Android Has Caught Up With iOS, and the Play Store Reviews Show It

When we launched the Shadow Boxing App on Android, it was a few steps behind the iOS version. Some exercises were missing, the combo creator wasn’t there yet, and a handful of settings only existed on iPhone. That gap is now close to zero. Everything you can do on iOS, you can do on Android: every workout, every program, quick start, the combo creator, the technique library, stats, goals and reminders. So we went back to the Play Store to see whether users noticed, and it turns out they did. Here is a fresh batch of reviews, quoted as written, with a few words from us on each.

The reviews

REALLY GOOD!!YOU NEED TO TRY THIS APP👍👍,I RECOMMENDED THIS👍👍👍

Eyma

We’ll take the caps lock as a compliment. There isn’t much to analyze here, and that’s sort of the point: the app is free to install and the free tier includes real training, so “try it” is the whole pitch. We don’t need to convince anyone with a long sales page when the first workout can do the talking.

best boxing training app in the world I have seen

Neelam

We’ve said out loud that we want to build the best boxing app on Android, so reading this from a Play Store user feels like a small checkpoint on that road. We’re a tiny independent team, and the Android version is only a few months old, so we won’t pretend the job is done. But if people are already comparing it favorably to everything else they’ve tried, the catch-up work was worth it.

I have a fight coming up and due to not making all the training g in the boxing gym, I thought id give this a crack… AMAZING

Kingi

This one matters to us more than most. Kingi is an actual competitor with a fight on the calendar, and missed gym sessions are a real problem in that situation. The app isn’t meant to replace a coach and sparring partners, but it does replace the sessions you would otherwise skip. Rounds of called-out combinations, defensive movements, and freestyle on a timer keep the rhythm going on the days you can’t get to the gym. Good luck with the fight.

Tbh this app can contribute to the Boxing World due to how efficient and good this app is at giving.out.drills GG

Richmon

“Giving out drills” is a good description of what the app does at its core. It doesn’t just count down rounds. It tells you what to throw, when to slip, when to step, and it keeps changing the drill so you don’t fall into autopilot. That efficiency is the difference between a timer app and a boxing workout app: with a timer you still have to invent the training yourself, and most people end up throwing the same lazy 1-2 for three minutes.

It’s really effective every time I use this app I actually sweat more Than in the gym

Lihle

We hear this one regularly, and there’s a simple reason for it. At the gym, a lot of the hour disappears into waiting: for a bag, for the coach to set up the next drill, for your turn on the mitts. With the app there is no dead time. A combo is called, you throw it, the next one arrives. Three minutes of that with no gaps is hard cardio whether you planned it or not. The heavy bag exercises and HIIT sessions push this further if you want them to.

I love the app, it’s good down to the smallest detail, I love it.

Dionicio

This is probably the review that made us happiest, because the details are where most of the work goes and where almost nobody looks. Things like the coach’s voice arriving early enough that you can react in time, the beep options, the way a combo builds up piece by piece across a round, the settings for what gets called out and how. We wrote about sweating the small stuff in the app settings a while ago, and it’s nice to know it lands on Android just like it does on iOS.

For now, I’m sticking to the number-learning training, which takes 13 minutes, but honestly, it’s fantastic. Fun, effective… and a great workout!

Dov

Dov is talking about Remember Numbers, a 13-minute workout built to get the boxing numbering system into your head: 1 for the jab, 2 for the cross, 3 for the lead hook, and so on. Once those numbers are automatic, every other workout in the app opens up, because the coach can call out numbers and you react without thinking. Sticking with it for a while before moving on is exactly the right approach. It’s also a decent sweat on its own, which is not an accident; nobody wants to learn a numbering system standing still.

Why this batch means a lot

The previous round of Play Store reviews came in while the Android version was still catching up, and we half expected complaints about missing features. This time, nobody is asking where something is. People are talking about fight prep, about sweating more than at the gym, about the small details. Those are the same things iOS users have been saying for years, which is the best evidence we have that the two versions are now on the same level.

We still have things to fix and features we want to add, on both platforms. But if you’re on Android and have been waiting for the app to be “ready”, it is. The Shadow Boxing App is free on the Play Store, with enough training in the free tier to decide for yourself. And if you’ve already been using it, a review helps more than you’d think, especially for a small app competing with much bigger names.

Thanks to Eyma, Neelam, Kingi, Richmon, Lihle, Dionicio and Dov for taking the time.