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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ios”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “ios”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 4 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

App Builder – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Flight shows at wp.org #11 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

HTML5 Video Player – embed fast, responsive videos with ease places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 195 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #1 2 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #2 3 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #3 ↑5 4 EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 WPMobile.App – Android and iOS App Builder 3K+ · 4.8★ (162) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Favicon by RealFaviconGenerator 200K+ · 4.9★ (802) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 Perfect Images: Regenerate Thumbnails, Image Sizes, WebP & AVIF 60K+ · 4.8★ (279) wp.org #10 ↑2 2 too low 9 AppMySite – WordPress & WooCommerce Mobile App Builder (No-Code Android & iOS App Maker) 7K+ · 4.3★ (138) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 HTML5 Video Player – embed fast, responsive videos with ease 20K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #21 ↓2 9 too low 13 LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597) wp.org #15 ↑3 2 too low 14 MStore API – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Cloud 2K+ · 3.7★ (21) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 WCPOS – Point of Sale (POS) plugin for WooCommerce 5K+ · 3.7★ (84) wp.org #14 ↓3 1 too high 16 Compact WP Audio Player 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #24 ↓2 8 too low 17 Chatra Live Chat + ChatBot + Cart Saver 2K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18 Publish To Apple News 4K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #18 ↓4 19 App Builder – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Flight 500+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Mobile App Canvas – Convert your Website Into an App for iOS and Android 200+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #20 ↓3 21 Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 Mobile Smart App Banner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓3 3 too high 23 Browser Theme Color – Address Bar Color & Dark Mode 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too high 24 SimplyBook.me – Booking and reservations calendar 30K+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.