How ranking works
The whole formula, published. No hidden weights, and money can't buy a place in the ranking. If it isn't on this page, it doesn't affect rank.
- V
- Upvotes from signed-in accounts. One per account, and every one weighs the same. An upvote counts once its account has confirmed its email address. Until then it is saved but not counted — not in the number on the page and not in the score — and it starts counting as soon as the email is confirmed, provided the week is still open. The count on the page is always the count that ranks. There is no minimum account age. Developers can't upvote their own launches.
- C
- Distinct people in the discussion, excluding the launch's own developer and accounts created during the launch week. Ten comments from one person count once.
- A
- Visits to the App Store from the launch's page — the one signal that reflects a real visitor's intent. Counted over the launch's week. Logarithmic, so a popular app does not automatically win.
- Ties
- Every launch in a week goes live at the same instant, so exposure is identical. A tie goes to the launch that was scheduled first.
The week, step by step
Worked example
| App | V | C | A | Score | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulse Timer | 180 | 34 | 640 | 251.23 | #1 |
| Rowcount | 190 | 26 | 410 | 245.01 | #2 |
| Gate Seven | 201 | 9 | 1200 | 222.55 | #3 |
Pulse Timer ranks first with fewer upvotes than Rowcount: discussion from 34 different people outweighs 10 extra votes.
Keeping the count honest
An hour before voting closes (Mon 07:00 UTC), and again just after it closes, a sweep looks for votes that do not look like readers. It reads only votes that count — unconfirmed upvotes add nothing, so they can neither trigger a rule nor be used to trip one against someone else. Flagged votes are removed from the count — never deleted, so a mistake can be reversed. The sweep flags:
- Inside a burst hour — at least 10 votes, and 5 standard deviations above the week's typical hour — only the votes from accounts created after the launch went live, or from a network that voted for it more than once. A burst alone is not evidence: a launch shared somewhere popular has one too, and the long-standing readers in it keep their votes.
- More than 20 votes for one launch from a single network, or more than 60 from one wider block of addresses in a day.
- Votes cast within a minute of the account being created.
A person reviews a launch before its rank is published if more than 20% of its votes were flagged, or if it has far more votes than visits (more than one vote for every 2 views, once it has 50 views). Real readers mostly do not vote.
What never affects rank
What money does buy
Some things on Launch on Watch are paid. None of them touch the numbers above: the ranking code reads no payment, and a test fails the build if it ever does.
- A place in a week when the free slots are taken (paid launch)
- Tools for the app’s owner: full analytics, search terms, a competitor view and page extras (paid launch)
- Labelled “Sponsored” spots on some pages, for a launch week or for 30 days. One sits between #3 and #4 of a launch board, outside the numbered list: it never takes a rank and never changes one
Prices are on the pricing page.
See every week's winner for the final results.