Review Insights · App Store
Beli
Beli Technologies, Inc. · 14,779 ratings · ★ 4.9
4.9
★★★★★
14,779 ratings
🎯 Build a better version
Top complaints - extracted from 56 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
"friends"
23 negative reviews mention this · 41% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Immediate uninstall. Forces you to send invite links and add friends before you can even use the app. Gross. Immediate uninstall." - Nah2025wjfjqihrusihdibh
2
"invite"
22 negative reviews mention this · 39% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Immediate uninstall. Forces you to send invite links and add friends before you can even use the app. Gross. Immediate uninstall." - Nah2025wjfjqihrusihdibh
3
"people"
15 negative reviews mention this · 27% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Way too intrusive. A friend sent me a link from this app for a place for lunch. I had to ask him for the address because I couldn’t just view the map without the app. I should be able to access an app without feeling like I’m sitting taking the SAT. Pulled th…" - pac0naut
4
"features"
13 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Great app but hate the invite to unlock. When can we get rid of the invite to unlock features thingys? It just makes it less usable for most of the users" - czzze
5
"reviews"
10 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Can’t look at reviews unless you successfully get someone else to download the app. The only reason I’m trying to use the app is to look at reviews, and this defeats the entire purpose of that. Will be deleting the app if this doesn’t change cus it’s now useless to me" - SydneyH10
6
"access"
10 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Way too intrusive. A friend sent me a link from this app for a place for lunch. I had to ask him for the address because I couldn’t just view the map without the app. I should be able to access an app without feeling like I’m sitting taking the SAT. Pulled th…" - pac0naut
7
"without"
9 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Way too intrusive. A friend sent me a link from this app for a place for lunch. I had to ask him for the address because I couldn’t just view the map without the app. I should be able to access an app without feeling like I’m sitting taking the SAT. Pulled th…" - pac0naut
8
"restaurants"
9 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Unable to use the app without inviting friends. I just wanted to create a list of my own to track restaurants. Why do I need to invite friends who might not benefit from this app? Great way to expand your users, but should be optional" - Unhappy-user00
9
"invite friends"
9 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Unable to use the app without inviting friends. I just wanted to create a list of my own to track restaurants. Why do I need to invite friends who might not benefit from this app? Great way to expand your users, but should be optional" - Unhappy-user00
10
"unlock"
8 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Great app but hate the invite to unlock. When can we get rid of the invite to unlock features thingys? It just makes it less usable for most of the users" - czzze
11
"other"
8 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Referrals. I don’t have any friends who aren’t on Beli at this point and just want to see the average score of a restaurant. I understand the other perks should be a bit more exclusive, but the average should be a given at this point….especially for a…" - Tony Dacash
12
"doesn"
8 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Can’t look at reviews unless you successfully get someone else to download the app. The only reason I’m trying to use the app is to look at reviews, and this defeats the entire purpose of that. Will be deleting the app if this doesn’t change cus it’s now useless to me" - SydneyH10
📋 All 56 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").
Immediate uninstall
Forces you to send invite links and add friends before you can even use the app.
Gross.
Immediate uninstall.
Gross.
Immediate uninstall.
Great app but hate the invite to unlock
When can we get rid of the invite to unlock features thingys? It just makes it less usable for most of the users
Referrals
I don’t have any friends who aren’t on Beli at this point and just want to see the average score of a restaurant. I understand the other perks should be a bit more exclusive, but the average should be a given at this point….especially for an app focused on food.
Can’t look at reviews unless you successfully get someone else to download the app
The only reason I’m trying to use the app is to look at reviews, and this defeats the entire purpose of that. Will be deleting the app if this doesn’t change cus it’s now useless to me
Dislike the app updates
The new updates to the map are unnecessary and make it harder to see multiple places at once. The little icons are not helpful, and it makes the whole experience much slower / cumbersome. We also don’t like the heart emoji instead of the like button. Please revert back to being easier to use!
Way too intrusive
A friend sent me a link from this app for a place for lunch. I had to ask him for the address because I couldn’t just view the map without the app. I should be able to access an app without feeling like I’m sitting taking the SAT. Pulled the plug at “invite four people”. This should be optional as well as most of the questions it’s asking you.
Punished for using their own features
Beli markets itself as a social dining platform, but using one of its core features-reservation sharing-ended up getting my account restricted. There’s no clear guidance on what crosses the line, and enforcement feels arbitrary and inconsistent.
What’s most frustrating is the lack of transparency and support. Instead of clear communication or a warning, access was simply removed, leaving me dealing with the consequences. For an app built around sharing and discovery, penalizing normal user behavior is a major design and policy failure.
Until they fix how they handle reservations and user accounts, I would strongly recommend avoiding this app.
What’s most frustrating is the lack of transparency and support. Instead of clear communication or a warning, access was simply removed, leaving me dealing with the consequences. For an app built around sharing and discovery, penalizing normal user behavior is a major design and policy failure.
Until they fix how they handle reservations and user accounts, I would strongly recommend avoiding this app.
Unable to use the app without inviting friends
I just wanted to create a list of my own to track restaurants. Why do I need to invite friends who might not benefit from this app? Great way to expand your users, but should be optional
fake reviews as usual
have to invite ppl to be able to use most features, missing restaurants, cant search best rated restaurants etc. good idea lazy execution.
Invite people to unlock app
I don’t want to have to invite people just to have access to basic features on the app. Super annoying.
20 questions
I just want to look at recommendations. Not answer 2000 questions in order to get into the app.
Wants you to spam texting
App will not let set up an account without “inviting” friends. I am not spam texting my friends for a restaurant review app.
Wanted my phone number right off the bat!
Too personal-At least let me sign up with Apple before I “commit “ to giving my phone number! Then starting reading reviews after I already ready downloaded it. And then, even more personal -want me invite 4 friends before I can use all the features. Quickly deleted app.
Account Creation
Do not make me invite 4 friends to use the app.
Just let me use me app!
1 trillion questions to even open the app then I have to send invites to friends to use it? It's just food reviews not the secret coke recipe, let me use the dang app already
Forced to invite others before you can use the app
Literally the worst UI flow I’ve seen in an app.
Sign up and you are forced to invite 4 other people before you can even see what the app does.
I tried quitting the app and it still comes back to the same screen.
Get ready to pimp out your network before the app adds a modicum of value.
What a sham. Dishonorable and disgraceful.
Sign up and you are forced to invite 4 other people before you can even see what the app does.
I tried quitting the app and it still comes back to the same screen.
Get ready to pimp out your network before the app adds a modicum of value.
What a sham. Dishonorable and disgraceful.
Invite System Broken
Have had this app since 2022 when it was in early days beta. Have 350 restaurants in here. Great tracking software.
I still can’t get out of the “unlock features” area. At least let me pay $5 or something to unlock these features. Would be fine with that. I don’t have any invites or even people to invite. Can’t use the full functionality of the app because of this, never have been able to. Please fix.
I still can’t get out of the “unlock features” area. At least let me pay $5 or something to unlock these features. Would be fine with that. I don’t have any invites or even people to invite. Can’t use the full functionality of the app because of this, never have been able to. Please fix.
Sign up requires you to invite 4 people to join the app
I just wanted to be able to have an app where I can personally rank restaurants but the social aspect is so in your face that you have to invite 4 friends just to sign up. Seems like it’s a page that should be skipped but the app refuses to let you sign up.
Looks interesting, but I don’t like the privacy implications
I was curious about it after hearing a group of friends discussing it recently. I did not like that. You have to provide your phone number and agreed to them sending you information or messages. I’m normally protective of my text messaging and contact info. Also, after reading several of the other reviews, that mentioned that you have to allow them access to your contacts this is a no go for me.
Manipulative
It requires you to invite people to unlock features. This is some sort of pyramid scheme.
How do I post on my feed?
This app sux. Just wanted to share my first post but got a headache tryna figure that out. Hire better UI/UX, product manager or whatever.
Not Spamming Friends
Providing access to your contacts and requiring you send invites to 4 people is an unreasonable sign-up requirement for a FREE app especially before you’ve even used the app. Let me decide if I want to share friends’ PI. Instead of building an app with mass appeal, you’ve created one that’s walled off with less growth potential. Smart.
Invites suck
Good idea, but giving 1 star to protest the BS invite system.
They don't respect your notification settings
I have all notifications turned off but they still insist on sending me notifications.
1 Star For Sure
The developer of this app is a deceiving con artist who forces users to share information inorganically. Trust me when I say that this app can definitely be left alone. You will NOT be missing anything!
bruh
why did i have to send an invitation to 4 contacts to use this app bro don’t make me mad rn
let me choose my own rankings!!
I love beli but I hate that the rankings are based on comparison to other places!!! I should be able to rank the restaurant with my own number. I don’t agree with any of the rankings that are on my account 🤦🏽♀️
Can’t be used unless shared
I must share this app with 4 people before I can use it. I have no idea if it’s good or useful or if I want to use it but before I can even access it I must tell 4 other people they need to use it too. No thank you.
Invite to unlock premium features?
It is so annoyingly stupid to lock unnamed premium features and reservations behind invites to your contacts to join. It’s probably the worst way I have ever seen an app try to build a user base and immediately caused me to remove beli without even getting into the actual app. The moment it told me that bonus invites would expire as soon as I left the initial invite page I had a visceral reaction of disgust that the app was designed in this way to keep me from even experiencing it before I decided to invite other people to join. Instead of pressuring new users up front before they even experience using beli you should be focusing on building an app that is so good people want to share it with their friends and then provide them with the opportunity to do so. The strategy employed right now though is absolutely a turnoff and not only makes me not want to use the app, I shared my grievances with several friends in the room with me who were initially interested in seeing what it might be about from me and they all immediately lost interest. You should probably get a marketing strategist who isn’t so stupid.
Bad practice for unlocking features
You need to consistently invite friends to use more features
Reviews are Not Good
This app locks basic functionality behind invites and reviews, you need to make a pretty absurd number of ratings before you can even look up restaurants near you and see their ratings. As a result the majority of ratings you find on this app are just spam made to access a feature that on any other app is immediately available.
Map function is terrible
How come when going to Recs Nearby and looking at the map, so many of the highest rated spots don’t show up? It doesn’t make sense. You have a huge data source across restaurants, it should be organized well. Opposite on the map. Instead it’s random spots, and visuals that look like Mapquest circa 2007
Beware! Scammy Self Promoting App
A friend sent me a link that said I had to sign up for her to use the app. Already red flag. Looking at it on the App Store, it looks like these developers have turned Google Reviews into a strava type of app. Totally unnecessary since Google is already a reliable social platform connected to your email. I continued with sign up because I love my friend and she wanted access. Turns out to even get past signup you have to invite four friends. Obviously this app doesn’t work and isn’t good if you have to promotor it yourself before even getting to use it. Boooooo!!! This isn’t what the people want! Out of touch!!!
Forces you to spam your friends
Doesn’t seem possible to just create an account without bugging others to join. Deleted
Annoying banners
Every
Single
Action
Trigger
A
Banner
Just stupid
Single
Action
Trigger
A
Banner
Just stupid
Multi-level marketing scam
You need to get 4 people to sign up for the app just to use basic functionality.
Scam to forcibly create a social network
Can’t use the app without inviting 4 others to join. Maybe it’s good, maybe it’s not but I won’t spam 4 of my friends to find out
Ui is hard to figure out, not easy to use.
Ui is hard to figure out, not easy to use.
Ridiculous
The mandatory requirement to invite friends ( let alone 4) to unlock features, is an illogical and an Extort step for a professional service. This design choice degrades the user experience, and is reviewed online as a (Con.) Grow your subscribers on your own!
A 4.9 overall app rating is "definitely" suspicious.
A 4.9 overall app rating is "definitely" suspicious.
I invited friends
I have been using the app for almost a year now. And I have invited friends, and they used my download link, but after clicking “Unlock” for the features I still don’t have it. Please fix
Why are you forcing me to invite friends
Why am I forced to invite 4 people to the app in order to use the app myself. The word obnoxious doesn’t even begin to describe this nonsense. Why would I do your marketing for you when I haven’t even seen if the platform is worth having.
Take some web development courses and maybe one on common sense and basic decency and you’ll realize why this app doesn’t have Letterboxd level clout. Ridiculous.
Take some web development courses and maybe one on common sense and basic decency and you’ll realize why this app doesn’t have Letterboxd level clout. Ridiculous.
Refuse to use
This app requires your email, phone number AND inviting 4 friends! That's obnoxious. I can't even try it out without inviting people. Hard pass.
Blocked out and forced to open Instagram
I had been using this for about a month, entering reviews and bookmarking restaurants. 3 days ago it opens with a 3-step new tip that will not go away. It ends by opening instagram, which I don’t even use and won’t allow any interaction with the app. I’m locked out of all usage of the app and have no access to my entries or for that matter any feature of the app. The absolute only function it performs now is opening instagram.
Useless
Why can’t I do a map view of all the restaurants in a given map area? I can only use the map to view my recommendations or restaurants I want to try. Well, there’s like 4 recommendations within a 10 minute drive of my house. This limitation completely defeats the purpose of an app for discovering and comparing places to eat. I’ll be back if/when this is fixed.
All personal details required to even launch app
I am not providing my phone number and email to just launch a social media food app without even being able to see the app. They’re probably just selling all personal info and data.
Too many forced things
You are forced to send an invite to 4 friends to continue, you are forced to review a certain number of restaurants to view scores, you are forced to compare restaurants to each other even if they are so dissimilar that it doesn’t make sense, you are forced to go along with the rating that it assigns that location based on your hierarchy of ratings. A lot of my friends use this app so I like keeping up with them on it but I do NOT enjoy posting to it. Google reviews/yelp is much better for pure objective rating
Bad UI/UX
Great concept but misses out on simple UI stuff. The tech team needs some new engineers. Seems like an app for 2010s. The onboarding is tiresome. Redundant steps when tagging someone.
Recommendations not Tailored
Ignores food preferences so idk what the point even is. It’s fun to rank I guess. I got on for more tailored recommendations and they don’t do that. I get Thai food recommendations all the time and I put my preferences as no Thai food. Disappointed, but I hope they change it because it’s a great idea
Not so pleased with them
Why don’t they have a map view? Why do they still make me invite someone to see average reviews? They’re a big operation at this point like cmon
Invites
It's so moronic how to fully utilize the app you have to invite people. I just want to see the average score of the restaurant i'm going to.
+ 6 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
97%
Positive (4-5★)
1%
Neutral (3★)
2%
Negative (1-2★)