Sweatcoin App Can Really Help You Get Fit

Created by SweatCo, a London-based startup, Sweatcoin is a digital app available for iOS as well as Android devices. This app is topping health and fitness charts in the US and its demand is only increasing. Why? Because this app pays you to get fit. The New York Times reported that this app has already raised $1.6 million in its first round of funding. The company is expected to close another round of funding soon. According to data from the analytics firm App Annie, since September 2017, Sweatcoin has become the most downloaded health and fitness app in America. In fact, it is so popular that it has retained its top ranking every single week since then.

How Does Sweatcoin Work?  

According to the co-founded of this startup, Anton Derlyatka, Sweatcoin’s first assumption is that physical movement has monetary value. This app will track your daily steps and then coverts the number of steps you have taken into digital currency. This digital currency is called Sweatcoin. After you’ve collected enough Sweatcoins, you can use them to buy stuff such as PayPal Gift cards or even an iPhone X.  However, there’s a small catch. It will only register outdoor steps. This app rewards the user with 1 Sweatcoin for every 1,000 outdoor steps taken. So if you spend all that time on your treadmill, you are going to get nothing.

User Complaints about the Number of Steps

One complaint that users have is that the app registers less than the actual steps that they have walked. And this is true. The help section of the app clearly states that Sweatcoin’s algorithm will verify about 65% of your total steps. Sweatcoin says this was done so that cheating techniques such as strapping your phone to your dog’s leg. Yes. People have actually done that to get extra steps!

The app distinguishes outdoor steps by collecting and analyzing GPS signals as well as motion data from your phone. And to ensure maximum accuracy, users are asked not to turn on their battery saver mode and let the app run in the background.And despite the fact that they are complaining that they get credit for only 65% of the steps they walk, people are still sticking with the program.

Rewards you can get with your Sweatcoins

Like we said earlier, you can get a range of things with the Sweatcoins you earn, right from PayPal Gift certificates to an iPhone X. However, according to the New York Times (they did the math), it would take you approximately 5 years to get that phone. But don’t lose heart. There are other things you can buy with your Sweatcoin. You can buy running shoes (get more Sweatcoins with your new shoes!), tea and even subscriptions to other apps that can promote good health, apps like Calm. 

Despite all the teething problems this app is going through, it’s got itself a fan base that is just growing.