What Year Was It?
What Year Was It? is a trivia game for history and pop culture enthusiasts, available on iOS as an offline-capable, ad-free experience.
The App DNA
What makes this app unique?
The app serves users who want a distraction-free, privacy-focused knowledge challenge without the connectivity requirements or ad-interruptions common in mainstream trivia titles.
For History buffs and trivia enthusiasts seeking an ad-free, offline-capable knowledge challenge.
What does it look like?
Key features
Thousands of questions covering history, pop culture, sports, and science.
In-game help system providing external context for trivia answers.
Full game functionality without requiring an active internet connection.
How much does it cost?
The app operates on a completely free model with no ads or tracking, prioritizing user acquisition and brand authority over direct monetization.
Velocity
Dormant developmentnew contentShow more...
The app has entered a zombie state, with no new feature builds or updates released in the last 317 days. Development momentum has effectively ceased, as the last recorded activity was a content update in late 2025. There is no evidence of ongoing maintenance or live operations to support the user base.
Who built it?
User Sentiment
What do users think recently?
Review voice lately leans thrilled. Users appreciate humorous quips following each trivia answer keep the gameplay experience lighthearted and consistently entertaining for players and granular category and era filtering allows history enthusiasts to customize their trivia sessions to personal interests.
How are ratings & reviews evolving?
What users say, by theme
- Humorous quips following each trivia answer keep the gameplay experience lighthearted and consistently entertaining for players
- Granular category and era filtering allows history enthusiasts to customize their trivia sessions to personal interests
- Broad database of historical questions provides a challenging and educational experience for users of all ages
10 of 10 recent reviews analyzed · moderate confidence · Thrilled overall
Read the full review analysisUnlock 1 user request, each backed by review evidence.
Access the full report for freeCompetition
Competitive landscape for What Year Was It?
How's the Games market?
What Year Was It? occupies a niche, ad-free position in the Games category, maintaining a 5.0-star rating across 22 reviews. The lack of updates for over 10 months suggests a static position that does not compete for chart-topping velocity.
Read the market outlookThe rivals identified
Unlock the deeper market read.
Access the full report for freeThe Analyst's Read
Key takeaways for What Year Was It?
Where is it heading?
The trivia market is consolidating around apps with frequent live-ops and social features, leaving What Year Was It? in a static, albeit high-trust, position. Without a return to a regular update cadence, the app will likely see a slow decline in relevance as the content database ages.
- The 10-month development silence suggests a maintenance-only posture, which risks losing the current user base to more active trivia competitors.
- The 5.0-star rating indicates high satisfaction with the core trivia database, providing a solid foundation for future feature expansion.
The SWOT
- Offline-first architecture removes connectivity dependencies.
- Ad-free, tracker-free model builds high trust with privacy-conscious users.
- Introduce a decade-based filter to satisfy top user requests.
Next best moves
Ship decade-based filtering because it is the top-requested feature in reviews → increase user engagement
The counter-intuitive read
The lack of monetization is a strategic asset, as it creates a high-trust…
Read the full takeFeature gaps
Social leaderboards (available in Trivia Crack but absent here)
Since the last report: The app remains in a maintenance-only state with no functional updates, but the competitive narrative has shifted to emphasize privacy and offline-first utility against social-heavy trivia rivals.
Bottom line
What Year Was It? maintains a loyal niche through its ad-free design, but the 10-month development silence threatens its long-term relevance. A targeted update adding decade-based filtering would address the primary user request and demonstrate that the product is not abandoned.
Unlock 2 critical frictions, 1 market threat and the analyst’s take.
Access the full report for freeFAQ
Is What Year Was It? suitable for casual players?
How does What Year Was It? compare to Trivia Crack?
Does the app contain ads or tracking?
What is a good alternative for social trivia?
Sources
- [1] App Store
- [2] Developer website, source
Report last updated