Review Insights · App Store
Food Recalls & Alerts
SmartAddress, Inc. · 3,538 ratings · ★ 4.8
4.8
★★★★★
3,538 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 58 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"
24 negative reviews mention this · 41% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Paywall garbage. Used to be great and free… now all the good features are behind an absurdly high paywall. Don’t download." - Randomnamerandomredditor
2
"information"
21 negative reviews mention this · 36% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Used to be good. Now everything is behind a paywall. So ridiculous to have to pay for safety information." - jackierrose
3
"subscription"
18 negative reviews mention this · 31% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not a Free App. Displays nothing useful without a subscription." - Shervinazadarya
4
"paywall"
17 negative reviews mention this · 29% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Paywall garbage. Used to be great and free… now all the good features are behind an absurdly high paywall. Don’t download." - Randomnamerandomredditor
5
"behind"
15 negative reviews mention this · 26% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Recent Update. Removed recall map access for non-paying users and added a worthless AI chatbot instead. I get you need money to keep up the app, so maybe don't pay out the behind for unnecessary features that add nothing of value?" - Ssongbird89
6
"money"
13 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Recent Update. Removed recall map access for non-paying users and added a worthless AI chatbot instead. I get you need money to keep up the app, so maybe don't pay out the behind for unnecessary features that add nothing of value?" - Ssongbird89
7
"recalls"
12 negative reviews mention this · 21% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not free. No longer free. Useless app because you can’t see any details about the recalls" - Mschlegel7989
8
"behind paywall"
11 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Violating Apple Terms of Service?. 1. Apple allows app sellers to put new services behind paywalls and subscriptions, but does not allow app sellers to reduce existing functionality. This same thing happened with Airmail a few years ago, and the seller had to issue a new app…" - BuckarooToo
9
"update"
10 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Recent Update. Removed recall map access for non-paying users and added a worthless AI chatbot instead. I get you need money to keep up the app, so maybe don't pay out the behind for unnecessary features that add nothing of value?" - Ssongbird89
10
"food"
9 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App Blocked by Paywall. Do not waste your time with this app. In order to see ANYTHING on the app, you have to subscribe. This app is meant to help save lives from food recalls! But instead, it seems like they only care about making money. This app should be free!" - Shall_Not_Be_Named12
11
"people"
9 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Public Safety Shouldn’t Be Paywalled. This app built its reputation by helping people avoid contaminated food and dangerous products. Now? It’s just another bait-and-switch. You took a tool meant to protect public health and shoved it behind a paywall. Let’s be clear: food rec…" - Echo:Null
12
"recall"
8 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Recent Update. Removed recall map access for non-paying users and added a worthless AI chatbot instead. I get you need money to keep up the app, so maybe don't pay out the behind for unnecessary features that add nothing of value?" - Ssongbird89
📋 All 58 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").
Recent Update
Removed recall map access for non-paying users and added a worthless AI chatbot instead. I get you need money to keep up the app, so maybe don't pay out the behind for unnecessary features that add nothing of value?
Paywall garbage
Used to be great and free… now all the good features are behind an absurdly high paywall. Don’t download.
Not free
No longer free. Useless app because you can’t see any details about the recalls
App Blocked by Paywall
Do not waste your time with this app. In order to see ANYTHING on the app, you have to subscribe. This app is meant to help save lives from food recalls! But instead, it seems like they only care about making money. This app should be free!
Used to be good
Now everything is behind a paywall. So ridiculous to have to pay for safety information.
Not a Free App
Displays nothing useful without a subscription.
Not loading anything anymore ‼️
Not loading anything anymore ‼️
Ruined by paywalling
For an app whose motto is “keeping you and your loved ones safe” it’s clear now that really all that matters to them is money, what a surprise. It used to be so helpful and probably did save lives, now corporate greed has made the app unusable without a subscription. Insane.
Doesn’t Work
This app used to be extremely helpful but now you open it and see a black screen. They ruined it with the paywall feature. Will be deleting.
Money hungry
This app used to be a great resource for public health awareness. Now they’ve made it so you can’t read a single recall without a paid subscription.
Public Safety Shouldn’t Be Paywalled
This app built its reputation by helping people avoid contaminated food and dangerous products. Now? It’s just another bait-and-switch. You took a tool meant to protect public health and shoved it behind a paywall.
Let’s be clear: food recall data is public. You didn’t create it-you aggregated it. And now you’re charging users for access to their own safety? Blaming “funding issues” and name-dropping the FDA doesn’t make this right-it just makes it look worse.
Plenty of apps survive using ads, donations, or optional upgrades. Instead, you locked essential health alerts behind a subscription, then tried to spin it as necessary. It’s not. It’s a choice-a deliberate, greedy one.
If you have any integrity left, bring back free access to critical recall alerts. Support the app with ads or paid extras if you must-but don’t hold public safety hostage for profit.
Let’s be clear: food recall data is public. You didn’t create it-you aggregated it. And now you’re charging users for access to their own safety? Blaming “funding issues” and name-dropping the FDA doesn’t make this right-it just makes it look worse.
Plenty of apps survive using ads, donations, or optional upgrades. Instead, you locked essential health alerts behind a subscription, then tried to spin it as necessary. It’s not. It’s a choice-a deliberate, greedy one.
If you have any integrity left, bring back free access to critical recall alerts. Support the app with ads or paid extras if you must-but don’t hold public safety hostage for profit.
Immediately asks you to upgrade once you open the app
As the title says, there's a pop up the moment you open the app. It is very pervasive and makes me want to google the information rather than rely on the app.
Really Expensive & Unfair
Crazy that we have to pay for this!!
as usual, they ruined this app by making people pay
this app used to be great, and i used it all the time to soothe my anxiety about the food we bought. now its basically useless as i can’t even click on one of the items without a pop-up saying i should buy, and all features are behind a paywall. nice job ruining your app for money, though at least people are being sensible and you’re losing users.
Violating Apple Terms of Service?
1. Apple allows app sellers to put new services behind paywalls and subscriptions, but does not allow app sellers to reduce existing functionality. This same thing happened with Airmail a few years ago, and the seller had to issue a new app that restored the functions that had been free. I would suggest filing complaints directly with Apple.
2. I find the idea that the seller was denied FDA funding laughable. As if they ever had it before (not). Federal agencies sometimes produce there own apps (TSA, CBP, USDA, to name a few), but do not fund private app sellers. Particularly when all this information is available for free. Specifically, there is an FDA example (search “FDA Age Calculator”)
3. In the interim, there are other apps that still do provide all this information (and more) for free. Search “FDA recalls” and you will find several free apps with similar functionality.
2. I find the idea that the seller was denied FDA funding laughable. As if they ever had it before (not). Federal agencies sometimes produce there own apps (TSA, CBP, USDA, to name a few), but do not fund private app sellers. Particularly when all this information is available for free. Specifically, there is an FDA example (search “FDA Age Calculator”)
3. In the interim, there are other apps that still do provide all this information (and more) for free. Search “FDA recalls” and you will find several free apps with similar functionality.
Premium
This was a free app until now. You could open it and automatically access all features. Now you have to create a login and pay for premium to see the images and states affected. As people need this more and more, they decided to make money off you. Unsurprising but disappointing.
Used to be good
It used to be great but now you have to pay…. To see food recalls?!?
BOOOOO
This app was supposed to help people and now yall just greedy. No better than the government that’s letting this happen. Make it free again. Losing users on the daily for money is crazy. Sold yourselves out.
Was amazing, but
The app used to be free. It’s now completely locked behind a paywall. Disappointment would be an understatement.
Pop up for subscription
Stop with the pop ups, I ain’t paying
bad..
they really had to make it a subscription based model huh? just like everything else. will not be using anymore, and already deleted it.
Dude…
I used to love this app. No accounts needed or anything. But today I opened the app and saw multiple features that were previously free locked behind a paywall. On top of that I saw that I needed to create an account to use the app. Why? Why did you do this to me?
So disappointed
I had been using this app for at least a year, it was so easy to use and I checked it every week. I recommended it to multiple people as recalls became more common. I was so very disappointed when I opened it to discover it now requires everyone to create an account. So they can spam you with emails & sell your data. I came to this site & found out from the other reviews that now they are charging money for any useful info. This was such a unique & helpful app. They could’ve saved so many people from illness. Very disappointed
They want our data
This app was perfectly fine without needing to make an account. I’m so sick of every app wanting our information so they can store our data and sell it on the black web.
Requires an account to login now
Update: I do not believe the developer when they say they do not track my info. Why else would they introduce accounts when the app was working perfectly fine before? An account is not necessary to ask a person which states they would like alerts from. The explanation does not make sense and is misleading. Stop requiring accounts. This app still requires an account which is completely and utterly unnecessary. This app used to be great! Then suddenly it started requiring an account to login and see any recall information. Um, what? Why do I need to log in to do that? The app was perfectly fine before. STOP FORCING US TO MAKE ACCOUNTS
I loved it but now I don’t
It was a great app to keep up to date on what foods to avoid and notify my immunocompromised family about but now it’s hidden behind a paywall. No safety information should be kept from the public just because you want money.
Recent update made this app near useless
Putting public health information behind a paywall should be illegal
Now have to become subscriber
Was great when it was a free and informative app to keep people safe from PUBLIC recalls. Now have to become a subscriber just for basic info. Deleted.
It was great til yall made the VITAL INFORMATION only available if you pay for it.
This app used to be about legitimate health concern but now it’s obviously just about the money. What’s the point of a recall app if you can’t see the details of a recall unless you pay for it? I’ve had this app for months and recommended it to many ppl but I think I’m just going to start finding my own info online from now on.
was great before the paywall
i don't think i should have to pay money to see if my state is affected by a recall/illness, especially since it was free before. i guess i don't get to know since i'm poor.
Used to be free
Now I have to pay to see basic health and safety information? Terrible and unethical update. I’ve since deleted the app.
Not free anymore
I uninstalled the app, now you can't see the information if you don't pay 🙄
Used to be great
Now that they make you subscribe to see the most basic of information it’s useless. Don’t bother with it.
Subscribe for more🙄
I used to love this app, I used it throughout my pregnancy, but now they hide most of the recalled product information behind a paywall, so I just uninstalled.
Started charging
New update and started charging to see any information for important recalls. Scammers
Greedy scum‼️
Was a useful resource until you blindsided your followers and made it a pay per view !
Up yours
I’ve gone back to the FREE DIRECTLY SOURCED resources I used before.
Hope you crash and burn 🔥
Up yours
I’ve gone back to the FREE DIRECTLY SOURCED resources I used before.
Hope you crash and burn 🔥
Don’t care for
I don’t like how they started to charged for the important information
Why?
Was great free info source but have to pay subscription to see certain things now
Was a fan until..
I genuinely loved this app to keep an eye on things with so many recalls as of late. I recommended it to family and friends due to being able to access and see so much for free, but they changed that. Now if you want to see what states have the food recalls, or if you'd like to see what the products look like (besides the one photo they may have listed) you have to have a subscription. Boo to the devs for taking that accessibility of knowledge away, and putting it behind a paywall.
(Edit) Used to be a really useful app.
I’m a little disappointed that y’all decided to lock incredibly important information behind a paywall when that’s why people download the app in the first place and could lead to harm. I get that funding is an issue, but surely setting up a donations page in the app would’ve been better than just cutting off information? Doing this isn’t going to make people pay for the subscription, it’s just likely to make people delete the app.
Subscription? Really? A login?
audacity to do that tbh, not everyone wants to “google” search what not this app didn’t had login feature nor subscription based stuff I rather get updates from tiktok then have this app I just deleted off my phone there no use for the useless app
Food Recalls & Alerts
This was a useful app and I used it for months to stay up to date with recalls before they required a subscription. To make people pay to view something that is public knowledge is ludicrous. Huge disappointment when an every app turns into making a dollar.
Don’t UPDATE it just delete.
App now requires a sign in and need a subscription to look at pic of recall. Just sign up for email notifications with FDA food recalls instead. It’s all free there. The justification they try making in their replies really shows their disconnect.
Profiting off safety is wild
They now charge to use this app. That’s absurd. Y’all couldn’t get advertisements instead of charging? Yall should be ashamed of yourselves
Used to be free - now unusable without subscription
I downloaded this app last month to conveniently keep up with important food recalls and keep myself and my household healthy. Unfortunately, every update to this app this month has made it less and less useable, to the point where you can no longer see any important information without a subscription.
This subscription-locked information is available for free on the FDA’s website, and they have customizable email update options. I will be uninstalling this app and moving to that option instead.
This subscription-locked information is available for free on the FDA’s website, and they have customizable email update options. I will be uninstalling this app and moving to that option instead.
Cash grab sellout
I am a very paranoid person, especially with food and the possibility of getting food poisoning, thus this app was quite useful to me. It was easier to scroll through and see, right away, the reason for a recall, VS on the FDA website you have to individually click on each recall to see. But recently the developers of this app became sellouts! And now are requiring a $5 monthly subscription to see any images of the recalled products or a map of where the products have been recalled. As if that information isn’t quite literally free on the FDA website. Absolutely spineless, disgusting, capitalistic behavior. This is potentially life saving information, and now they’ve shoved it behind a paywall. Shame on them
Forces you to create an account
New update forces you to create an account. Deleted the app...
Was great till it wasn’t
The app would of course tell you recalls on items which yes that’s the main point of the app but as of a recent update they won’t allow you to see where it’s recalled and the images of the items unless you pay them a monthly fee, it used to NOT be like this whatsoever you were able to view the images of the items recalled and in what state as well now you must pay $4.99/$39.99 for each month/year or if you don’t want to pay monthly you can always give them a small fee of $99.99 for lifetime access. I’m incredibly disappointed on how these people got so greedy over the safety of people. I will not change this review unless they rid of their subscription service.
:(
used to be completely free now u have to make an account and pay to see some info
Paywall + Nondescriptive
Sometimes says "and others" while listing out grocery stores of said recalled item which is just unhelpful. Paywalls access to states which the item got recalled in.
+ 8 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
95%
Positive (4-5★)
1%
Neutral (3★)
4%
Negative (1-2★)