app to never work." - Jennifer Cleveland
6
"already"
6 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "can't get to customer service. keeps displaying ad to join. I am already a member! Phone number has ad after ad after ad." - Linda J Rahberger
7
"work"
5 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Very buggy, crashes all the time, can't get the search function to work properly, they want me to pay up front but won't tell me how much it costs so there isn't much you can do since everything seems to be behind paywall. This is a hard pa…" - Shannon Bradford
8
"trial"
5 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Why do you pay a free a trial" - Esperanza Aponte
9
"something"
5 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "This app never seems to be working when I'm trying to look something up the last couple months. It's incredibly frustrating to pay for access to recipes and the app to never work." - Jennifer Cleveland
📋 All 46 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Subscription-based, or free account but you have to pay to open any recipes.
Very buggy, crashes all the time, can't get the search function to work properly, they want me to pay up front but won't tell me how much it costs so there isn't much you can do since everything seems to be behind paywall. This is a hard pass for me.
I had the Milk Street app, which I subscribe to (print) but one day it just disappeared! When I googled it, ATK was the result I got. so, I download it but they want to charge me for it when Milk Street was free with my subscription. they're getting a bit greedy at this point
Why do you pay a free a trial
This app never seems to be working when I'm trying to look something up the last couple months. It's incredibly frustrating to pay for access to recipes and the app to never work.
"In app purchases." Lol. It's free to install the app, but completely unusable without a subscription.
Can't login. App just displays loading screen
Very difficult to open to recipies!
This app has a pay wall and requires payment. Not good at all.
can't get to customer service. keeps displaying ad to join. I am already a member! Phone number has ad after ad after ad.
Don't be fooled. You have to subscribe it will continually block you and ask to subscribe. Nothing is free. I am sure it's amazing but it's not a free app so just know you'll be leashed to a monthly payment which subscription based purchases are a terrible financial idea.
Terrible app every recipe I click on it'll say subscribe or something with a trial, I don't want that nothing is free on here to look at nothing ab this app is good at all.
I had already subscribed and paid my monthly due now it's trying to make me do it again within the month.
Your app won't let me see a receipe until I subscribe.
The Proof podcast promised the recipe for Levain cookies would be free on the app. In reality, ATK expects you to fork over your credit card to get the "free" recipe! I have no use for dishonesty like this. 1/11/26 In response to your comment, I already emailed for help. That is how I found out I had to give you my credit card. What I want is for you to fix your website and app to provide the promised recipe for all.
it's not free
I have always enjoyed this app but have not been able to use it for two weeks! Every time I try to access it, the app wants me to subscribe. I have already subscribed! My current subscription does not renew until April 2026. I sent an email to ATK and they responded that I have been in touch with their team and I should now be able to login. NEGATIVE. No one has contacted me about the issue I sent to them via email (including screen shots), and the app still wants me to subscribe again! 😡
pay a subscription for recipes that you could find online for free this is the definition of a scam
Am a faithful watcher of TV show where you indicate we can get recipes show on website. Impossible task..very disappointed that you insist we join to move further on app.
Ridiculous technology. Payment goes through Google Play, so ATK can't fix anything regarding a subscription/membership payment. One screen says I need to renew my membership but it's active already. If I try to renew it says that I already have a membership. It let me do a trial so I could have access for 2 weeks, then billed me but now I can't get in, even though I should have 2 memberships under my email address. Rep said that every time the app is updated, users need to delete and reinstall
don't bother, once you subscribe you can't unsubsribe.
have to log in or start a free trial to use. I don't want to log in, just let me use the app it shouldn't be any more difficult than just using the app.
This app is not free. once you download you cannot see any recipes unless you subscribe to 14-day trial and must pay after that. you can get these recipes from multiple other sources for FREE. terrible app - uninstalled immediately. don't even bother LoL
just barely downloaded it and it will not open.
cost money
You have to pay to even look. Most the recipes are posted online for free so I don't see the point in the app.
cant acess anything without paying. boo!
No free content in the app, constant popups to sign up and pay. The app is unusable for free. Great YouTube channel though, I think I'll stick to that instead of the app. I've been a huge fan of the content on YouTube for a while and downloaded the app since it was mentioned in a video. This app offers different content than YouTube and I don't know what I'd be getting if I paid. Maybe an approach like Nat Geo where like half the content is free would be better.
This has to have the worst search function imaginable. I have a favorite called Sauteed Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Sage Cream Pan Sauce. Tried searching "pork apple" nothing, tried "pork sage" nothing, tried "apple sage' nothing. Tried my favorites but it would only show 10 of the 240. Finally had to resort to my PC and was still difficult to find. I am ready to cancel my subscription at this point.
Extremely poor app performance on Android. I am using a Pixel 8 and I can't even load the app - it's just a white screen with a spinning red logo which never loads. Cancelling my subscription renewal on this basis.
better free apps out there
I didn't realize this was a paid app. When I thought I would check it out for the 4 weeks it subscribed me. I dont want my information shared or sold. I want to delete account but can't find how.
says in app purchases, but hide 8 paragraphs deep in the description that it's a monthly subscription to use. there are plenty of other free sources for recipes out there.
moved to new phone and they try to make you buy another subscription, even though you already had one before, even after clicking restore subscription which claims was successful..... no contact info in the app. lost 11 months of access... seems super shady. cancelled renewal
why? dose this app trying to make you pay ! $89 should be free ! then ☆☆☆☆☆☆ I know how to cook bake top scale ! just nice reminders from up bringing inwhich I learned years add my own spin on flavors add on how strech a dish feed for month portion size to put in freezer ! on bad day! it's there !
Too many bugs! After the last update, the "Home-featured" page will either go into an endless loop or will loop for a few minutes before accessing the correct page. If you click on some of the recipes it will show the error page. If you click on the "Go to previous page" while on the error page it doesn't work. And they expect people to pay for something that doesn't work.
I thought after opening this app first thing they ask for money . This app shouldn't cost anything to learn or test food . In order to even get passed the first page you must pay . I wouldn't pay anyone to learn how to cook or even test food
Amazing recipes, worst app ever. So close to cancelling because this app is so frustrating. Always spinning, crashing, asking to log in, unable to process login. Middle of cooking and you try to check a recipe but it just spins and doesn't even open. Find a recipe you like, try save it, it doesn't save. scrolling through recipes, find one you like, and then it doesn't open throw you back to the dashboard to start all over. literally the only good thing going is the recipes.
Great recipes and content staged on a platform that needs to be refired. The app itself crashes too frequently to be useful in it's current state, which is unfortunate!
Tentatively giving the ATK App 2 stars. Most ppl are more generous than I could be. If I'm paying for something, it best work (almost) perfectly. From these comments, it does not. So I will wait to subscribe. Meanwhile I have the ATK Cookbook thru Kindle. Very Happy. And all their recipes thru to 2026!! 😉
I like the show better, the app wants you to immediately buy something, I was really just wanting to know how was the app compared to the show
trying to pay and access is a pain
App runs slow and crashes often
I want to like and use this app but it demands a subscription to do anything.
Great recipes, but frustrating to use. Maybe they're an iPhone team that tolerates Android because they don't seem to understand how the back button is supposed to work. When I search for recipes, then click the first result, use the back button/swipe, it takes me back 2 screens, past the search results. But if I use the back arrow in the upper left hand corner of their UI, like an iPhone user would, it takes me back to the search results. The UX should fit the usage paradigm of the device.
Apparently there has been a new update to the app and I have had nothing but issues with it since. I look up a recipe and when I try to access it, there is an error. This is occurring even with my saved "Favorites" recipes. For the amount of money we spend on this app, I expect better. Hopefully they get things figured out soon.
Sentiment summary
76%
Positive (4-5★)
4%
Neutral (3★)
20%
Negative (1-2★)