Click here to read the commonly asked Questions about Sweatcoin.
Are you new to Sweatcoin? What are you waiting for!? Download the Sweatcoin app! Or feel free to read my extensive Sweatcoin review below.
Update: 2018 Sweatcoin just announced a blockchain in the works. If/when you can list your steps on currency exchanges, the utility of this app would skyrocket, causing the reviews to be more positive. Right now you’re only limited to offers on the marketplace. Stay tuned for more announcements. That’s right, you’ll be able to earn cash money for your steps!
Overall Review
Overall Rating: 9/10
For an app that is so new to the market, I’m very impressed how seamless it is. The only concerns or issues I have with it are nit-picky and don’t limit its functionality. Overall, I’m very pleased with how the app handles, and I’m even more excited about the potential it has for rewarding your steps in the months and years to come. If you’re looking for a fun ‘investment’ that costs you absolutely nothing except for some sweat and exercise, Sweatcoin is the go-to experience!
Accuracy
Rating: 9/10
To be honest, I did not expect much in terms of step accuracy. The question that’s still lingering is, how does this app track steps, whether it’s walking or running? I don’t know how, but it does it really well.
To test this, I did some math based on my running cadence (steps per minute). When I run, I keep my cadence at 180 steps per minute. I have spent over a year training my body to fall into this rhythm when I run because it’s good for form and speed. So I know, when I run a 7 minute mile, I’m pushing out about 1,200 steps during that timeframe. The app will reward me about one coin every mile, some times even more.
For the record, I don’t run in battery saving mode, and I have allowed the app to access all of the health kit data on my iPhone (recommended settings) for full accuracy. Someone who does not have these settings may experience less steps tracked.
(2018 Update) I subtracted a star from this review because many website visitors are complaining that their outdoor steps aren’t tracking. Mine works perfectly fine, but I have to also speak for the community.
Offers Variety
Rating: 6/10
What they did right: The app itself is very simple, easy to navigate. The simplicity of the interface could easily worthy of 8/10. It’s easy to see how many coins you earned in the day, how many coins you have saved, who is on your friends list, and what offers are available.
What could be better: More offer variety. Right now (12/2017) there are only a few select offers. I feel this app needs a more diverse offers section. I personally find the in-app offers marketplace limiting. It would be much better if the offers marketplace was a stand-alone website that you could browse on your mobile phone or desktop computer. It should house significantly more offers, and it should be more lenient as to who offers gifts or services in exchange for Sweatcoins.
I understand that this app is still in its infancy, and there are many tweaks they’re still making, so this rating will inevitably increase over time.
Offers Value
Rating: 7/10
There are some pretty impressive offers! In my two weeks using it, they’ve featured an Apple Watch 2, GoPro camera, running shoes, and a digital watch. The small offers are interesting as well, however they seem too costly to use coins on when there are those big-ticket items staring you in the face.
In the future, I’d like to see more variety in offers. It’s understandable because the app is new and they’re still partnering with providers, so in that aspect the offers they have are more than enough to motivate me to hit the roads running.
(2018 update) This review stays the same. When they release a new blockchain then we’ll see this score go up a lot higher. I think it’s safe to say that trading Sweatcoin for cash or cryptocurrency would be worth as much as any good offer!
Customer Service
Rating: 8/10
The Sweatcoin team goes above and beyond answering your questions and listening to your feedback. You can’t do it any better than they’re doing it. They’re 100% passionate and motivated about their app, and it shows!
(2018 update) Subtracted 2 stars not from Quality but from Speed of Response. Their support team is heavily under-staffed at the moment, and thousands of users aren’t getting a quick response. This will definitely need to be fixed in the future!
Battery Life
Rating: 8/10
As mentioned above, I don’t even run this app in battery saver mode, and yet I have no battery problems. It runs minimized in the background, and my battery does not seem to drain faster than before. This review rating is based on the fact that the app needs to be open at all. My only concern is that I will accidentally close the app and forget to re-open it before a run. That fortunately has not been the case!
(2018 update) Many users are reporting battery life problems. Much like Accuracy, I have no problems with battery life, but I also haven’t tested my phone without Sweatcoin running in the background.
Future Potential, Sustainability
Rating: 10/10
Future Potential: This refers to what we might find taking place on the Sweatcoin fitness app in the future. Inevitably hundreds of thousands of users will download this app in the months to come. That means companies and brands will have better incentive to feature their products as offers. This also means the value of Sweatcoin may go up as a result of healthy competition. I’m really excited to see what products I’ll be able to redeem in the app in the future!
Sustainability: Naturally, any app that requires interaction or activity may become a burden over time. I have been a runner for the past 2 years, so I did not have to make any lifestyle changes to accommodate earning Sweatcoin. For me personally, this app fits right into my running schedule. I use the Strava app to track my runs, and Sweatcoin runs in the background without hindering my training. I can see myself using this app for many, many years.
For others who need an excuse to run, this app’s appeal may die off if they’re not getting any benefit from the offers. That’s why I mentioned the necessity of offer variety above. I’m hoping that as the value of Sweatcoin increases, people find more and more reasons to walk or run, even if it’s only to earn coins.
(2018 Update) This remains 10/10 – After using this app for over a year, I’m continually impressed how much effort they are putting into it!
Cheat-Protection
Rating: 6/10
The app has been very consistent in tracking indoor vs outdoor steps. I have not tried to game or cheat the app at all, but I understand as it gets more popular, there will be people who want to game the system for free gifts. I really hope this is not the case.
There was a situation months ago where someone strapped their phone to a donkey and let it walk around to earn Sweatcoin. The steps were tracked as if a real person was doing the walking. I also have several other ideas how one could ‘automate’ the logging of steps, but I’m not going to mention them or even attempt them [unless it is of course to notify the support team about this ‘vulnerability’]. I’ll be interested to see what they do to combat these fraudulent steps. Cheating in this app is entirely against the spirit of what it promotes: health, well-being, and getting outdoors!
(2018 update) We have a lot of reports of cheaters in this app! Sweatcoin makes squishing cheats (and cheaters) a #1 priority, so I expect this score to go up over time.
Conclusion: Here’s My Review!
Sweatcoin is a tremendous, free, light-weight app that you can take anywhere with you and keep running in the background.
Most of Sweatcoin’s offers don’t cover shipping/handling (nor should they!) which seems to be a complaint from other users but not from me.