BrainHQ

• Free to download
• In-app purchases

Last verified 31 Jul 2026

4.6 21973 ratings · App Store

1. 2/5Great idea - Terrible app

   The concept of the app is a great idea. The tests or games are probably quite helpful. But who knows! No concrete metrics,scores over time, etc. Further, functionally, the app itself is mess. It is a mishmash of poor organization, obscure instructions, and lacks common elements to make the app usable. An example is that settings are nonexistent, even though it tells you to go to settings for some things, like managing your subscription. Another is that even to get to the subscription option, which I now regret doing, I had to hunt through a number of things. Why isn’t that one of the options in the bars at the top? Most important, there is no apparent measurement that tells you how your scores or timing compare with expectations by age or any other criterion. There are no scores, standards, or measures that you can see for performance overtime. The strain of gold stars means nothing, except that the developers seem to think they are dealing with children under the age of five. The lack of information and feedback on your performance makes it somewhat useless. Doing the games is fine, but it is purely a pasttime. Dealing with the app is an exercise in frustration. I have canceled my subscription.

   Hate tweets · 31 Jul 2026

2. 1/5Fun app, but horrible to navigate

   I came across this app after reading a news article that said it’s one of the few brain apps that research has shown to be effective for its intended purpose. Different games within the app are fun to play and after limited use I believe they do improve my mental skills. In that regard I’d rate the app five stars. However, I rate it one star due to the frustrations involved with navigating through the different training sessions and getting the app to work like it should. One shouldn’t need to call an app’s tech support to get the audio to work on an iPad. Also very irritating is the subscription box that often continuously pops up and won’t go away when I try to launch a new game. Seems like the developers of this app got the hard part right by developing games that are entertaining and effective, but failed on the easy part of developing a user interface that facilitates easy navigation through the app. At times I wonder if this was done intentionally by thinking users might pay for the subscription in hopes that the user interface problems will go away under the paid subscription mode. Unfortunately I like the app enough that I’ll likely test this theory.

   HonestGirl10 · 31 Jul 2026

3. 2/5Games GREAT. App UI is atrocious

   I’ve been participating in the games in this app for about a month. I find the games and the training quite useful and helpful. I also like the statistics that it provides based on my progress. But the app, though good in its ability to render games accurately, has little bugs all over the place that make it feel like it’s a half done product. Four instance, today is marked off as completed, and when I swiped backwards to see how I did last week, it changed the date to January 2012. That is obviously not last week. That is just one of many little things that make the app annoying. I will continue playing the games because I can put these little annoyances aside, however for a company to have an app that basic functionality does not work properly is ridiculous. If it can’t do it correctly, simply remove that feature from the app. Make it so that to see your progress you have to go to the website. I would much preferThe app to do what it does well and leave everything else off rather than having an app that does somethings really well and others ridiculously poorly.

   Petro 23856 · 31 Jul 2026

4. 3/5Too inconsistent. Not optimistic about app improving.

   Update: They have updated some exercises now, and the website UI was updated (hopefully soon the app UI). So I upped to 3 stars. You can at least test it a little yourself. I wish they had some sort of full 3-day or 7-day trial, as the Spark is lacking. I’m a paid subscriber and have (tried) using this for months. Each day, it gives me 4 different exercises to do. This should be a well-oiled machine, considering the company has been doing this for ten years, but it’s not. Some exercises, especially the audio ones, are horrible. What really makes this a 1-star app to me is that I don’t foresee the app improving anytime soon. If you write to Customer Service they are polite and fast. But nothing changes. No new exercises come. Old ones are neither improved or retired (like if they are lame). I can’t justify recommending this app to anyone, as it would enable the company’s poor behavior. I’ve written to Customer Service several times, but again I’ve never seen a single change in the app since I started. Hence this public review.

   geoffhom · 31 Jul 2026

5. 1/5Negative 1 Star

   If you have version 6 of brain HQ I do not recommend upgrading to version 7. I was a paid subscriber and unfortunately I upgraded my version of the Brain HQ app via the app store for their so called bug fixes. I am now with version 7, unable to downgrade, and unable to access the original better versions of Audiory Ace, Card Shark and other games. It’s been now over a month I’ve submitted multiple tickets to the team and never have been given a response as to how to fix this. I’ve also noticed that when you go to select a game the developers now added a completely useless / unproductive 2 to 3 second animation. I’ve also noticed that after you complete a level the developers added a significantly longer animation that shows your result. This all causes more time on the app with less levels being played. I’ve also noticed that when setting a weekly goal the new maximum is 3 times lower than then previous. So I am assuming the developers don’t want you to have high goals. The developers have also gotten rid of the Brain HQ widget that helps to track your progress. This app is now becoming annoying frustrating and unproductive and defeating its own purpose. Version 6 of Brain HQ was a good app with no bugs. Now version 7 is behaving like a -1 star app. Since these issues haven't gotten resolved I’ve received a refund for the rest of my subscription but would rather just have version 6 back.

   Brooklyn99Boy · 31 Jul 2026

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