About RankingsLatAm's App Popularity Score© (APS)
Methodology Overview: App Popularity Score (APS)
The App Popularity Score (APS) is an exclusive user-experience metric developed from our proprietary surveys of mobile app users across Latin America. Unlike traditional app store ratings, the APS is designed to capture both quantitative and qualitative insights about how users truly perceive and experience financial, banking, wallet, and insurance apps.
How the APS works
Our surveys are conducted regularly and consistently over time, allowing us to: Measure current user perception of each app in a given country; track performance trends over time, identifying improvements or deteriorations in user experience and compare apps against the APS Benchmark, a reference level that represents the performance typically associated with the best-rated apps in that industry and country, according to users themselves.
What we ask users
The APS survey goes beyond a simple “rate this app from 1 to 5 stars” approach. Respondents are asked about complaints and frustrations they experience when using the app; strong points and positive experiences that make the app stand out; most valued features, such as speed, usability, customer support, security, payments, transfers, or rewards; overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend the app to others. This approach provides rich qualitative feedback directly from users, helping identify not only whether users are satisfied, but why they feel that way.
Why APS is different from app store ratings
App store reviews (such as Google Play or Apple App Store ratings) are useful, but they have important limitations: They are based mainly on simple star ratings (1 to 5 stars); reviews are often self-selected and sporadic, meaning they may overrepresent extremely positive or negative experiences; they rarely provide a structured comparison across competitors or over time.
In contrast, the APS combines: Structured survey data from a representative user base; qualitative insights about frustrations, expectations, and valued features; consistent methodology across apps, countries, and survey waves; benchmarking capability against the industry’s top-performing apps. This makes the APS a deeper and more actionable indicator of app reputation and user experience than public star ratings alone.
APS Benchmark
The APS Benchmark represents the score level typically achieved by apps considered among the best in their category and country. It is based on accumulated survey results and user perception across the market. By comparing an app’s APS with the benchmark, companies can assess whether they are leading the market in user satisfaction and experience, competitive but with room for improvement or underperforming relative to user expectations in that market.
A user-centered measurement
At its core, the APS is a user-centered metric. It reflects the voice of real app users, capturing emotions, pain points, and appreciated features that numeric ratings alone cannot fully explain. This combination of quantitative scoring and qualitative insight provides a more complete view of app performance and customer perception in the digital financial ecosystem.