# Words With Friends – Word Game — user reviews > 50 indexed App Store user reviews of Words With Friends by Zynga Inc., rated 4.60/5 from 151,261 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/words-with-friends-word-game/id804379658/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/words-with-friends-word-game/id804379658.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 114,616 · 4★ 23,250 · 3★ 5,081 · 2★ 2,648 · 1★ 5,666 ## What do users think of Words With Friends? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 🧠 Challenging and engaging word game - 🤝 Allows playing with friends and family - 🎮 Enjoyable solo challenges **Cons** - 🚨 Excessive ads and pop-ups - 🤑 Aggressive monetization tactics - 🐛 Frequent app crashes and glitches - 🤯 Cluttered UI with unnecessary features - 🤔 Questionable dictionary and word acceptance **Commonly reported bugs** - Game ending prematurely with valid moves remaining - Incorrect game results and statistics - Persistent notification badges not clearing **Most requested features** - Option to disable unnecessary features and notifications - Improved dictionary and word acceptance - Consistent and fair gameplay across all modes ## Newest reviews (16 of 50) ### 3/5 — STOP IT! *2023-02-02, version 19.00.1* 2023 Review: Stop trying to trick us into paying for “passes” or whatever! You put these stupid pop-ups in the game where we can accidentally click on them. Almost happened again this morning; I promptly canceled out of “Pay Now”. Also, the waving key at the top drives me nuts! The WWF game itself is fun and enjoyable to play. STOP THE GREED!! Previous review: I used to love this word game; however, with each update it gets more bloated and annoying to play. Pure greed on the part of the developers, trying now to push a "points" subscription. I could care less about points, social stuff, or whether I win or lose. I only wish to play a fun word game! Please allow us to opt out of all the other juvenile fluff (exception being playing the AI character, which is cute and fun). Here is a major gripe: Lose the flashing "key" and all the rest of that junk! Some of us actually have a physical condition which makes it super-stressful to have to see this flashing nonsense. It's purely to get us to subscribe, I know. You've been losing stars for several years, Zynga. Next update it'll be down to one? ### 2/5 — Truly ruined a good thing! *2022-07-21, version 18.20.1* 1.) All of the in-app goals and achievements are new and give you NO WAY to opt out of these! They are a nuisance, they slow the game down, and I would venture a guess that these slow down the game so much they are part or all of the cause of the app frequently crashing! 2.) even with the app updated and the latest IOS, the game still frequently crashes. It’ll open for about 5 seconds and then close! This happens with regularity and NEEDS A FIX!!! Every couple of months this happens, and won’t stay open long enough to even contact their customer service to report the problem! 3.) There are all kinds of other annoying little glitches inside the game that I’ve reported many times and they have yet to be fixed! Chat feature is totally useless and messes up all the time! People who request a game and I deny them, they then show up in my friends list even though I never accepted their game! Red indicator numbers don’t disappear after whatever section is checked and scrolled through! And numerous other issues!!! ZYNGA, GET IT TOGETHER AND FIX ALL THE GLITCHES, COME UP WITH A PERMANENT SOLUTION FOR APP CRASHING ALL THE TIME, AND FOR GOD SAKE MAKE THE IN-GAME ACHIEVEMENTS AND GOALS OPTIONAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ### 2/5 — Ads are really bugging me *2022-05-09, version 17.61.1* I love this game, and played it for years, and I’ve put up with ads after EVERY turn on my IPad. But the recent addition of the two page ads is quickly changing my mind about the game. First an ad page with multiple products appears and there is a tiny “x” in the upper right hand corner, so I tap it to close the ad and it takes me to google, so I go back to the game and tap it again, same thing. It is so sensitive, if you don’t touch it just right, it takes you google for further info about the product beneath the “x.” If I’m lucky enough to hit that “x” correctly, then it displays a second ad page with a tiny “x” in upper left corner! I know they have to make money, but this is pushing the limits with me. I don’t want these type ads anymore, and if I’m stuck with them, make the darn X bigger so I can close them out! I’ve never bought a thing from any of these ads anyways! Ok, I’m done. The game is great, but I hesitate upgrading to Words 2 in fear of finding there’s even more of these frustrating advertisements. Enjoy the game, not the ads. ### 2/5 — Gone downhill *2022-04-19, version 17.61.1* I have played this game for years and HAD enjoyed it. Now, it has gotten unbearable to play. The ads are more and more frequent. You used to be able to X out of them. Not any more! You cannot get out of them. They lock up your screen and you have to close the app and reopen in order to continue. During play the screen will lock up suddenly and AGAIN you have to exit the app and start again. The updates have ruined the game. They are constantly trying to trick you into purchasing “upgrades” that help you cheat, otherwise you can’t compete with other players who have bought into it. What happened to the coins you used to win? Now all you get for bonuses is useless badges and frames! Lately I’ve been spending more time watching and trying to exit ads than playing the game! The only reason I didn’t give it a 1 is that there are actually other apps that have gotten even worse with the ads and money grubbing. I rated those a 1 (lowest rating possible) and deleted them. Update: One more ROYAL MATCH ad and I’m deleting this app too! This is ridiculous! ### 2/5 — Game Used to be Favorite *2022-04-12, version 17.61.1* I’ve been playing this game since 2009 and it used to be amazing. I’d keep the maximum allowed ongoing games and thoroughly enjoyed the competition. It was simply Scrabble, one if the most popular board games ever, straightforward in design and challenging just like the beloved board game. So why mess with perfection. The direction the developers have taken over the years has practically ruined this game and I can see by the reviews I’m not the only one that feels this way. The play is slow and all the fluff graphics that’s been added over the years is annoying and slows down play. The expanding dictionary of allowable words that aren’t words interferes with truly competitive play. I now keep a max of 2-3 games going and those are with my significant other and a real friend. I NEVER choose a random player, it’s just not fun anymore. The Solo Challenge was a welcome addition at first but with the recent update, it’s no longer enjoyable. I’m giving 2 stars only because I have such fond memories for the original game. Message to the developers…….just because you can add all the unnecessary graphics and fluff it doesn’t mean you should. I paid for ad-free years ago and would gladly pay again to get the original version back. ### 3/5 — Great game but too much going on in the app. *2022-04-11, version 17.61.1* I love this game and I’ve been playing for years but I’ve found the app gets more and more annoying. I just want to play the game. I don’t need all these added features like power ups and rewards. I just want to play a word game. I do like the solo challenges. They are a fun way to practice your skills when you’ve completed your games with actual people but other than that I’m not a fan of any of the new features. In the latest update the power ups are much more forced on you. I would rather lose a game than win with power ups though. The point of the game, in my mind, is to get better at making words with higher points. It’s a game of skill and the power ups kind of ruin that. In the new update, after I get through a few levels of the solo challenge it makes it so in the next game there’s a bunch of extra triple and double word squares. Again, I just want to play the regular game. You don’t need to improve on what is already a great game as it is. It was better when it was simple. It also asks if you want to send a sticker after every move which I don’t think is needed because you could send that through the chat if you wanted. I just think it would be better if it was kept simple. Also I find the app to be slow and glitchy but I don’t mind that as much as all the unnecessary extra stuff. ### 2/5 — Not as trustworthy as I originally thought *2022-04-08, version 17.61.1* I bought this as a premium app years ago. Everytime it gets updated because either the iOS or the app itself was updated, it starts showing advertisements again. I complained a few times and they fixed it until the next update. At which time they bounced me back to advertisers again. It also pleads with me once or twice a week to allow its advertisers to track me. I do not want your app tracking my phone stop asking. Stay out of my business. I do not want to keep asking you to honor the premium contract that you sold to me. I now play until you show a pop up add. So I shut this down like every other move now. You have allowed some advertisers to run during game play blocking the view of player scores which is a little bit of a buzz kill. I am very close to deleting this app that is otherwise enjoyable. If and when I do, I will make a mental note to add your organization to the disreputable list ### 2/5 — Can we just play the game? *2022-02-16, version 17.40.1* Do you know how many times I’m trying to play a word in a game and accidentally click on a pop up announcement that another game is available, if I have a new gift, or a goal, or any other number of things? I don’t care about earning keys to unlock new colored tiles. Or stickers to play after my moves (literally have NEVER seen anyone use the stickers). And I’m definitely not paying you $13 to unlock all of the useless crap. This is so Zynga. You put games inside games inside games until what you have becomes unplayable. I stopped using this app a year ago because it was too much and I’ll stop again soon. I’d rather pay for the game then have to deal with all of the pop-ups and announcements and getting notifications for stuff no one wants. Some of the innovations are actually good. Like the quick challenges of seeing who can score the most points in 5 rounds. Or having to beat the “masters”. Those are fun and actually help to improve one’s word usage and gameplay. But the all the rest can go. ### 2/5 — Words. *2020-12-10, version 15.60.2* Love playing the game. The problem is most of the men are looking for more than a game. I feel like I’m always warding off guys who “ want to get to know me better.” Then when you tell them you just want to play words, they quit playing. That’s irritating. There are other sites that they can find “relationships”. Please be respectful. Say hello and move on and play words. Please. It’s making me want to sign off this game. I challenge you to put some females you know on this game and you will see. They are like wolves. If you don’t engage and give them your personal information and email they get mad and resign. COME ON. ITS A GAME. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE FOR LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS. I love this game but I’m about to resign permanently. I played this game a few years ago and it wasn’t like this. I’m tired of feeling like I have to tell my life story to play a game. This is not a dating site. I think you need to put that in your description of the game. I had 4 guys resign this morning because I don’t give my personal information. PLEASE GUYS GO TO A HOOK UP SITE WHERE THE GIRLS ARE WANTING TO “GET TO KNOW YOU BETTER! PLEASE. I hope you check this out. It makes it very uncomfortable to play. ### 2/5 — Tons of Potential But Falls Short *2020-12-04, version 15.50.1* This game could be so much more than what it is. But sadly, it is rife with technical issues. The Lightning Round challenge, for example, has begun to kick me out right in the middle of the game! I recently had an issue with Duels, as well. For three days, I fought to keep my 1st place status, and was successful. However, when I logged in after the challenge was over, I couldn’t view game results to collect my winnings. I contacted tech support on 11/20, but no one ever got back with me. At the very least, they could’ve credited me with what I should’ve won, but instead, they left me hanging. Oh, and the CRAZIEST thing happened today! I was in the middle of a duel when I got interrupted by an ad! I can’t make this stuff up! The game is quickly becoming more trouble than it’s worth, and players can’t even rely on Tech Support/the developers to address the issues. It is an excellent way to pass the time, especially when you’re a word geek. But I’m afraid the constant glitches might force me to uninstall. ### 3/5 — I'd like it better *2020-09-17, version 15.00.6* I like the basic Words with Friends. I don't like the extra bells and whistles, and the annoying appeals to play various games with members. The ads are very annoying. I could tolerate the ads if there weren't so many glitches. Some ads won't go away no matter that I wait for the ad to run and no matter how many timed I click on the x it often will not go away. Too often the ad stays on the screen and I can not get back to the game I'm playing. Several friends I used to play with have stopped playing WWF altogether for the same reasons. You have made a good game too complicated and annoying with too many interruptions and glitches.I gave it four stars for the basic premise but I would have given it only one because of the annoyances. I need to add, your dictionary needs renovation. You accept too many very obscure words and foreign words and reject too many standard English ones that appear in most standard English and American dictionaries. ### 3/5 — Why Doesn’t the Game Allow me to use all my Letters? *2020-05-27, version 14.53.1* I like words with friends and it’s a great game. But on two different occasions, when different opponents and I were very close in points and down to our last couple of letters to finish the game, the opponent will play a move and then the game will automatically say game over making them the winner. But I still have one or two letters left which can be used to make words that will make me end up having more points than them. I don’t have an opportunity to play my last couple of letters. Is it a glitch? Are the opponents cheating? In most cases when I’m down to my last letter and there are no words to make then it makes me pass and it says there are no possible words. The opponent have a chance to play or pass and then it will say who the winner is. It’s just a little frustrating when you have words that will cause you to win and you end up losing because you were never given the chance. I have screen shots of the scrabble boards that shows the points before and after I place my last letters down to show that I would have won if given the chance....if it will help the developers. ### 4/5 — Word. Game review *2020-05-10, version 14.43.1* I like the word game slot . I wish the pay amount was less when your striving to swap letter. There is one big problem. It seems that many of the men on here are scammers . I have encounters about 5 of them . This scam is on the Nigerian scam which these black men impersonate white men who look like business men and start off telling you how beautiful they are . Then it escalates to talking w u everyday morning and night ! They act like they like you but In Reality they want you to invest your money which I found out is the Nigerian scam . Also when I thought something was wrong I went to a physic and yes she said I was scammed by these men. Then I went to the local police and they agreed it’s the scam ,! So can you possibly prevent these men from coming on this site because they are ruining our lives? They have American names and have 3to 4 digits after their name . They also want u to hangout on ksngout w your email address and they plY very little on the game and talk a lot !! Help us women not to be scammed . Thank you ### 2/5 — The reviews of cheating is right! *2020-04-16, version 14.20.4* The AI cheats in solo challenges creating words that have no definition or isnt a word you can look up on the app , it says word does not exist. So how is it able to play some made up jumbled mess of words. All long creating 60+ points to gain a huge advantage over the player. Also takes up all the triple word spots leaving you nowhere decent to play while the AI takes credit for the huge amount of points over you. Same with all the player 2 player games the new hints and button to show where you can play gives most others a way to cheat or a way to just pay 2 win over everyone else. They can use as many as they want. I liked the original version of this app. I still enjoy it but the AI is weak and has to take cheat shots at you to win. I do not like or agree with the fact the AI can use fake made up false words racking up a large lump sum of points to give you a low/zero chance at winning or beatung them fairly same with using 3x triple point tiles leaving you with bad letters and no tiles for points. Fix your app maybe we would enjoy it a little more and make it fair. Shouldnt have to play AI 5+ times to win as a skilled player. 🤷🏻‍♀️ ### 4/5 — Cool *2020-04-06, version 14.20.4* This is a berry good app which teaches words. When you put some random letters that you think could make a word it will say I it is a valid word. The problem with it, is that there are way too many adds. I’m fine with watching lots of adds when an app gives you more coins or gold bars or whatever their type of games money’ is. But this app just has an add almost every time you make a word and play it. A cool thing about this app though, is that it has power ups. You can swap out your letters without loosing a turn, or you can see what word you could of made. You can also see all the areas you can put words in. And finally, you can have the app illuminate different boxes and the letter tiles that make a word if your stuck. This is an ok game, but please try and take out some of the adds. There are way too many. ### 4/5 — Great game but the dictionary is pretty weird and what’s with the flying boxes I don’t want? *2019-12-29, version 13.62.1* Love the game and play it a lot but I do have a couple of beefs: 1. What’s with the dictionary? It accepts words it says are,valid words but it doesn’t have a definition for them. Some of these words are accepted on some games, not others. It also doesn’t accept perfectly good words that are in every English-language dictionary on the planet except, it seems, this one. Who writes this dictionary, anyway? And do they even speak English? There used to be a feature where you could suggest words and provide a definition. Not any more, or it’s so well hidden no one can ever find it. 2. Yeh, I know that some people don’t just want to challenge themselves to play word games, they want all kinds of gew gaws to play with, win the game for them, boxes flying around that give you the right to do whatever for extra jollies. Nice that you provide other stuff for them to do. But some of us find these annoying and distracting and would REALLY REALLY appreciate having a way to TURN THEM OFF. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — TONS of Ads and Pop-Ups *2023-01-24, version 19.00.1* The number of ads and pop-up notifications this game wastes your time with is disgusting, the owner of this is like a slumlord but in the app industry. I’m just trying to spend some time with my Grandma playing scrabble. Each turn you have ads you have to try waiting and clicking through, but most of the time it hits a dead end with an inability to exit out of an ad, and you have to fully close the app in order to make it go away, HUGE time waste relative to any other app I’ve used. So now I usually just end up closing and swiping away the app the moment the ads start. Then in order to see pop-up notifications of your grandma having played her turn, you have to be subjected to about 6 other pop-up notifications per turn, and you can’t select which type of notification to allow. And then you wanna basically allow people to cheat if they pay you enough money (extra no-skip tile swaps, word hints, etc.)? Owners of this app a bunch of moneygrubber dirtbags. But what else am I gonna play with my grandma other than scrapple? ### 1/5 — Glitching & Scamming with $99 charges! *2022-12-15, version 18.80.1* I have 9999+ because I accidentally hit a pop up costing $99 twice in the past 3 years. The very second I hit it (because picking up an iPhone8 is an easy way to touch the hone button) its done with no way out, I actually enjoy ‘earning coins’ & cant imagine why anyone would want 9999+ coins. I try to reverse/undo the tranaction immediately & report it to Apple & my Apple Pay credit card. My card company credits me the $110, and the following month its back on my card. I am a retired teacher on a fixed, no COLA pension. I have enjoyed playing daily since 2011. The pop ups are a sneaky way to charge us for crap we don't need or want & making it so hard to reverse is a scam! Its nefarious & a bad business model. Offer all the extras you want, but please make it a 2 step verification to purchase. Simply take back the coins!! The game is fun, but the pop up traps make it a pain. And in the last month its GLITCHING. Its stuck so I cant go back to replay solo challenges. In speed challenges, the screen moves around keeping us from moving tiles. Fix the bugs & quit stealing my $$$. ### 1/5 — Ad Practices Should Be Illegal *2021-12-06, version 17.11.1* I’m going to start by saying that the ONLY reason that I haven’t deleted this game is because I play back-and-forth with my senior mother. The ads that the developer runs are TERRIBLE. You as the user have ZERO ability to control volume or silence many of the ads j less you have your volume turned all the way down. Turning the sound off does not work; there are still ads that will blast sound. The only way around it is to manually turn your phone volume down. That is a huge safety concern, as I have forgotten to turn my volume back up again. Many of the ads don’t have an icon to tap to silence. This seems like something that the FCC should be notified of. I’m so tired of playing while I have a few moments, needing discretion with my activities, only tj havecan embarrassing blast of sound that I scramble to stop. Also, it’s harassing when you exit out of advertisement after waiting 25-30 seconds, only to be prompted back to the page to download the game/app again. Five times or more. Very deceptive, very unethical. Shame on you, Zynga. ### 1/5 — Need a basic option *2021-08-08, version 16.41.2* I got this app only to informally keep in touch with my mother-in-law. Have you ever visited somebody and you arrive late in the day and you’re exhausted and you crave sleep…and the guest bed has like 20 dolls and pillows and cover spreads on it and it’s a project just to get into bed? That’s what this app is like. here’s a whole bunch of unnecessary junk everywhere — especially if you don’t get the ad free version. Ads across the top : ads after every move you make — which feels really excessive when you’re working through the final moves of a match with the low point words that nobody in their right mind uses in real life. When stuck in the throes of an ad, they made it quicker to tap an install button and the cancel out of it, and you know the heathens on the Words marketing team are probably tracking that and using it as a talking point to get even more advertisers. And the ads… omg the ads… they force you to ask ‘whose broken minds are these made for?!’. It’s all pretty depressing. Will probably figure out a better way to stay in touch with the mother in law. Can’t wait to uninstall ### 1/5 — Not worth playing *2020-11-01, version 15.30.4* And this isn’t review from some disgruntled “I never win” player. I win all the time. What totally makes this just a joke is playing the AI and three out of the 5 words they play are “This is a valid Words With Friends word, and we will have a definition soon”. Total BS. Like the word played - “Alfa”, and the definition was “for the letter A”, which would be Alpha. But if I try to play the same word, it is not recognized. And every word the AI plays is worth at least 35 points, and again, most of them are BS words. Secondly, throughout all the games in WWF, it is way to common that I get 7 vowels, or seven 1 to 2 point consonants, while the AI typically gets a great range of letters and plays 5 and 6 letter words most of the time. I literally got 13 straight vowels in one game, which is statistically almost impossible. And the pop-up ads. They used to make a version that you could buy that was ad free, but now you can purchase “1 month ad free” - a straight money grab. And the game seizes up on the ads at LEAST twice a day where I have to restart my iPad. You developers have taken all of the joy out of this game and I would not recommend it to anyone. ### 1/5 — What Happened? *2020-08-27, version 15.00.6* I’ve been playing this game forever. Nothing secret or magic about it, it’s essentially Scrabble. That part of the app works well and is worth 5 stars. So why the 1 star? Two reasons. First, you will NEVER find an app with as many annoying “pop-ups” in the middle of gameplay. The most frustrating part of that is that these popups aren’t even Ads. They are game announcements of new “gifts” and “rewards” that I’m willing to bet the overwhelming majority of users don’t care about. We want to play Scrabble. Period. I don’t care how many useless purple gems I’ve gotten for completing something I didn’t know I was playing and don’t really want to play. I want to play Scrabble. That’s why I downloaded the app. Second problem... FIX THE SOLO CHALLENGE. This entertaining portion of the game, which essentially pits you against AI of increasing difficulty, is fun. When it works. Which it doesn’t anymore. Ever. For weeks now. Just gets stuck and never clears, even after deleting and reinstalling the app. It’s Scrabble. How the hell did you manage to screw up the app so badly that you got a 1 star review from anyone? This app is like the doughnut shop that decides to start selling pizza too. Stay in your lane and do what you do well!!! Make doughnuts, not pizza and make a simple Scrabble app work!!!!!!!!!!!!! ### 1/5 — Failed update! *2020-05-12, version 14.52.1* I loved playing Scrabble with my friends in college so when we moved on and away from each other, we used this to continue playing against each other with. And it was so much fun! Lately, like I’ve read in other reviews, the “showing” of the rewards takes more time to watch through than laying my tile on the board. Ok that’s fine, I still love the game. But when I updated the WWF app last night, the app stopped working?! It looks stuck with the tile turning or saying “loading...” and I can’t access any of my games anymore, ARRGH!! Usually I read the reviews but this time I didn’t because I didn’t expect the WWF app to stop working on me! Please, please fix!!! I really want to continue to play with my friends and other challengers... I really don’t want to delete this app... * * Updated app two days later with new update and STILL HAVING PROBLEMS!! New update is still not loading??? What is wrong? I can no longer plays this game and am thinking I will need to delete this and find another word game. So disappointed that this new update does not work at all. * *UPDATE #2- folks having issues try deleting the app and downloading it again- it seems to have worked for me as all my games are still there along with my data, yay! ### 1/5 — Game going down hill *2020-03-09, version 13.92.1* I love word games, and have played this one for years. Sadly, the quality of the game is going down hill, especially each time changes are made. No abbreviations are to be used, but they allow them. I mean, what is CWM? Had to look it up. But the most frustrating part is when an opponent played a word that when looked up, on the game’s dictionary, was listed as NOT a word, but yet allowed it to be played. This has happened several times. Daily bonus was 100 coins. I was out for a time due to illness, and found upon return that daily bonus is down to a coin or two a day, with every so many days offering a special item instead. My biggest problem with this, aside from the cheapness of giving a coin or two a day, is that half the time the bonus does not work when you click on it. A message will pop up saying it is not working right then please come back, but the item is checked off and there is no going back for that bonus. It is the 24th of the month, but my daily bonus dots are only on 12, and I click on this every day. This has been going on for some time. If you just want to do a crossword against others, or a computer, without all the bonuses and such, then this game will be great for you. ### 1/5 — Return to the old format *2019-11-09, version 13.0.7* I agree with those who expressed their disappointment lately. After a long time of playing I’m about to give up. The game has lost a lot of its challenge with all the two letter words now allowed that are not legit words. They are abbreviations i.e. allowing the element table and other similar abbreviations. Stick to scrabble rules like you did when you started! Also solo puts a word in the game and then when you look in the dictionary it says definition not known and that they are working on a definition. The other day in solo play they put in the word MAGA. Why are they politicizing this game and it’s not even a word. That one really made me mad. Also I can’t delete old games which really slows down the play. Old games pop back up repeatedly and slow down play. I delete and close out and at least 10 are back up and are the same ones that I just tried to delete. Plus they say I lost (solo games) and when I go in and check it is clearly the other way and I won. I downloaded the new version at their suggestion and it is worse than ever so I went back to classic. Wish someone would pay attention to all of the other bad comments and put it back to a fun game. ### 1/5 — WWF in now a piece of crap. *2019-10-29, version 13.0.7* I have played this game for 10+ years. I paid for my original version, which Zynga no longer supports, thus effectively taking my money and not delivering. That is known as fraud. The original two versions of the game did not have all the crap this game now contains. I do not want to be rewarded for their arbitrary milestones, nor do I want to play games within games, nor do I want to see coins and party boxes flashing in my face. Additionally, the crap they have added now causes the games to move at a glacial pace, many times freezing when you are trying to place letters or not responding to a PLAY command. And the ultimate challenge, which occurs at least once a day, is that the game is so incapable of keeping up with the speed of play that it simply collapses. The screen blanks out to white, freezes and is not recoverable. The only way to get it back is to shut down your device and reboot. This is a clear indication that they have built a game without the industrial strength to handle all the crap they have built into it. I play with approximately 8-10 people. We ALL experience this BS. Some people I played with have quit WWF and gone to Word Chum out of frustration. Congratulations Zynga, you really have succeeded at turning a good, well-liked game into a piece of garbage. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Brain stimulating game! *2021-08-31, version 16.61.1* Years ago I went to nursing school and led the class in the Pre-board test out of my entire class. After working as an RN I suffered a brain injury from “lack of oxygen”. After having surgery on my painful varicose veins. It was caused by a series of events that began with pain leading to a dose of Morphine, which can suppress the drive to breath. It made me extremely nauseous , so my nurse gave me an anti-nausea medication in my IV, . The combination of drugs set up a situation that resulted in depressing the drive to breathe. Then the hospital was short of nurses and “floated a nurse from the psychiatric floor to the surgical floor. She would come into the room and look at me ,charting “patient sleeping soundly, not checking to see if I was getting enough oxygen. Meanwhile an aide had gotten me up to the bathroom, taken my oxygen off and failed to put it back on. My lack of oxygen caused the injury to my brain, so my memory is poor! ### 5/5 — Unfair *2019-04-03, version 12.16.1* When consumers (like myself) paid for the ad-free on apps then we don't get it anymore. That's what has happened to WWF. Developers are given a new way/opportunity to gouge users out of money by altering the app, whether ever so slightly, or totally rebranding the same app then rip users off by forcing us to pay AGAIN for things we already had. Only this time at higher prices since the demand & popularity of their apps. All of which has been established due in large part to OUR (the consumers) commitment (use), feedback & help debugging (opt-in end-user licensing) their apps, in turn, growing their companies to enormous size & wealth. Requiring repurchasing is nothing short of online fraud. Re-selling the consumers a product/service they already had, but thanks to sneakily written end-user licensing agreements, which we’re FORCED to accept to use our devices, they can freely change the rules/game as they see fit. #FarFromFairMarket #VirtualThievery ### 5/5 — The Devil’s Advocate *2019-03-29, version 12.16.1* Contrary to pretty much every recent review of this app, I like the new little features. I love collecting powerups. Me and my opponents openly use them and now see them as part of the game. I love collecting tile skins, and it’s fun to see me and my opponents mix and match the colors we’ve collected. I really don’t mind the event collectibles. Or the chests. Especially since they give me goals to strive toward as I play and reward me when I complete them. I’m a lot happier now that the company stopped trying to force us to switch to Words with Friends 2, which I avoid like the plague. If it isn’t broken, don’t try to fix it and force that fix on us. Also glad that the whole ad issue seemed to be resolved and I don’t have ads in my paid version. If I had any gripes, it would be that they are incredibly stingy with coins (you get 3 max in your daily gift while things in the store can cost like, 100). And that once you complete all solo challenges you have to wait for the next set. If I have a daily goal that needs me to win a solo challenge, I can’t get it since I can’t replay them. I’d like that to change. But anyway, I felt compelled to write this review after seeing nothing but hate for the new features. I know a lot of people that like the features, but I guess you’re more compelled to write a review if you have a complaint, right? ### 5/5 — Horrible update *2018-09-21, version 11.0.2* This would get ZERO stars if possible... I’ve been a dedicated fan of this game for a long time, but the update they did for ios12 is cluttered, rigged with all kinds of pay offers, and simply lousy... I’ve talked with the 8 people I play with regularly and they all agree this new version is awful. In response to the developer asking me to “take time and get used to the new look of the game”, I simply say, you are NOT listening to the criticism... badges won’t clear, you’re loading the game up with so many “paid feature” notifications and things that a user must clear each time they open the game... if you want revenue, why not offer the OLD game as a paid, crap-free app? I’d easily pay $10 for the old app and not have to worry about your money-grubbing, screen-clogging crap that is the main focus of this “update”! ### 5/5 — Love it *2017-10-08, version 5.64* I enjoy this game and play everyday. I find It at time intruding into space set up for me to do other things. Takes some discipline in my part. I enjoy being able to exchange lettters without penalty one time. I didn’t think being able to see spaces available where I could play would benefit but find it does help especially on a challenging environment. I like being able to chat. And presentation after the play to see if I placed my words in the best place or utilized the highest points that turn is fun. The advertisement sometime get stuck and I have to stop playing and turn off the game. I love scrabble but didn’t always have company to play. So I played the board by myself. But words with friends is so much more fun than the physical board of scrabble. I enjoy solo play but gets frustrating when I make real words and the game won’t except. I miss being able to pass the phone back and forth when out with my little ones and engage in a game. Overall I love the game and highly recommend ### 5/5 — Pastime pleasure... *2017-10-07, version 5.64* I love this game... and have played it for years every morning with my morning cup of coffee…I play the old-fashioned way with none of the colorful play options perched above for the less astute player. I play with like-minded players (I think!) and play just for the sheer fun of building words! A wordsmith at heart I suppose. I enjoy the badges and find myself trying to achieve the set goal, however, I wish those weekly goals would scramble from high to low, low to high, and everywhere in between... not just demanding a higher target every week making it sometimes too difficult to achieve it in the time I allow myself to play. Even in the case of other players using the enticing bling aids, I still enjoy the simple pleasure of mixing letters with the use of my own brain and it matters not if other players do or do not. Somehow, with time, you find compatible playmates who keep the game challenging, yet stay true to the integrity of the basic game of Scrabble. Oh! And I occasionally like to look at my stats ... rather interesting! Thank you for this enjoyable game! ### 5/5 — Words with Family and Friends *2017-09-14, version 5.62* This is a great App on it's own merit. What I really love about words with friends is that it's a way to keep in touch with friends and family who are far away. It's a way of checking in with my nieces and nephew who otherwise I might only see on Holidays. I also like that you are able to send messages back and forth if you wish, during play "nice game!" A pat on the back is always appreciated! I like that you don't have to commit to an entire game at one sitting. I have 5-10 games going with different people at the same time. Some days I only play one word per game. And if I'm particularly busy I don't play at all. Know this, you will always have something to do when you have a moment and you will be making a connection with someone you care about at the same time. Win/win. ### 4/5 — WORDS *2022-02-21, version 17.40.1* We have been playing Words with Friends for a long time now and we evidently enjoy the play or we wouldn’t waste quite so much time at the app. We do find that the WORDS DICTIONARY contains words that do not appear in the other dictionaries and that the WORD DICTIONARY doesn’t contain some actual words that do appear in the WEBSTER DICTIONARY, for example. Even if a word is recognized as a word, it should not be allowed in play if it has no meaning. Fact is, it shouldn’t be recognized as a word at all. It is only a group of letters that no one can pronounce and that fits into a space. Scrabble rules should be more of a guideline perhaps. Updates have cluttered the app with a bunch of meaningless activity and worthless prizes. I know, its all for fun but all the extra stuff just makes the app less convenient to navigate. Regardless, we engage the Solo Challenge and find it quick and challenging but the distribution of letters sometimes stinks and the computer persons we play against surely come up with a lot of trees and vines and bugs and stuff from millions of years ago. Maybe they are in the dictionary but, if they aren’t, even the WordMasters shouldn’t be allowed to play them. ### 4/5 — New Bells and Rolling suggestion at bottom of screen! *2021-10-27, version 16.91.1* I have been playing WWF for many years. Please, take this rolling suggestion of which game I should play next, away! It is so very annoying! I am capable of picking the next game to play since I prefer to pick my own order. Currently I have about 56 games going, so I believe I can make that decision myself. Also, this latest update slows down my rhythm, having to wait until the opponents words displays slowly, one letter at a time, and only then can I see my available letters. When I’m playing back and forth , live with my opponent, it’s distracting to have to wait. Please give us the option to do away with the suggested next player. Now you’ve added all the extra bells when forming a word Omg, the noise is distracting, slows the game down and is redundant, we already had the thing that acknowledged an acceptable word! Then all the extra steps to get to the dang rewards. We don’t need all the new flashy bells and whistles. With all the extra time it takes now, just waiting for the bells to stop, I’ll have to cut back on the number of games I play. Probably the majority of people playing this game are adults and don’t need the flashy stuff to encourage us to play anyway. ### 4/5 — Great game; terrible glitches! *2021-09-21, version 16.80.2* The game itself is awesome and a fun way to stay connected to people you know around the country and the world. But, the technical problems with the game app are the worst I’ve ever encountered! Being locked out. Childish censorship within messages that violate free speech. Notification numbers always wrong, stuck and incorrect. Being temporarily suspended by the makers just because some scammer says you harassed them when you didn’t. The number of fake players who are really scammers is out of control, where they use the game and its message system to contact legitimate players and ask them for money or contact information. Not knowing the rules of how to advance on the Progress Maps. Past badges not accessible. Links within the game not working. The list goes on. Words With Friends is a fun game if you can tolerate all of its very numerous problems, especially the technical ones. The makers need better programmers to fix the bugs! --- *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 2026-06-10.*