Money on the Brain: Don't get hopes up about apps that pay you for exercising
Wish you could get paid to exercise? Well thanks to a couple free apps, you can! Sort of. Well, maybe.
One app that claims to reward you for walking is Sweatcoin. Its website says, “Sweatcoin is a free app which rewards your daily steps with a new-generation currency you can spend on cool products, donate to charity or convert into SWEAT.”
Every time you go for a walk, it counts your steps and credits your account with a certain amount of "Sweatcoins."
One aspect I like about Sweatcoin is that once you install the app, you don’t need to do anything with it. It automatically adds Sweatcoins to your account every time you walk.
Previous column: Money on the Brain: Be sure to know what something costs before making the purchase
Accumulate enough Sweatcoins, and you can spend those on certain products.
According to www.sweatco.in, examples of products you can choose include “iPhones, anti-gravity yoga classes, Apple Watches, and more!”
Sounds great, right?
Since I’ve earned more than1,700 Sweatcoins, I opened up the app to see what I could “buy” with them.
I saw a $20 iTunes gift card, but it was sold out. The next day I checked again. This time there was a $40 Amazon gift card I could buy. Once again, however, it was sold out.
Today they had a $20 Starbucks gift card, also sold out.
Hmmmm, do I need to check the app at midnight for new rewards that are actually in stock? That doesn’t sound fun.
I decided to look at a physical product instead of a gift card. Maybe I’d have better luck with that.
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Today’s featured product (there was only once choice) was a container of Neutrogena Hydro Boost Face Moisturizer Gel-Cream.
That’s a lot of words to say “face lotion,” and I’m not sure that I really wanted that, but even if I did – you guessed it – sold out.
There were no iPhones, Apple Watches or anti-gravity yoga classes (whatever those are) in sight.
They did have an offer for Sweatcoin members though – Three months of SiriusXM radio for only one dollar. That seemed like a pretty good deal.
A quick check of SiriusXM’s website, however, revealed that anyone can get three months for free.
So far, I really don’t have anything positive to say about Sweatcoin. You can earn Sweatcoins for walking, yes, but it appears that anything worth “buying” is always sold out.
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So, will I keep using Sweatcoin? Since it doesn’t take any effort whatsoever once it’s installed, I guess so. Maybe one day they’ll have more rewards in stock and I’ll be glad that I kept accumulating Sweatcoins.
I won’t hold my breath, though.
Let’s look at Evidation, another app that says it will pay you for exercising.
Evidation is a research company. Its website proclaims, “Evidation measures health in everyday life and enables anyone to participate in ground-breaking research and health programs. We’re working to bring people individualized, proactive, and accessible healthcare – faster.”
Evidation does its research with the help of its free app. It tracks your physical activity. Every time you exercise, you earn a certain number of points.
In order for Evidation to know that you actually exercised, you’ll need to sync it with another app, such as Strava, Dexcom, Fitbit, Garmin, MapMyRun or MyFitnessPal.
I use RunKeeper. Every time I exercise, it tells Evidation how far I biked or walked. Then my account is credited with the appropriate number of points.
Earlier this week, for example, I earned 38 points for biking 12 miles, and seven points for walking one mile.
You can also earn points by answering simple questions, reading an article, and/or participating in surveys.
The questions might be a simple yes or no question. For example, one recent question was, “Have you been diagnosed with migraines?”
I clicked no, and earned three points.
The articles are about a myriad different health topics. I recently earned five points for reading about the Mediterranean diet.
And I recently earned 100 points for completing a survey about prescription medications. There’s another survey opportunity right now titled, “Help Us Learn More About Heart Disease.”
The first question was, “Have you ever been told by a physician that you have heart disease?”
I clicked “no,” and that was it for me. My survey ended, and I earned 50 points. Easy.
I suspect if I had clicked “yes,” it would have asked me several questions about my diet, exercise and sleep habits, etc.
The good news with Evidation is that it actually does reward you with cash once you accumulate 10,000 points. The bad news is that you only get a measly $10.
When I finally reached 10,000 points, which took me a long time, I chose to have the $10 deposited into my PayPal account. Within one business day, I received my money.
When you hear about apps paying you for doing normal activities, like walking, don’t get your hopes up too much.
My advice would be to give Evidation a try, and until it comes up with some better offers and rewards that are actually in stock, skip Sweatcoin.
Dave Kinzer is a music teacher and a financial coach in Springfield. Contact him at www.davekinzer.com. His column will appear here every other Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Don't get hopes up about apps that pay you for exercising
