The text discusses the importance of appointment scheduling apps for service-based businesses, highlighting their benefits such as simplifying the booking process, preventing double-booking, and providing features like embeddable widgets, routing forms, and custom email and SMS reminders. The article reviews the top five appointment scheduling apps, including Acuity Scheduling, Setmore, Square Appointments, SimplyBook.me, and Book Like A Boss, evaluating their ease of use, pricing, features, and integrations. Each app is described in detail, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, to help businesses choose the best fit for their needs. The article also provides guidance on what makes a great appointment scheduling app, including flexibility, calendar syncing, payment processing, integration with third-party tools, value, and professional presentation.