Review Insights · App Store
Dumbify
AB Apps Inc. · 203 ratings · ★ 3.0
3.0
★★★★★
203 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 43 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
"work"
12 negative reviews mention this · 28% of all complaints
★★★★★ "DO NOT BUY - App doesn’t work. I downloaded the app to help spend less time on my phone. Trying to get this app to actually perform how it said it would has caused me more time on my phone. Deleted immediately and asked Apple for a refund. It said it was not eligible for…" - bradsefton
2
"doesn"
10 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "DO NOT BUY - App doesn’t work. I downloaded the app to help spend less time on my phone. Trying to get this app to actually perform how it said it would has caused me more time on my phone. Deleted immediately and asked Apple for a refund. It said it was not eligible for…" - bradsefton
3
"does"
9 negative reviews mention this · 21% of all complaints
★★★★★ "DO NOT BUY - App doesn’t work. I downloaded the app to help spend less time on my phone. Trying to get this app to actually perform how it said it would has caused me more time on my phone. Deleted immediately and asked Apple for a refund. It said it was not eligible for…" - bradsefton
4
"money"
8 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Sorry not sorry. Genuine biggest waste of money ever so useless needs more features to be worth money can i please get a refund" - joehamburger45734
5
"widget"
8 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "barely functional. the widgets function properly (mostly) but they do not blend in with the background no matter what. it is very flawed." - roscoe1694
6
"shortcuts"
8 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "fix the shortcut issue please. when tapping the name of certain apps in the widget it opens the shortcut app brielfy before opening the actual app. turning reduced motion on doesnt fix this issue only makes the jumping between the widget, the shortcuts app, and the desir…" - sanctumsent
7
"needs"
7 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Sorry not sorry. Genuine biggest waste of money ever so useless needs more features to be worth money can i please get a refund" - joehamburger45734
8
"widgets"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "barely functional. the widgets function properly (mostly) but they do not blend in with the background no matter what. it is very flawed." - roscoe1694
9
"phone"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "DO NOT BUY - App doesn’t work. I downloaded the app to help spend less time on my phone. Trying to get this app to actually perform how it said it would has caused me more time on my phone. Deleted immediately and asked Apple for a refund. It said it was not eligible for…" - bradsefton
10
"refund"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "DO NOT BUY - App doesn’t work. I downloaded the app to help spend less time on my phone. Trying to get this app to actually perform how it said it would has caused me more time on my phone. Deleted immediately and asked Apple for a refund. It said it was not eligible for…" - bradsefton
11
"waste"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Sorry not sorry. Genuine biggest waste of money ever so useless needs more features to be worth money can i please get a refund" - joehamburger45734
12
"screen"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Worked well until iOS 26. With the advent of iOS 26 and Liquid Glass, this app has become completely unusable from a UI/UX perspective. It is now distracting to look at anything on the home screen, which defeats the point of using it. Until this app is fixed, I cann…" - Elweedman
📋 All 43 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").
Would give zero stars.
What a joke of an app.
barely functional
the widgets function properly (mostly) but they do not blend in with the background no matter what. it is very flawed.
DO NOT BUY - App doesn’t work
I downloaded the app to help spend less time on my phone. Trying to get this app to actually perform how it said it would has caused me more time on my phone. Deleted immediately and asked Apple for a refund. It said it was not eligible for refund. TOTAL SCAM!
Broken app, don’t get this
Unfortunately a new iOS update has broken this app. Developer is does not maintain it. Avoid
Sorry not sorry
Genuine biggest waste of money ever so useless needs more features to be worth money can i please get a refund
Bad function, 90% of short cuts don’t works
Needs update. I’m not one to leave 1 stars but don’t do it
No Updates
Great app but unfortunately no updates for over a year. If you use iOS 26 I don’t recommend this app as the UI looks bad.
Worked well until iOS 26
With the advent of iOS 26 and Liquid Glass, this app has become completely unusable from a UI/UX perspective. It is now distracting to look at anything on the home screen, which defeats the point of using it. Until this app is fixed, I cannot give it anything more than 1 star.
Not iOS 26 friendly
This app needs an update for iOS 26
Not IOS 26 compatible
Does not work with IOS 26
READ BEFORE PURCHASE
This app is hot influencer GARBAGE. DOES NOT WORK AT ALL AS ADVERTISED!
Dumb app - doesn’t help at all
No way to actually block most apps or App Library. Waste of time . I want my money back
Not for iOS 26
Beware that the app doesn’t work as intended with iOS 26. The new liquid crystal effects interfere with this app.
Not iOS 26 Compatible
Looks like absolute trash for the #5 app in the App Store for Productivity. Fix this!
Needs dumbification
Not simple to set up. Tutorials don’t match current iOS. Conflicts with iOS 18. Hasn’t been updated in 11 months? Too bad. Looked really cool.
No widget
The widget doesn’t exist in list. Stole money. I guess that is why it’s not updated in 8months
Worst one
If I could ask for a refund I would. Even premium is laggy and opens the launcher and THEIR APP before the apps you need launched. Worst one I’ve downloaded and paid for.
this is just widgetsmith
it’s just… widgets. it’s nothing helpful.
Do not buy
Clunky to use
Don’t waste your money on this
It’s not a seamless experience because it depends on the shortcuts app to function. It’s half baked at best.
Save your money
None of the shortcuts worked, I lit 5$ on fire. I could program them manually but this defeats the purpose for the developers.
Worst waste of my time ever
Saw a video of a dad that claimed this app helped him simplify his phone and become more productive and a better example to his kids. This app does not work at all, your phone is NOT dumbified. Waste of money, and apple wont give me a refund.
iOS 18 issues
I tried the language hack to fix, but this app still does not let me add widgets to my Lock Screen.
Consistently fails
This app consistently fails by showing only black blocks on my Home Screen instead of my app list, to the point of not being able to use my phone if I want to only use the widgets. I definitely regret paying for it. You can’t make a home launcher that consistently blacks out.
nuked
the shortcuts launch feature no longer works with ios18
Half of widgets don’t work
I followed the instructions exactly and most of them worked at first and then stopped working. A couple apps never worked at all.
Does not allow apps
This app does not allow you to input apps like Notion, Motion and plenty of other apps into their widget.
This is a warning to others that if you do not use the most basic apps and have note apps and tasks apps to not waste your $$
This is a warning to others that if you do not use the most basic apps and have note apps and tasks apps to not waste your $$
not working
The shortcut apps don’t work. It does not redirect me to the shortcut app
It’s just a widget
I watched a video that recommended this, but I’m sorely disappointed.
This is literally just a widget that you can add app names onto to open them. And it needs to open up dumbify before opening those apps. It is useless. Don’t get it.
This is literally just a widget that you can add app names onto to open them. And it needs to open up dumbify before opening those apps. It is useless. Don’t get it.
Dumbify is so dumb
Not user friendly, doesn’t show what advertises in the picture. I was trying to have a blank screen with my top five apps that’s needed for work and communication. This doesnt help with that at all. Don’t listen to any other reviews. DONT BUY THIS! Scamming people to the maximum extent.
Doesn’t work as advertised
Doesn’t work. The widget can never be added, even after following the FAQ. The app is effectiveness useless to me and I can’t get a refund so it feels like I got scammed :(
Waste of money
It’s not changing our iOS - it’s just a “full page” widget on your Home Screen and they give you a background color so it looks “good”. HOWEVER, app integration and user experience are atrocious and some of your app can not integrate with their widget. TBH - It’s not that this app is terrible, it’s that they sale you “the moon” in marketing and then give you a cardboard box and tell you to color it like a spaceship.
Doesn’t Work (iOS 17.5.1)
Redirects to the Shortcuts app, and can’t find the shortcut it’s looking for. Not worth $4.99, wouldn’t download it if it was free.
Shortcuts doesn’t work
I’m trying to get this set up. I’ve been working on it all morning. Some of the apps on iPhone need to go through shortcuts and it’s not opening on my phone like in the tutorial video. I’ve tried everything and I’m frustrated and there’s no contact info so that I can get help.
Do not use with iOS 26
Unfortunately, this app doesn’t pair well with iOS 26. The Liquid Glass completely ruins the minimalism, creating weird outlines, mismatched colors and other issues with app mapping.
This isn’t necessarily on the app developers shoulders alone, but has made it not the app it should be with the new OS.
This isn’t necessarily on the app developers shoulders alone, but has made it not the app it should be with the new OS.
DONT GET
Horrible stupid app
Great idea needs to be updated
One of my students had this on his phone and I was amazed and wanted for myself. The setup is difficult because the tutorial videos are outdated and it hard to get past the first step without help. There’s no help email so it makes it difficult to get started without road blocks
Not what it seems
This app looks great on the App Store but it’s as seamless as you might think, it envolves some somewhat complicated steps to get it working, and even then it’s not as useful as you’d think. I asked for a refund within 20 minutes of getting it, but apparently they don’t let you do that, either, so beware. Only purchase this if you’re very sure.
Thought this was better than what it was
The idea is that it essentially bricks your phone but it’s functionality is limited by the boundaries of the software itself. The fact that it’s a widget is annoying and clunky. I do not have time unfortunately to go through a whole process to access a single app. Not worth the money
fix the shortcut issue please
when tapping the name of certain apps in the widget it opens the shortcut app brielfy before opening the actual app. turning reduced motion on doesnt fix this issue only makes the jumping between the widget, the shortcuts app, and the desired app faster. will improve my rating when this is fixed.
Works, but apps don’t launch smoothly
This app essentially does what it says, but the way apps launch is so clunky that it detracts from the user experience. There is a quick launch option to try to mitigate this, but it still doesn’t feel right. This isn’t the developer’s fault as it seems like they’re doing the best they can within the confines of iOS, but it’s just not what I was hoping for when I purchased the app.
Fine, Needs (a lot) More
I’ll change my review if the developer fixed any of the problems I talk about here.
This is an extremely simple app that basically acts as a stylish launcher for Apple Shortcuts.
Shortcuts, which comes included with any recent Apple device, is free & amazing (through no effort of the creator of this app.) Dumbify isn’t different from any of the other free apps that provide minimalist Launcher Widgets, and actually offers less customizability in some cases. That’s why it’s so disappointing how *little* this app does. There are two types of Widgets that Dumbify provides: one that can show links to (Shortcuts that open) apps of your choice, and an empty one that acts as a “spacer” for your home screen. There is only ONE size of Launcher Widget offered, which takes up an entire screen of an iPhone. There is ZERO customization beyond this, which is where I’m frustrated. I’d really really like to see more than one size of Launcher widget offered, or the ability to re-size the Launcher Widget on iOS 18 (running the beta in my iPad, Dumbify *does not* include this super simple functionality.)
The lack of Launcher Widget customization beyond font size/weight is super disappointing too - I’d expect a few options for alternative fonts to the default.
Dumbify is a product to make your home screen look *exactly* how those in the App Store page’s demo pictures show. If you want anything beyond that (and you likely will after a few hours) go somewhere else.
This is an extremely simple app that basically acts as a stylish launcher for Apple Shortcuts.
Shortcuts, which comes included with any recent Apple device, is free & amazing (through no effort of the creator of this app.) Dumbify isn’t different from any of the other free apps that provide minimalist Launcher Widgets, and actually offers less customizability in some cases. That’s why it’s so disappointing how *little* this app does. There are two types of Widgets that Dumbify provides: one that can show links to (Shortcuts that open) apps of your choice, and an empty one that acts as a “spacer” for your home screen. There is only ONE size of Launcher Widget offered, which takes up an entire screen of an iPhone. There is ZERO customization beyond this, which is where I’m frustrated. I’d really really like to see more than one size of Launcher widget offered, or the ability to re-size the Launcher Widget on iOS 18 (running the beta in my iPad, Dumbify *does not* include this super simple functionality.)
The lack of Launcher Widget customization beyond font size/weight is super disappointing too - I’d expect a few options for alternative fonts to the default.
Dumbify is a product to make your home screen look *exactly* how those in the App Store page’s demo pictures show. If you want anything beyond that (and you likely will after a few hours) go somewhere else.
The app is way too buggy for this price
After buying the app to test I have came to a conclusion it is a very good idea, but there are too many bugs on the app plus for its simplicity of an app I would feel as if the concept should have been complete before the launch of this application. The short cuts don’t work with full ui of apple , a lot of the shortcuts take you to random places in the application you want to go to.
Sentiment summary
47%
Positive (4-5★)
10%
Neutral (3★)
43%
Negative (1-2★)