Could Bird overtake Lime as the top-rated micromobility app in the world? Maybe! Following several months of steady improvement, Bird’s app store rating ended last month tied with Lime’s, the longtime leader, at 4.85/5. 

Overall, most companies’ ratings stayed relatively stable in July. In terms of user satisfaction, Dott and Bird gained the most (0.3% each), while Wind and Yulu fell the farthest (-.08 and -1.4%, respectively).

Average App Store rating: 4.79/5

The total volume of app store reviews written in July were up 32% compared to June. Beam saw the highest growth (126%), followed by Spin (91%).

Overall five operators, Lime, Bird, Spin, Grin, and Voi, accounted for more than 90% of all app store reviews written last month. Lime alone received the majority (57.1%).

Lime was also the most-reviewed app in several key markets, including the US, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. Voi saw the highest review activity in its home country, Sweden, with a massive lead of 57.9% compared to Lime’s 21.1%. In Belgium, Lime reclaimed the top spot from Dott (50% vs 33%) after losing it in June. In France, Tier had just 1.3% of the share of all app store ratings last month, but that could soon change, as the company won coveted permits in both Paris and Lyon.

In addition, the total volume of app store reviews has returned to pre-COVID levels for several operators.

As of July, Voi and Bird’s total reviews were up 100% and 70%, respectively, compared to January. Dott and Lime’s total reviews were below their January baselines, but only slightly (-3% and -13%, respectively). 

Latin American operator Grin continued to lag the pack, with its app store reviews down 98% compared to January.

Tier, as in previous months, was way ahead of other operators, closing July at with 486% more reviews compared to January. (Note: The chart above was cropped at 200% to fit more data points, and does not fully reflect Tier’s growth.)

Net Promoter Score

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a scoring system for quantifying customer loyalty. Generally companies calculate NPS by asking their customers to rate their level of satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10. 

In a similar manner, App Stores ask their users to rate their satisfaction with apps on a scale of 1 to 5.

Typically, on a 0-to-10 scale, those who respond 9 or 10 are considered “promoters,” or enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others; those who respond 7-8 are considered “passives,” customers who are satisfied but not overly enthusiastic; and those who respond 6 or less are considered “detractors,” or unhappy customers who could hurt the brand through negative reviews. 

To calculate NPS for the scooter apps, I applied the following method, trying to replicate the classic scoring system. 

• Promoters (5)
• Passives (4)
• Detractors (1-3)

In July, Lime retained the top spot with an NPS score of 91.68, followed by Bird (89.99) and Beam (88.6). Tier added 1.33 points to its NPS score, continuing its upward trajectory from previous months.

Although Lime ranked the best globally, in some key European markets, local players scored higher in customer experience. In Germany, France, and Italy, Voi had a higher NPS than Lime, but in Voi’s home country, Sweden, both Bird and Lime performed better. Lime led in the US (94), Spain (88), Portugal (90), New Zealand (92) and Australia (93). In New Zealand and Australia, regional player Beam is closing in on Lime with an NPS score of 91.

Average NPS Score: 89



User Reported Issues

Going through all user-reported issues from 150+ app stores, most comments from May fall into the following categories:

• App Issue
• Scooter Issue
• Overcharging
• Cost
• Unable to Start Ride
• Unable to End Ride
• Customer Support

App Issue – 39%: Similar to previous months, issues with the apps themselves were the most commonly reported problem by users in the app stores. Reviewers wrote about trouble with signup, payment setup, and annoying notifications, among other things. Here are some of illustrative or interesting user comments, like this one from a Lime user:

The app does not function at all. Everytime, it asks me to scan the code and once it reads, it just returns back to home screen. It is frustrating. I have tried troubleshooting it by manually adding the code, still it does not work and returns to the same home page. I have checked my phone and all the required permissions are turned on too. Just fix this, please.

Did operators start pushing out more notifications in July? Multiple Lime and Bird users reported being bothered by frequent alerts. Users giving consent to receive push notifications is precious – use it wisely, operators!

Love the product but please stop with the notification spam, or at least provide a way to opt out. Currently you group this spam in with "General" notifications under Android and I think disabling that will also block useful notifications (like ones you get when riding). Please fix this.

Took two rides, kinda fine. A day later I stay getting notifications about how I should ride more. No option to turn off. Uninstalled.

A Spin user reported that there were discrepancies between where scooters were shown in the app and where they were located in the real world. This is a common issue caused when the app isn’t updated in real time. (Tier has a good implementation where data is populated based on the map area that is visible on the phone. As you pan the map, data is automatically re-loaded.)

Writing this as I begin the 45 minute walk home, after going to 2 different locations, each time to get there and find the scooter is on the map but no where to be found. Are people hiding them in their homes? No clue. There doesn't appear to be a method for reporting this, so I gave up. Who doesn't want to work a 16 hour shift and then walk home after spending a half hour searching for non-existent scooters?

Scooter Issue – 18%: The number of hardware problems reported by users declined a bit from June (19%), but they were still the second-biggest source of comments. Similar to previous months, there were reports of issues with Lime scooters’ brakes. 

I use lime a lot but they are so broken in Bucharest. The baseboard was loose in all rides I've taken in the past month, brakes are absent in some rides... It's just a a horrible experience.

scammy as hell, got app to ride scooter, not only was scooter brake destroyed, the thrust was.destroyed and scooter was in red zone. had to walk it to white zone and was billed for my trouble. avoid! no they would not provide a $5 refund. i dont even care about the money, its insulting.

Overcharging – 14%: Overcharging by operators was the third-most commonly reported issue in July. Lime seems to have an issue with the way it processes payments for subscriptions. A few reviewers reported they were charged for single rides even after they purchased a Lime Pass subscription. 

Bought two $15 day passes for me and my boyfriend, my credit card was charged $114.17. There is NO WAY to contact customer service. The phone number calls an endless hold line and the emails get one auto reply and NOTHING else. This is the biggest scam in the world. Would have loved the heads up on this so I could have spent my $100 on something more needed, LIKE GROCERIES!!!!

Unauthorized Transactions - WTH?? I bought the $14.99 Lime Pass but they charged me another $34 - so my scooter ride was almost $50! What the hell is up with this company??

Lime was not the only company to experience billing troubles last month. The following comment is from a Bird user:

I got charged 20 dollars 12 times in a row lol. Scummy.

Customer Support, Cost – 18%: Compared to previous months, more people than usual complained that scooter rentals were overpriced. 

Totally overpriced! I wanted to save some money for my stay in Vienna (2 days) and would have liked to take an e-scooter instead of the tram. This costs 2.40 per trip. With the scooter you already have to pay € 1 activation fee and then another 0.25c per minute. For my planned trip of more than 15 minutes (with green traffic lights and good traffic) I should have paid an additional 3.75. So a total of 4.75 €! So I'm not going to be a regular customer .... Can't recommend it.

Too much money, was going to try it out but when I saw it starts at 1.15$ to ride plus 35 cents for every minute spends seems a bit pricey.

Meanwhile, Bird seems to have partially solved the customer support issues that it experienced in June. Here are some comments from users:

There is Litterally no way to contact customer service in Israel. No phone number, no replies from the bot on FB messanger, the support email or the through the website. Nothing. If you have any issue, well, good luck to you.

Terrible customer support also it took more then 200 dollars on my fist ride and I can't get a refund because i can't get incontact with the company. They won't answer

Unable Start/End Ride – 11%: Many users reported being unable to start or end their rides in the app. In particular, the Bird app appears to be susceptible to this problem.

Spent 5 or so min trying to unlock 3 different scooters. None worked, (I filled out everything I needed to and had a positive balance), lost 5$

I had trouble to lock the scooter for 15 minutes. Even though I tried to close and open the app multiple times and trying to lock the scooter, the app was not responding making my total booking time 15mins longer. Only after logging out and in I could lock it.

10 min ride wouldn't shutdown for another 15

A Neuron reviewer was frustrated to find that the locking mechanism for their complimentary helmet was broken, which prevented them from ending their ride. We will see if similar issues crop up in Chicago next month, which is going to start requiring people to lock their scooters to a pole/bike rack, take a picture, and upload it to the app to end their ride. 

Terrible! Even after relocking helmet it wouldn't let me end ride and charged me extra 10 mins until it auto disabled. Very annoying.

Other Reported Issues:

India-based Yulu has been having issues related to refund of the security deposit for the last few months and they haven’t managed to solve it.

They don't refund your deposit money , don't fall in their trap. no refund for security deposit, clear excuse is session expired and an automatic log out.

Many users reported having trouble navigating restricted areas last month. Geofences and route planning remain an unsolved user-experience problem for micromobility startups. Riders of e-scooters want to be able to get to their destination without having to figure out where the various slow zones and no-go areas created by the different operators start and end.

I don’t know of any scooter operator other than Link/Superpedestrian that is using a quick response solution that slows users’ scooters to a stop before they venture too far into a no-ride zone.

A good solution would be to alert the user before they enter a no-ride zone using the available screens or gradual deceleration. I hope micromobility operators are busy solving this issue.

This app went from a saving grace to a turd on wheels. The no lock zones could force you to go a mile+ from your destination forcing you to either walk all that way or bite the bullet and ditch your ride.

Holly s*** what a bad experience. I ended up trying this for the first time. Rode the scooter out to a paved trail and lost power because of zone restrictions. I had the choice to ride back going the opposite way or walk the scooter about 2.5 miles towards my destination. I chose the later and what a miserable experience pushing a dead scooter in 100+degree weather with no water in sight. Refund for unconvincing? Like $3 for a $20 ride and I still had to get an Uber! Not using again!

Note: Data gathered from 150+ Apple and Google app stores across the globe. If interested in more insights on the data collected, do send me a message

Prabin Joel Jones is the VP of IT & Enabling Tech at BOND Mobility, a premium speed e-bike sharing operator based in Zurich.