Android: Make your Smartphone Smarter

Sorry, iOS users, nothing to see here.

So you've got an Android. Good! Time to put it to work. Android's customization and versatility sets the stage for some nice, "passive earning" opportunities. Meaning you can just set and forget a lot of this and make a little money in the background without even thinking about it.

The Skinny:

Mobile Performance Meter

There are a few variations of this app on the Play Store by the same developer, generally one will work for your device. MPM gives 10 points (10 cents) per day, so it's a guaranteed $1 every ten days, and redeems almost instantly for Amazon. There isn't a PayPal option, but there are a bunch of other gift cards available if you prefer. Occasionally you'll get a survey about your cell provider that gets you a quick 50 points/cents. If you refer friends, you get 200 extra points, but the referral code contains your phone number. So only invite people you know!

Lock Screens

What these apps do is allow you to earn money by viewing an advertisement whenever you unlock your phone. You get a portion of the advertising revenue, and even if it's just pennies a day those pennies add up! If you need to get into your phone quickly then I would start with just the top earner, but if you don't mind it taking a moment or two you can stack them on top of one another and multiply your earnings. If you have an old smartphone lying around that doesn't have a SIM card in it, you can install ALL the lock screens and use it as a secondary earner!


S'more:

This has been the highest paying lock screen in my experience. S'more will get you 10 cents per day, as long as you unlock your phone at least once and see an advertisement. There are also surveys and offers (Peanut Labs offer wall) inside the app itself, so it can earn you more beyond the base $0.10 if you have some extra time. If you have to pick one lock screen app, this would be it. Cash out to Amazon or some other gift cards, Amazon's minimum is $1.



Adme: (referral code WiTzgZPV8N will donate a dollar to me and it might give you a boost on your starting balance; I can't remember since this is one of my first apps.)

What I like about Adme is that you can adjust the annoyance/earning ratio to suit your preference. I would recommend setting this one as annoying as you can stand it. There's the base lock screen, which has fun trending items on Reddit as well as the standard ad, which I like. The next level displays a full-screen ad when you unlock, and pays more for this. To further increase your earnings, you can install a web browser app and a social network connector, both of which show you ads for money. You can be as conservative or as crazy as you like, but if you dial it back too much it can be quite a slow grind to the $10 minimum to redeem for PayPal.


Fronto: (enter code SURGE and you'll start with 1,250 points, which is just over 40 cents if my math is good)

While Fronto has the potential to earn more than Adme, it really depends on how much you use your phone. They have "every hour" points where you can earn 30 points (1 cent) for unlocking your phone just after the hour. If you unlock your phone 8 times a day, that's 8 cents, but if you time it well and unlock each of the 18 hours you're awake, that will earn you over $5/month for just the one app. There are also currently points you can win inside the app by watching an ad, so you can milk a little more out of it in your spare time if you want.

Speaking of milk...


Survey Cow: (enter code JXNQO3 in the app for a free 250 points, or $0.25)

This one is kind of goofy, but it pays. You'll have an extra screen to tap through when you unlock, and it will have a one-question survey that asks you some random thing about your personality or background. You can also get notified about bonus surveys, which are full-length and pay about 150 points, which is just 15 cents...so I'd recommend turning it off. You have to get to 10,000 points to withdraw, which is $10. I made about $1 in a week with this one.

Videos

When you set your phone down, or have it charging, it's nice to just let it earn a little bit here and there by playing ads. I go into more detail in my post And Now, a Buck From Our Sponsors, but you'll basically want to get on board with Swagbucks and get a few of their video apps so your phone can work a little harder when you're not using it.

Surveys

There are generally three categories of surveys: Short, 1-5 question surveys that pay $0.10-$0.25 on average. These can be about almost anything, like opinion researchers who want to know what you think about President Trump, or market researchers who want to know if you've bought laundry detergent in the last 30 days. Then there are medium-length consumer surveys that are around 15-40 questions and take 5-30 minutes to complete. These SHOULD pay out around 5 cents per estimated minute of completion time, too much below that threshold and you might take your efforts elsewhere. Then, there are academic surveys put out by research studies, focus groups, and university psychology departments, which can take an hour to complete but pay out $10, $20, $50, and sometimes $100. The challenge with those is qualifying.

The first category is the most appropriate for a smartphone, while the other two categories will be discussed in more detail in a future post.


Pay Your Selfie:

This one is just fun, and a narcissist's fantasy. Follow the instructions in the app, snap a selfie, and in a few days you get paid $0.20 - $1.00 per pic. There are sometimes accompanying questions after you take the picture, which is why this falls under the category of a survey app, but it has a very fun feel to it. At $20 accumulated, you can dump it into your PayPal.

QualNow:

While not an app per se (yet), this site is mobile-friendly and works great on my smartphone. This service emails you when you qualify for a survey, and you record a video response and upload it for $1 per question! They pay you when you reach a balance of $10, which doesn't take long to get to at all. I've really enjoyed this one.

Qmee:

I love services that let you cash out at any time. No minimums, no nonsense, you can earn $0.15 and then ask for them to drop it in your PayPal. As a courtesy to them--plus it feels like I'm making more--I usually let my balance get to a couple bucks before withdrawing. You can take Qmee's surveys in a browser or on the mobile app, and they have some that are as short as a minute long up to around 30 minutes. I typically just stick to the shorter ones since I don't feel like I have a goal to get to.

AttaPoll:

This one is simple and straightforward, they give you push notifications when you have surveys and they aren't very long. Their point system is rather confusing (something like 1.3 cents per point?), but by the time you get to the 500 points needed to cash out you should have around $6.50. They even give you a few consolation cents if you disqualify, which is quite kind of them.
 
citizenme:

Are you ready to be paid in British Pounds?! I received a notification about a paid survey (less than 5 questions) and they paid immediately to PayPal. The exchange rate was in my favor, 10 pence gave me 12 cents.

1Q:

Leave apps like this and citizenme installed and forget about them. Just wait for the push notification. 1Q also is instant payout, for one-question surveys. It's nice to be paid right away, even if it is just a little here and a little there.

Google Opinion Rewards:

It's Google, they already know who you are and what you like anyway, why not earn a little telling them what they already know? They'll ask if you've heard of brands, if you shopped somewhere recently, and even get you to rate places sometimes. I usually make $0.10 - $0.15 per survey, but here's the catch: It's in Google Play credits. You can't convert this to cash. But, if you're the type who buys apps, music, or movies through the Play Store anyway, then $0.99 saved is $0.99 earned.

 
A Word of Caution

While all of this WILL earn you some extra money, keep an eye on your data if you don't have an unlimited plan. Overages are expensive, so if you find certain apps are sucking up too many megabytes it may not be worth it to run all of these unless you're on Wi-Fi most of the time. In your Android's Data Usage settings, you can restrict background data on an app-by-app basis, so if some are making the top of your usage list you can dial them back when you're out and about. You'll earn a little less, but one month of going over your data could wipe out more than what you would make, so be careful.

Your smartphone just got smarter! Enjoy your new income streams from your little digital friend.