Here is exactly how a day on iPip works, from the moment an app goes live to the moment its votes lock.
A launch day
- A launch day runs from midnight to midnight UTC.
- Up to 5 free launches go live each day, first come, first served. A maker picks the day, from tomorrow up to 21 days ahead.
- When Premium opens, up to 3 Premium launches can join a day on top of the free ones, so a Premium launch never takes a free spot.
- An app that is not launching can simply be listed. It gets its own page for good, with no date.
Votes and rank
- One vote per app from each network. You don't need an account to vote, and every vote weighs the same.
- The most voted app ranks first. A tie goes to the app sent in first.
- At midnight UTC the day ends and its results lock. The most voted app wins the day. A day with no votes has no winner.
- A Premium launch is pinned at the top of its day and labelled Featured, but the number on its row is still its rank by votes.
We remove launches that buy votes, and we say so.
Pips
Pips are iPip's points. You earn them for taking part: +5 Pips for each vote while you are signed in, up to 6 votes a day, +15 for every third day in a row you vote, and +40 for every seventh.
Pips can't be bought, and no payment gives any. They never change votes, rank or winners. A Premium launch or a Featured spot gives no Pips, and Pips never buy a place on a launch day.
iPip and MacPip share one account, so you have one Pips total and one level on both sites. There is one daily cap of 120 Pips across both sites (30 on an account's first day), so voting on both never doubles anyone's Pips.
Your level comes from every Pip you have ever earned: level 2 takes 60 Pips in all, level 3 takes 150, level 4 270 and level 5 420. Each level asks a little more than the last.
| For | Pips | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| A vote, signed in | +5 | 6 votes a day |
| Voting 3 days in a row | +15 | every third day |
| Voting 7 days in a row | +40 | every seventh day |
Taking a vote back takes its Pips back too, and a vote for your own app earns none. The daily cap is 120 Pips across iPip and MacPip together.
Why Pips are kept apart from votes
Points that changed votes would turn a launch day into a contest of who has the most points. So the code that counts votes and ranks apps never reads Pips at all, and our tests check that on every change.