Can you really earn extra cash using an app?

We all have that one friend who’s hooked on Candy Crush or Angry Birds, but apps can certainly do a lot more than keep you entertained on public transport – they can make you extra money, too.

As technology advances, the capability of apps continues to astound me. Fancy carrying millions of music tracks wherever you go, or projecting what you’ll look like when you’re older? There’s an app for that!

But what about apps that claim to make you extra money for free: do they actually work?

Moneymaking apps

There’s a diverse range of free apps out there that will pay you for using them. I’ve tested eight such apps over the past month, attempting to earn rewards by scanning receipts, performing vox pops and filling out surveys, among other tasks.

I paid nothing to download them to my smartphone and earned points – which can be exchanged for prizes – with each of them.

In order to accurately test which apps can make you meaningful money without eating up too much time, I tested each of them for no more than 10 minutes a day.

After a month, I’d earned £37.75 worth of points with Job Spotter and £12.50 with Roamler, but not enough points to cash out with several others.

Some of these lesser-paying apps were an absolute slog to use, too. Not all moneymaking apps are created equal, it seems.

Smartphone sideline

Of course, you could make a much better side income from most of the ones I tested if you’re willing to put the time in.

In fact, there are plenty of others apps, such as Uber, TaskRabbit and even Instagram, that thousands of people are making a career out of using.

As with most things in life, the more effort you put in, the more you get out.

Have you had any success with apps that claim to make you extra money for free? Or do you know anyone who regularly earns cash with one?