# Upwords - Fun with Words! — user reviews > 519 indexed App Store user reviews of Upwords by Lonely Star Software, Inc., rated 4.70/5 from 9,329 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/upwords-fun-with-words/id588252565/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/upwords-fun-with-words/id588252565.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 7,518 · 4★ 1,208 · 3★ 317 · 2★ 96 · 1★ 190 ## Is Upwords safe? Upwords - Fun with Words! appears safe based on user ratings. The AppsHunter Safety Score for Upwords is 94 out of 100. This assessment is based on 9,329 user ratings, with an App Store average of 4.7 out of 5. Of 9,329 App Store ratings, 93.5% point to a safe experience, 3.4% suggest some concerns, and 3.1% point to a risky experience. ## Is Upwords legit? Upwords - Fun with Words! appears to be a legitimate app. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Upwords is 100 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data. ## What do users think of Upwords? Reviews of Upwords are mixed: the game is rated 4.7/5 from 9.3K App Store ratings. What users like most: great online game, competitive and fun. Top complaints: questionable dictionary, computer uses invalid words. Summarized from real user reviews. **Pros** - 🚀 Great online game - 🤝 Competitive and fun - 🧠 Keeps the brain active - 🌐 Connects players globally - 🕰️ Enjoyable to play daily **Cons** - 🔤 Questionable dictionary - 🤖 Computer uses invalid words - 🤑 Expensive for a 50MB app - 🚫 Rejects valid words - 💤 Lack of help from developers - 🔍 Difficult to find valid words - 🧑‍💻 Unfair gameplay against computer - 🕰️ Slow gameplay between turns **Commonly reported bugs** - Ads that cannot be closed - Frequent crashes and freezes - Login and verification issues - Incorrect scoring and word validation **Most requested features** - Option to use British dictionary - Choice of dictionaries - Ability to swap more than one letter - Show opponent's remaining tiles - Fairer letter distribution ## Newest reviews (10 of 519) ### 3/5 — Too bright and visually distracting since last update *2026-10-30* I love playing UpWords with friends, but I do not like the recent changes to sounds and visual appearance. The more monochromatic appearance was better, the bright pink is visually distracting. Also don’t like the way the letters jump around now when shuffling. This is a word game, not Candy Crush! The people who play are more likely to be staring at the screen for a long time working out the “perfect” word to play, and having bright colors and dancing letters is a really REALLY annoying distraction! Could you please bring back the option for old color scheme and stop the tiles jumping so much? ### 3/5 — New update.... *2026-10-30* Updated review: most of the bugs have been fixed since the app overhaul. Still wish tile style was an option to look more like the original game. Latency choppiness is way better but still some exists. There is still an issue when you delete a finished game, sometimes there will be a bug when it immediately tries to reload the games list and the list; there's no way to get the list back except closing and restarting the app. **Developer response:** Thank you for the feedback. Make sure to update the app as we’re fixing many of these issues. We’ll get them worked out ! The choppiness should be much better and we’re continuing to optimize that speed ### 4/5 — Love the game, but hate the new UI *2026-10-28* The new UI is way too pastel and “soft” and hard to look at in all options. I’ve played with a more elderly family member multiple times a day for years, so I’ll adjust, but I wish a darker “classic” option was still available, like before. The repeated “test your word” floating notification is annoying and I don’t see any option to disable such unrequested “tips.” Also, I’d willingly pay a small one-time or even an annual fee (of $3 or less) to *only* remove banner ads without added features, but not a subscription at the current rates. ### 4/5 — Was better before recent update *2026-10-28* Although I like the red colour, don’t like how the letters no longer shuffle but instead dance bouncing around. I’m not using that feature as much for that reason. You’ve also made chat harder to use and appear to have made changes just for the sake of change when it was an enjoyable and engaging game to start. ### 4/5 — One more thing to fix! *2026-10-27* Please put the number of remaining tokens back on the playing screen. Not very user-friendly having to go the store all the time now to verify. ### 4/5 — One more thing to fix! *2026-10-26, version 5.03* Thank you for fixing the slowness and jerkiness while playing on iPad. Now, for goodness sake, developer, please put the number of tokens one has back on the playing screen. Not very user-friendly having to go the store all the time now to verify. This was a bad move, taking it from the main screen and putting in its place how much time we have left to play our turn! I never looked at that ever! Who cares? We’ll get the game done before 4 days 22 mins!!!!! Good grief! ### 2/5 — They ruined it *2026-10-26, version 5.02* App was great. I played games with my mum. It has now had a big update and my version is not compatible with hers, games end unexpectedly, I’m seeing adverts despite paying not to. I could not use my old login and we lost the games we were previously playing. Worked fine before. ### 2/5 — Terrible app great game *2026-10-25, version 5.02* Played loads and loved it. But annoying updates and poor game interface means I’ve lost money they won’t refund after this update went wrong. ### 4/5 — Changes *2026-10-25, version 5.02* I am finding the use/movement of letters quite clunky since the upgrade. (Not wild on the red either!) Seasarah ### 3/5 — New update is bad! *2026-10-24, version 5.01* The new update has ruined the traditional Upwords look! There is no longer options for tile style. It is clunky to navigate, not to mention the actual game play, incredibly choppy! The auto match is hard to understand and there is weird "retry" messages that pop up now when a game is deleted. If you try to delete a finished game it deletes it and the jumps half way up the game list, so you have to scroll back down to the bottom to deleted the next finished game. All in all....very annoyed. Tried to fix something that wasn't broken.... ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — An ad after every play. *2026-10-28* I enjoy the game but I wish there was a dictionary for reference. There are very strange words that people play & I’d like to know what they mean. Update: Oct. 23 2026. I have been playing this game for years. This morning I go to play and it has been ‘updated’ and all my data and games have been wiped out. I have 3 regular opponents and now they’re gone. One friend had to start all over again with a new ID. WTF? This update is the worst I have ever seen in game updates. Fire the putz who came up with it! ### 1/5 — Don’t like update *2026-10-28, version 5.04* I really dislike the updates to the app. It makes it more difficult for me to change letters in the word and the look of the general game is worse. I just am really disappointed. ### 1/5 — New update has ruined this! *2026-10-27* I’ve been playing this since 2013 and it has been perfect until the latest update (2026) which is so unlike the previous version that it is hard to wrap your head around. The pastel colours are weak and makes the game less clear. The changes in everything is just so hard to get used to I might give up! It’s also slow and glitchy. Can we have the option to switch back to the old version at least? ### 1/5 — What happened? *2026-10-25* I have played Upwords for years. Now it’s very frustrating because the game seems frozen most of the time. I can’t place letters on the board anymore. I’m going to delete it. It no longer works. ### 1/5 — New update *2026-10-25, version 5.02* The new app update is absolutely awful and has completely ruined the game for me! It’s glitchy, slow and is not the user friendly game it used to be. ### 1/5 — I do not like the new update. *2026-10-24, version 5.02* I want the older version. HATE IT. ### 1/5 — New Version *2026-10-24, version 5.02* HORRIBLE! Have enjoyed playing this for years but the new version that appeared a few days ago is the pits. Have to reload it every turn to accept the play. Slow, choppy and the new red lettering not as clear. Bring back the older version!! If I could give it zero I would. ### 1/5 — New format strange *2026-10-24, version 5.01* I do not like the new format! The grid is too small and the colts are distracting. ### 1/5 — Worst update *2026-10-24* We’ve been playing for years and this last update is the worst. We lost all our games, now have to sign in, hating all the updates. **Developer response:** If you’re having any trouble signing in please mail support from the help section. You won’t have to keep signing in. Hopefully you’ll get used to the new layout and features ### 1/5 — Terrible update *2026-10-24, version 5.01* Please change back. New layout is awful awful awful. Why did you wreck it? ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Apple Help to “Upwards” *2026-10-28, version 5.04* The Apple Support Staff is GREAT!!! After the latest iOS update I lost my games and my tokens! The Apple Tech Support sent me links to help with my Sign-In AND they retrieved my games and purchased tokens!! Thank You Apple!!! You’re the BEST! FIVE STARS! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ### 5/5 — Best game ever *2026-10-27, version 5.04* I have been playing this game online for many years now. I have many outstanding players I compete with. To find that an update has been made, my profile and history gone, all because you want money now. Delete! ### 5/5 — The greatest *2026-10-26, version 5.02* I really like stacking letters to change words, nice to be able to text too. We do it during short periods of relaxing Support is great from the company if something goes wrong. ### 5/5 — Upwards is fun. *2026-10-25, version 5.02* I have been playing for a few years and still enjoy the game. ### 5/5 — Great App! *2026-10-25, version 5.02* Upwords is a brilliant game, great for playing against others, great for learning vocabulary (uses the same dictionary as Scrabble) and can be played as fast (instant moves) or as slow (one move per 5 days) as is convenient. The chat function is a convenient way to stay in touch. I’d recommend it to anyone! ### 5/5 — Best word game ever *2026-10-25, version 5.02* However this new upgrade makes it more difficult to tell green from red ### 5/5 — Excellent support *2026-10-25, version 5.02* Always get a quick reply from Daniel in support, ### 5/5 — upwords *2026-10-25, version 5.02* I love this game. I play it every day. One time I had trouble with a new upload and was immediately helped. I think the upgrades make the game even better. ### 5/5 — Update *2026-10-24, version 5.02* I lost everything- all my stats since 2012!!!!! ### 5/5 — A Plus! *2026-10-24, version 5.02* My favorite game!! I love the new version! --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-11-03.*