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As someone who works from home and likes having several types of income streams in my back pocket, I’m not opposed to trying new mobile apps that might help me earn a little extra money in my spare time. One of the most recent apps I’ve come across that’s for this purpose is called PhonePaycheck.
PhonePaycheck is an app for Android users that’s supposed to run in the background on your phone and pay you while it does it. It’s one of those that sounds too good to be true, so I wanted to take a closer look.
After testing it out myself and digging around the web for more information, I found out a lot about this so-called money-maker and am writing this review so that you can decide whether you want to invest your time into it. Here’s a link to the app’s website to check out for yourself before I get into the details:
Table of Contents
What is PhonePaycheck?
PhonePaycheck is a mobile app that’s been around since 2016 and literally claims it will make you money while you leave your phone sitting around. The app uses your phone’s central processing unit (CPU) and pays you for the time you let it.
The very first question I had when I came across the app is, “Why would it need to use my CPU?”. The video on the website says that, by using your CPU, PhonePaycheck can help companies complete large tasks, like testing their sites and doing other things that could require input from a range of devices. That somewhat made sense to me, but it wasn’t enough of an explanation for me.
The app’s description on Google Play mentions that it uses your CPU for “legitimate business purposes” only. It still doesn’t go into more detail about what all those business purposes might be, other than, again, the example of testing websites.
Although I haven’t found a lot of detailed information about the process, it sounds similar to renting your computer CPU on places like Gomez Peer Zone. You might hear it referred to as cloud computing. My guess is that renting smartphone CPU might be a cheaper route for some businesses with lighter tasks and PhonePaycheck is helping them achieve those tasks.
Who is Neocortix?
When you visit the PhonePaycheck site, you’ll see that it’s an app made by Neocortix. Since I couldn’t find out much about the app, I wanted to find out more about its governing company.
Neocortix is a distributed cloud services company that focuses on utilizing smartphone clouds to help businesses meet their goals. Rather than have large cloud distribution centers in just a few locations, the company uses people’s smartphones all over the world so that businesses have a broader range of access to the cloud.
Neocortix offers more information than the PhonePaycheck site to help the process make sense. Some of the services it provides customers include website testing, like testing loading times and response times and network telemetry tests, which gives businesses a better idea of their network performance in relation to its activity.
I know it sounds super technical and confusing. That’s probably why the PhonePaycheck site doesn’t go into much detail.
Neocortix has a website, but it’s lacking in information about the company, so I can’t say with certainty that it’s a trustworthy business. I’m not even sure what year it started or where it’s based. Check it out for yourself here.
Who Can Join PhonePaycheck?
You must be at least 18 years old to join and use PhonePaycheck. The app is also only for Android users at this time, and I don’t see any mention of it becoming available to iPhone users in the near future.
Part of the business model of this app and Neocortix is to provide businesses with easy access to the cloud from all over the world. The app, therefore, accepts people from all over the world, but only on an as-needed basis. There’s a waiting list that you’ll have to get through before you can start making money, depending on where you live.
It seems like people in the United States are having trouble getting through, probably because so many have signed up. People in less populated countries should have an easier time passing the waiting list.
What Ways Can I Earn with PhonePaycheck?
PhonePaycheck is straightforward in the way it pays: Just let your phone run and you’ll see your balance go higher the longer you let it run.
Unfortunately, there are no other ways to make money. PhonePaycheck doesn’t offer surveys, offers, app downloads, or even a referral system that might get you cash faster.
How Does PhonePaycheck Work?
To use PhonePaycheck, you’ll need an Android device. The site says that your phone should be a recent model, like the Samsung Galaxy S6 or something newer.
Once you have the app downloaded and installed, you’ll need to plug it into its charger and make sure you’re on Wi-Fi before pressing the button to start making money. Once you touch it, you’ll see your earnings go up on the bottom of the screen.
During this time is when PhonePaycheck is releasing your phone’s CPU to the businesses who need to use it. The longer you keep your phone charging, connected to Wi-Fi, and not being used, the more money you make.
A lot of users install this app on phones they no longer use so their primary phone is still available to them.
The amount you make depends on your device. Newer phone models are valuable to businesses because they have high-performing CPUs, so the more recent your phone is, the more you’ll probably make.
Once you press the stop button, your earnings will stop moving up and will then transfer to your account balance, showing you your full balance for that and previous sessions.
Pros and Cons of Phone Paycheck
PhonePaycheck is an interesting concept and unlike most other apps in Google Play. Here are some of the benefits and drawbacks that I’ve found:
Pros of PhonePaycheck
- No annoying ads
- You can activate up to 5 phones to use on one account
- You can run other money-making apps in the background if you keep your phone plugged in and connected to Wi-Fi
- No need to do anything other than letting your phone run
- People with multiple connected devices can earn $300 or more per year
Cons of PhonePaycheck
- Only one way to get paid
- Phone must be charging and hooked to Wi-Fi to make money
- You will get paid a lower amount when you connect but PhonePaycheck isn’t actively using your phone
- Most people are put on a waiting list
How Do I Get Paid from PhonePaycheck?
The best thing about PhonePaycheck’s website is its outline of how you get paid. The payment page picks up the slack in the rest of the site, which doesn’t have a lot of information to explain how things work.
PhonePaycheck only offers PayPal payments. You need a minimum balance of $10 in your account to transfer your earnings to PayPal, or you can choose to donate your money to a charity. If you pick the charity option, your cash will be given on a quarterly basis, but it won’t be tax-deductible.
What’s the Difference Between Active Rate and Standby Rate?
PhonePaycheck has three different rates of pay: Inactive, Standby, and Active.
Inactive status means that you won’t make any money, likely because you either haven’t successfully connected your phone, or you don’t currently have your phone charging and connected to Wi-Fi. When you’re actively using your phone, you’ll be placed on Inactive status and will not make any money.
Standby does help you earn money, but less than you would on Active status. PhonePaycheck places you here when you’re connected to Wi-Fi, charging your phone, and have switched the app to “On” to start earning. You’ll be on Standby until PhonePaycheck finds someone who needs to use your CPU actively.
Once a business is connected to your device, you’ll switch to Active status. This gives you the most earnings. Unfortunately, you never know whether you’ll be on Active or Standby, so there’s no way to make sure you’ll always get on Active status.
How Much Money Can I Actually Make with PhonePaycheck?
On Standby, you earn $0.000684 per hour, while on Active, you’ll receive $0.027379 per hour with phones like the Samsung Galaxy S7 (newer models may earn more).
Your final earnings depend on how long you keep your device connected and how long you’re able to stay on active status. Let’s look at a few examples:
- You use only your primary phone to connect to the app overnight, every night for 8 hours. About ½ the time, you’re on Standby, and the other half, you’re on Active. You’d get about $0.11 that night, or about $3.38 per month.
- Let’s say you added another phone that you never use and keep it charged and connected to Wi-Fi 24/7. That phone is on Active status 100% of the time, so it would make $19.71 per month. Combine that with your other earnings for a total of $23.09 per month.
- You buy an older phone from a friend and connect it to your account to run all the time too. This phone has an average of 18 hours per day on Active and 6 hours a day on Standby. You’d make about $14.90 per month from this device, bringing your total to $37.99 each month.
Using the first example, you’d make just over $40 a year, but you’d get $277 for two devices or $455 for three. You can see how adding in some phones that you never use and can keep charged all the time can significantly affect how much you earn with this app.
What Do People Say About the App?
Like most money-making apps, PhonePaycheck has some mixed reviews. Here are a few of the good and bad things real users have noted:
Long Waiting List
The PhonePaycheck website states that it’s currently only recruiting its first 1,000 members. The company needs people from specific locations to meet the needs of its clients, so it needs to limit how many people from certain countries can sign up.
It’s also important to limit the number of participants altogether because PhonePaycheck doesn’t want more people on Standby status than it can afford to pay. Unlimited sign-ups would cause more people to join than the company needs.
Some people have attempted to sign up but have instead been put on a waiting list. PhonePaycheck doesn’t give you an estimated wait time, and several people have said they’ve been waiting for months with no sign of making it through to become a member.
Sketchy PayPal Access
I’ve seen a few comments from Reddit users who have tried PhonePaycheck stating that the app’s access to their PayPal accounts is worrisome. These users have gotten notifications alerting them that someone’s tried to access their PayPal accounts without their authorization. This only happened after downloading and signing up for the PhonePaycheck app.
PhonePaycheck does require you to login to PayPal via the app to send your payment, so it’s possible that the app was trying to pay members and caused those notifications. It’s still something I think is important to mention because the comment has come up a few times in discussions about the app.
Problems Getting Payment
Some participants have also had problems getting their payments to arrive through PayPal. Some users haven’t received their payments at all after cashing out, while others said that they still hadn’t gotten paid after several days of waiting.
Most people who said they waited for payment didn’t update the discussion about their payments, so I’m not sure whether they just had to wait longer or never got paid at all.
Easy and Quick Payments
Although there are some people concerned about their payment times, plenty of others have shown proofs of their payments and commented on how fast they’ve gotten paid through PayPal. You can read through the Google Play comments to see that several reviewers have had no issues getting paid quickly once they cash out.
This isn’t to say that the comments about payment issues are unwarranted, but there does seem to be more people who’ve had success with payments than not.
Common Questions About PhonePaycheck
I had a lot of questions about PhonePaycheck when I first learned about it, so I want to answer some of those questions here to help you decide if it’s right for you:
Will the App Drain My Battery?
No. PhonePaycheck requires your phone always to be plugged in before it will connect and start making you money. You’ll never need to worry about the app using your CPU while you have it off its charger and draining your battery when you need it.
Most people connect to the app overnight with their main phones while they aren’t using it and are charging it for the night.
Can I Still Use My Phone While It Runs?
You can still use other apps with PhonePaycheck if you keep your phone plugged in and connected to Wi-Fi. However, you might notice other apps run more slowly than usual, especially if PhonePaycheck is running on Active status.
Some people use PhonePaycheck with other similar apps at the same time to maximize their earnings from their phone.
How Do I Connect More Than One Phone to Earn More Money?
PhonePaycheck allows up to five phones to be connected to your account. You’re only allowed one count with PhonePaycheck, so signing up for another one to connect more phones could get you banned. You can connect new phones by going into your account on the app and plugging in the information for your phone.
Those who connect more than one phone are the ones who make the most money. It’s beneficial to have at least one inactive phone on the charger and connected to Wi-Fi all the time so that PhonePaycheck can use it on Active status as much as possible to boost your earnings.
Does PhonePaycheck Have Access to My Phone’s Files or Personal Information?
One of the most significant concerns I had about PhonePaycheck is its ability to connect to your phone. Will it be able to access your files, photos, or personal information you store?
I dug into the Privacy Policy to see how the app uses data, if at all. It states that the app may collect location, transaction (related to PhonePaycheck only), device, and log information, but doesn’t mention any ability to obtain personal information from your phone. You can always go into the app’s settings on your device to make sure its permissions are set how you want them for an extra layer of security if you’re concerned.
Is PhonePaycheck Legit or a Scam?
PhonePaycheck may not be the best choice for everyone, but I don’t think it’s a scam. The only thing that concerns me is the lack of information about the app and Neocortix on their websites, which can be a sign that a company isn’t very trustworthy.
There is enough positive information about the app, though, that makes it likely a legitimate way to earn money. Although some people have issues getting paid, I’m not sure if those are issues on PhonePaycheck’s part or issues with payments in specific countries or other problems on the user’s end. More people have said they’ve gotten payments with no hang-ups.
I’d caution you to stay up-to-date with the app’s Privacy Policy and its permissions on your device, just to make sure Neocortix doesn’t add anything that you don’t agree with regarding your personal data.
Signing Up for PhonePaycheck
Ready to try PhonePaycheck for yourself?
Click this link or search for PhonePaycheck in Google Play. Download and install the app and follow the on-screen instructions for connecting your bank account and setting up your devices.
Final Thoughts
PhonePaycheck seems to be working for many users, but there’s a waiting list without a concrete waiting time.
Some people might be concerned about continually letting another app have access to their phones, but there doesn’t seem to be an issue with data privacy regarding PhonePaycheck, aside from a few users having problems with access to their PayPal accounts, which could just be the app trying to check login information or make a payment.
You could always use only inactive devices that don’t have any personal information stored if data collection is a concern for you.
Here are a few other recommendations for money-making mobile apps that I’d recommend for people who want to earn cash with their phones:
What are your favorite ways to make money with your phone? Leave us a comment and let us know!
