Facts first. Judgment explained.

Layer one

Evidence-backed facts

Facts include pricing model, subscription requirement, offline capability, account requirement, source model, supported platforms, and self-hostability. When reliable evidence is not strong enough, CurioBeam can leave a fact Unknown instead of guessing.

Layer two

Editorial judgment

Editorial sections such as why we like an app, who it is good for, and important tradeoffs are CurioBeam judgments rather than raw product facts. We keep those two layers separate so a factual correction does not automatically rewrite an editorial conclusion.

We use an internal review framework to improve consistency, but the internal 100-point score is not published as a consumer rating. We would rather show the reasons and tradeoffs than a pseudo-precise number.

Layer three

Editorial designations

Labels such as Recommended, Editor's Pick, Hidden Gem, or Privacy-Friendly require CurioBeam rationale. Developers cannot assign them to themselves or purchase them.

Privacy-Friendly is an editorial designation based on current, relevant evidence. It is not a security audit or a legal/compliance certification. Hidden Gem means CurioBeam believes strong software deserves substantially more discovery; it is not based on a fixed popularity threshold or sponsorship.

Independence

Money cannot buy the truth layer

Sponsorship or payment cannot change normalized facts, purchase an editorial badge, turn a developer assertion into verified evidence, or alter organic Best Match ranking.