Get Paid to Unlock Your Phone: 11 Money Lockscreen Apps that Pay You!

Money Lockscreen Apps that Pay You to Unlock Your Phone

Here’s a list of apps that offer the opportunity to get paid to unlock your phone:

1. S’more

One of the most well-known lock screen apps, S’more (review), lets you earn points toward rewards by opting to display ads and other content on your lock screen. S’more also offers more opportunities to earn points toward gift cards by completing surveys and trying out other apps.

Sometimes they even reward you for watching videos!

Some of the gift cards you can get are:

• GameStop
• Amazon
• Target
• CVS
• Starbucks

At the time of writing this post, S’more is only available for Android devices.

Apps that No Longer Work!

While researching for this post, I noticed that many lock screen apps mentioned are no longer available.

Many of them have gone out of business, likely due to the low profit margin for the owners (great for users, but not so much for the app owners!). So, I thought I’d add these apps here in case you were wondering what happened to the X app.

2. ScreenLift

Update: No longer in business!

ScreenLift is a lightweight alternative to other lock screen apps. The best thing about this app, for me personally, is that once you install it, you don’t even notice it anymore. All you have to do is install the app and use it to personalize your home screen. Every time you open your phone, you earn “Lifts.” 1,500 Lifts equal about $1.

ScreenLift offers cash and gift cards. For cash payments, you are paid via PayPal within one to three business days. If you prefer to be paid in gift cards, you can choose from a few different options, including free gift cards to Google Play, Amazon, or Walmart.

3. Mint Screen (Previously Fronto)

Update: MintScreen is no longer available on the Google Play Store.

In addition to giving you points for unlocking your phone, Mint Screen offers a scrolling feed of news and trends on your lock screen, as well as new wallpapers you can use. The app uses artificial intelligence to analyze your interests and then tailors the ads you receive to those preferences.

4. Slidejoy

Update: Slidejoy is no longer available.

Registering with Slidejoy is an easy way to earn money without any hassle. Use their proprietary lock screen, and every time you unlock your phone, you’ll be greeted with an ad. You can swipe right to get back to whatever you were doing beforehand.

Some features of the app are:

• Ability to check notifications on your screen, even while using this app
• Receive points from their system to redeem for either real money or gift cards
• See not only ads but also news on your lock screen
• News, deals, and ads are tailored to your preferences
• Daily points are awarded

5. MYTOZ

Update: MYTOZ is no longer available on the Google Play Store.

“Save. Doing nothing,” is their slogan, and that’s certainly an attractive offer, isn’t it? With the ability to list your interests so you get ads for things you’d actually like, MYTOZ is a neat way to passively earn points toward fun prizes. You basically get paid to watch ads. Even if you don’t click on the ad or look at it for long, you’ll still earn points passively.

6. ScreenKarma

Update: ScreenKarma is no longer available on the Google Play Store.

Already have AppKarma, the popular rewards app? Now you can earn bonus points with its sister app, ScreenKarma, which adds points to your account for showing ads on your lock screen. The payout isn’t as high as on other sites, but it can nicely cushion your AppKarma account with more points if you are already an active member there.

7. Snore

Update: Snore is no longer available on the Google Play Store.

With Snore, you could download their app to earn points toward an Amazon gift card or donate to charities like the Red Cross, UNICEF, or World Vision! You could also earn bonus points by referring friends or by choosing websites to follow, which would then show up on your lock screen’s feed.

Once you earn 20,000 coins, you can start redeeming them for gift cards. 10,000 coins are equivalent to $1 in their system.

Few More

Here are even  ore lock screen apps that were working when we first wrote this post but are no longer around.

8. Perk Screen
9. Adme
10. Whaff Locker
11. MooCash

I’ll update this post if any of them make a comeback or if new players enter the market.

Closing Thoughts

I think one of the major downsides to these types of apps is that you can’t use more than one at a time. One of my favorite things to do, especially with receipt scanning apps (like these), is to stack rewards from multiple apps to maximize my profit. Unfortunately, with these lock screen apps, you can only use one at a time. This might be something to keep in mind as you figure out which app works best for you.

Currently, there are no lock screen apps available for iOS, as it’s not built for that kind of functionality (but there are a lot of other iPhone apps that make you money). Perhaps in the future, Apple will allow this type of app. For now, if you’re an Android user, you get to enjoy the ability to get paid by unlocking your phone.

The pay will never be enough to make a living, obviously, but I’m a strong believer that every little bit of extra money can really help out in the long run. You just need to have patience and keep using one of these apps for a few months before you see any real rewards.

If you know of any other apps or ways to get paid for unlocking your phone, please let us know in the comments below.