How ranking works
The whole formula, published. No hidden weights and no paid placement. 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 toward rank once its account has confirmed its email address. Until then it is shown in the count but adds nothing to the score, and it starts counting as soon as the email is confirmed, provided the week is still open. 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
On Sunday at 23:00 UTC, an hour before voting closes, a sweep looks for votes that do not look like readers. Flagged votes are removed from the count — never deleted, so a mistake can be reversed. The sweep flags:
- An hour with far more votes than usual: at least 10 votes, and 5 standard deviations above the week's typical hour.
- More than 20 votes for one launch from a single network.
- 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.
Trending, across weeks
The homepage's trending rail spans weeks, so it fades older launches: score ÷ (hours since launch + 2)1.6. The weekly rank never decays — every launch in a week had the same time on the board.
What never affects rank
See the launch archive for every final result.