Review Insights · App Store
America's Test Kitchen
America's Test Kitchen LP · 15,516 ratings · ★ 4.9
4.9
★★★★★
15,516 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 31 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
"subscription"
9 negative reviews mention this · 29% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Tired of subscriptions!. Deleted app due to not wanting pay for a subscription. Its much easier and FREE to search for good recipes online." - Whyterose7
2
"recipes"
9 negative reviews mention this · 29% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Tired of subscriptions!. Deleted app due to not wanting pay for a subscription. Its much easier and FREE to search for good recipes online." - Whyterose7
3
"free"
7 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Tired of subscriptions!. Deleted app due to not wanting pay for a subscription. Its much easier and FREE to search for good recipes online." - Whyterose7
4
"works"
7 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Really struggling with app functionality. I am a huge Cook illustrated fan. I’ve been a member for over 20 years now and I love their recipes, but I find it’s getting increasingly difficult to rely on the app or the website on my Apple devices. Sometimes it works fine. Sometimes it…" - BuyerBeward
5
"content"
7 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App REQUIRES subscription; don’t waste your time downloading this app unless you actually subscribe. I’m actually a fan of America’s Test Kitchen; they deserve to be paid. But the app should not be listed as ‘in-app purchase’ *might* happen. No-you will be REQUIRED to LOG IN AS A SUBSCRIBER OR WITH A TRIAL if you mean to read anything at a…" - mackeystudio
6
"paying"
6 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Copy/paste. It had better be some kind of mistake that you don’t allow paying members to copy paste the ingredients list." - d47m122
7
"been"
6 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Require a paid subscription. I am so disappointed that this app is $50 a year. I can watch it for free on my tv. And there are literally thousands of free websites that offer recipes, videos and cooking techniques that have been tested as well. The show is truly one of…" - Becky sings praise
8
"trial"
6 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App REQUIRES subscription; don’t waste your time downloading this app unless you actually subscribe. I’m actually a fan of America’s Test Kitchen; they deserve to be paid. But the app should not be listed as ‘in-app purchase’ *might* happen. No-you will be REQUIRED to LOG IN AS A SUBSCRIBER OR WITH A TRIAL if you mean to read anything at a…" - mackeystudio
9
"recipe"
5 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I love ATK! But….. I watch all the equipment and gadget reviews ! Love my gear heads Hannah & Lisa. …. However. Every recipe I looked at has seed oils. My personal journey of looking to cook from scratch is a healthier version, was disappointed to see so much…" - musiclover4life81
10
"year"
5 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Require a paid subscription. I am so disappointed that this app is $50 a year. I can watch it for free on my tv. And there are literally thousands of free websites that offer recipes, videos and cooking techniques that have been tested as well. The show is truly one of…" - Becky sings praise
11
"access"
5 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Recipes good, iOS app trash. I upgraded to the essentials + classes while I was still in my free trial. For a short time, I had access to the classes. Once I needed to reauthenticate, I could only access the free trial content. Your customer service is “out to lunch”. …" - His Dark Magician
12
"work"
5 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Really struggling with app functionality. I am a huge Cook illustrated fan. I’ve been a member for over 20 years now and I love their recipes, but I find it’s getting increasingly difficult to rely on the app or the website on my Apple devices. Sometimes it works fine. Sometimes it…" - BuyerBeward
📋 All 31 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").
I love ATK! But….
I watch all the equipment and gadget reviews ! Love my gear heads Hannah & Lisa. …. However. Every recipe I looked at has seed oils. My personal journey of looking to cook from scratch is a healthier version, was disappointed to see so much crisco shortening and vegetable oils.
Tired of subscriptions!
Deleted app due to not wanting pay for a subscription. Its much easier and FREE to search for good recipes online.
Copy/paste
It had better be some kind of mistake that you don’t allow paying members to copy paste the ingredients list.
Require a paid subscription
I am so disappointed that this app is $50 a year. I can watch it for free on my tv. And there are literally thousands of free websites that offer recipes, videos and cooking techniques that have been tested as well. The show is truly one of my favorites to watch. But i draw the line at paying that much to use the app!
App REQUIRES subscription; don’t waste your time downloading this app unless you actually subscribe
I’m actually a fan of America’s Test Kitchen; they deserve to be paid. But the app should not be listed as ‘in-app purchase’ *might* happen. No-you will be REQUIRED to LOG IN AS A SUBSCRIBER OR WITH A TRIAL if you mean to read anything at all. They deserve their pay for content; but should not waste the time of those of us not planning to subscribe. It’s a for-pay application wasting the time of anyone not interested or able to pay. Save your time-don’t install unless you are paying them.
Recipes good, iOS app trash
I upgraded to the essentials + classes while I was still in my free trial. For a short time, I had access to the classes. Once I needed to reauthenticate, I could only access the free trial content. Your customer service is “out to lunch”. Definitely not worth $90 per year!
Great information, terrible app.
This is the WORST supported app I have ever used. If you can get it to work the information is top notch. Unfortunately on a minute by minute basis the app becomes unavailable. It’s riddled with errors, or simply just doesn’t display anything.
After reporting my difficulties numerous time I am convinced no one supports the app anymore.
Just browse to the webpage for what you need, at least that works.
After reporting my difficulties numerous time I am convinced no one supports the app anymore.
Just browse to the webpage for what you need, at least that works.
Amazing Content but Horrible App
I’ve been obsessed with ATK for many years, but the app, although amazing when it works, is a constant disappointment. Login errors, failure to load, delete and reinstall on the regular, not recognizing credentials, it’s a hot mess. Please please please get to the bottom of it.
Can’t even open the app
I really want to use this app but anytime I open it it just sits on the loading screen and never does anything. I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled it several times and it just doesn’t work.
Trouble with the app
Last few weeks the app isn’t working well
Been a subscriber since 2001
Seems like the app always crashes. I pay $120 a year for something so unreliable
Can’t Access Membership Beware
I purchased the membership through my Apple account and have confirmation of an active subscription. Now when I go to the app it makes me sign in again and says I do not have one. When I select restore purchases it does nothing. So the $89 membership is not working. Be aware of this issue as you are unable to access your account. Their support number takes you to an AI agent who tries to sell you a life alert bracket
Deliberately Difficult to Cancel Free Trial
The only way to cancel during the free trial is by calling during M-F business hours (when most of us have jobs and are too busy to deal with garbage like this). I got charged $50 since I missed the window to call, and then a convenient “Cancel My Membership” button comes up on the website only after they’ve charged me. It’s deliberate, it’s predatory, and I expect more from ATK.
Issues
Still experiencing issue that recipes don’t load and error page is loaded. Was able to open one recipe and then no others would load. Closing and opening app did nothing to fix issue.
Fraudulent Charging
The app advertises a trial, but will charge you as soon as you agree to the trail. I would not recommend.
App no longer works
I have subscribed for a few years. Just get the icon of the spinning. Tried everything. Tried on another device, changed password, rebooted and even the website. Just not working and very frustrated.
Terrible app
I got to look at the app one time, every time I’ve tried to look at it, it just gives me the spinning loading wheel. I also spent 99 dollars on it and feel I completely wasted my money.
Also, it’s definitely not my internet. All other apps work fine and internet speed test confirms it
Also, it’s definitely not my internet. All other apps work fine and internet speed test confirms it
It’s broken
I can no longer manually add ingredients into the shopping list.
Great content but infuriating consistent connectivity
Ideal tool but far too many times, the app crashes. This is most frustrating when I am trying to buy ingredients for a recipe.
Please make your app more reliable.
Please make your app more reliable.
Technical problems for many weeks
I loved the app for several years but lately it just isn’t reliable. Often I can’t get in at all then when I am in for a bit it isn’t long before I get an “oops” screen and I can’t access any content. Go out come back in and can’t log in again. I’ve been in touch with their tech support and nothing helps.
Predatory pricing model
There was supposed to be a 14-day free trial, but as soon as I submitted it it charged me $50 for a full subscription. I immediately deleted the app and filed a claim for a refund with Apple and they refused to refund it, twice. This is unacceptable.
90$ pay wall
Do not get this app unless you’re rich or like cooking just that much. I used to get the cookbooks I loved the recipes so thought this app would be great. But there’s a FREAKING 90$ a year subscription just to use the app. To be honest I haven’t really gotten to try the app I don’t know how good the recipes on the app are but this is my honest experience. And ALL of it is locked behind the paywall! >:(
Really struggling with app functionality
I am a huge Cook illustrated fan. I’ve been a member for over 20 years now and I love their recipes, but I find it’s getting increasingly difficult to rely on the app or the website on my Apple devices. Sometimes it works fine. Sometimes it refuses to open. Sometimes in the middle of the recipe it will stop working. Despite multiple emails to customer service and me following all of their recommendations it’s still been an issue for the last 3 to 4 months with no fix in sight. This is not an inexpensive membership and I’m really really really disappointed. Beware Apple users.
App crashes daily
I love the app’s easy access to the recipes but it crashes multiple times a day
Equipment Reviews are broken on the app as of 10/25/25
Equipment review articles are no longer viewable in the app
App doesn’t work
I’ve recently tried to start using this app more and it won’t load unless I delete is and re-install. After that it works for awhile then just hangs up and won’t load info.
Content not available
I love AMTK, but whenever I go to use this app, a lot of the links to recipes or articles that I’m interested in reading do not work and I have to search around for a way to find them elsewhere. Takes away from the convenience of using the app, let alone paying a subscription fee for the pleasure. What content I can access from the website is quality, I’m just not sure it’s worth the time for the app.
Spinning
I accidentally didn’t cancel my free trial in time so now I’m paying for a year of this. I have been enjoying using it, but now today it won’t open and just spins. I have deleted the app, shut down my phone. Still Doing it.
No free content!
Absolutely no free recipes or info without paying for a subscription. All you get is teaser telling you to go back and sign up!! Annoying, pointless and deceptive. Just go to Epicurious dot com etc..
Great when it works
As I’m writing this the ATK is offline. Again. Errors in the web page, app just a spinning “thinking” icon forever. I will now get a recipe some other way, rather the ones I pay ATK for. Again. I do like this app when it works but it seems to fail a lot.
Logs Out Consistently
Great app when it works but it consistently logs me out and refuses my password (says Enter Valid Password). Doesn’t matter if I reset password, hard reset iPhone, or delete/redownload app. Nothing works until it randomly works. Frustrating that it happens at dinner time (like right now). Considering ending my subscription since I can’t use it when I want to or need to.
Sentiment summary
99%
Positive (4-5★)
-0%
Neutral (3★)
1%
Negative (1-2★)