FREENOW on Android: what Google Play reviewers complain about
We read the 300 most recent Google Play reviews of Freenow by Lyft – taxi & more (by Intelligent Apps GmbH) from 1 store locales, dated 12 September 2026 to 22 October 2026. Average rating in this sample: 2.78★. All-time Google Play rating: 4.3★ from 338k ratings. 174 reviews (58%) gave 1–3 stars.
Star ratings in this sample
| Stars | Reviews | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 5★ | 121 | 40% |
| 4★ | 5 | 2% |
| 3★ | 10 | 3% |
| 2★ | 15 | 5% |
| 1★ | 149 | 50% |
Rating by month
| Month | Reviews | Avg stars | 1–3★ share |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 148 | 2.86★ | 55% |
| September 2026 | 152 | 2.70★ | 61% |
What 1–3★ reviews mention
174 English-language 1–3★ reviews in the sample (UK and Ireland store locales), matched against fixed keyword lists per theme.
| Theme | Reviews mentioning it | Share of 1–3★ reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing / subscription | 93 | 53% |
| Bugs | 20 | 11% |
| Ads | 7 | 4% |
| Feature requests | 6 | 3% |
| UX / design | 5 | 3% |
| Crashes / freezes | 2 | 1% |
| Performance | 2 | 1% |
A review can mention several themes.
Most-mentioned issues
- Make trials and renewals transparent: 41 of 174 1–3★ reviews. What to do: Show the renewal date and price before the trial ends; link to cancellation. Surprise charges drive 1-star reviews and refunds.
“Absolutely terrible experience. The app wouldn't let me set my pickup address — it kept overriding my input and switching it to a location I never chose. I closed the app, and when I tried to cancel I was charged because a driver was supposedly "waiting." So I'm billed for a ride…” (1★, v13.59.0, 2026-10-19, GB) - Answer support requests: 26 of 174 1–3★ reviews. What to do: Add an in-app contact option and reply to these Google Play reviews; Google Play lets developers respond publicly.
“Tried 5 times to use this app while visiting Athens and had only 2 successful rides. Twice no drivers would pick up the ride, the final time we had a driver scam us. He said he had arrived to the pre-scheduled ride we booked, but he was not there. We made 4 attempts to contact th…” (1★, v13.55.0, 2026-09-17, GB) - Justify or adjust the price: 15 of 174 1–3★ reviews. What to do: Test a cheaper tier, annual discount or one-time purchase; show what paid users get.
“Pricing was all over the place. They would give you a quoted price, but once the ride was over the pricing was TOTALLY different! Often, too much for a ride. They warn in foreign countries not to use the Taxi system, I promise it's cheaper to use the Taxi. From our Hotel, one pre…” (2★, v13.57.0, 2026-10-01, GB) - Improve content quality: 8 of 174 1–3★ reviews. What to do: Review the content areas users name; add a "report a problem" button on content.
“ANYTHING BUT FREE NOW , MORE LIKE WERE GOING TO ROB YOU NOW, , ALSO I SEE MORE TIMES THAN NOT THE WRONG DRIVER IN THE CAR YOU GET, IRISH LAW FIR TAXI SERVICES SAYS THEY NEED TO CLEARLY DISPLAY PHOTO ID FOR WHO EVER IS DRIVING THAT TAXI, ATLEAT 8/10 ITS NEVER THE DRIVER IN THE PIC…” (1★, v13.59.0, 2026-10-20, GB) - Reduce ad frequency and length: 7 of 174 1–3★ reviews. What to do: Cap ads per session, avoid unskippable video, and never show ads in the middle of a core task.
“Ride is 3 euros more expensive than advertised in app. Apparently, a booking fee may be added by the driver and you will find out about at the end of the trip. According to Freenow if you order a ride and it arrives in 2 minutes, you have booked in advance a ride for the distant…” (1★, v13.57.0, 2026-10-01, GB) - Fix login / account access: 6 of 174 1–3★ reviews. What to do: Audit the sign-in flow (SSO, password reset, verification emails) on the latest version; add clear error messages.
“The worst app ever. I lost access to my email, and the app doesn’t allow me to change the email address linked to my account. Even when I request the SMS verification code, it still asks for a confirmation code sent to the email I no longer have access to. Just to change one smal…” (1★, v13.55.0, 2026-09-15, GB)
Rating by app version
| Version | Reviews | Avg stars | 1–3★ share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13.60.0 | 6 | 1.67★ | 83% |
| 13.59.0 | 32 | 3.06★ | 50% |
| 13.58.0 | 41 | 2.61★ | 61% |
| 13.57.0 | 42 | 3.10★ | 48% |
| 13.56.0 | 29 | 2.83★ | 62% |
| 13.55.0 | 50 | 2.72★ | 56% |
Versions with fewer than 5 reviews in the sample are left out.
The same report for your Android app
Up to 600 recent Google Play reviews in up to 10 languages, classified into 7 themes and 18 specific issues, with severity, version trend, real quotes and 10 ranked fixes. PDF by email within 24–48 h.
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Launch prices until 30 Nov 2026 or the first 20 orders (then €19).
Method and limits
Reviews were collected once from the public Google Play listing with the open-source google-play-scraper library (newest English reviews from the UK and Ireland store locales, up to 300 reviews). Star, month and version figures are plain counts of that sample. Theme and issue figures come from fixed keyword patterns (for example “subscription”, “charged”, “refund” for pricing) run on English-language 1–3★ reviews from the UK and Irish stores only (reviews in other languages count in the star, month and version figures but not in the themes); a keyword match is not a judgement of the review, so check the quotes. The paid report classifies every review with an AI model into 7 themes and 18 issues with severity. This is a snapshot of recent reviews, not the app's full history. Generated 24 October 2026. Not affiliated with Intelligent Apps GmbH or Google.
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FAQ
What do FREENOW users complain about most?
In 174 English-language 1–3★ Google Play reviews from 2026-09-12 to 2026-10-22, the most-mentioned theme was pricing / subscription (53%) and the most-mentioned issue was “make trials and renewals transparent” (41 reviews).
How many FREENOW Google Play reviews are negative?
174 of 300 recent reviews (58%) gave 1–3 stars. Average rating in this sample: 2.78★.