Last week I heard about an interesting app that pays you for simply looking at ads on your smartphone home screen.  The app is called Slidejoy and is currently available for Android (iPhone expected in the fall).  The app simply replaces your screen lock image with ads. When unlocking your home screen you have the option to swipe to the right to access your phone, or to the left to be taken to more information about the product advertised.  This is very much like the ads that appear on the lower priced version of the Amazon Kindle (Kindle With Special Offers).

The developers say that they are targeting the monthly earnings of users to be somewhere between $5 and $15.  Not bad for simply agreeing to an ad image in place of a standard screen lock.  I installed the app on my Android phone and it seems to be working just as advertised.  I have not noticed any negative effects on my phone (running down the battery, or consuming significant data, etc...) - so far so good.

How Do You Get Paid? 

Slidejoy provides a few different payment options, but the most convenient seems to be good old PayPal.  I also love the fact that each evening you can click on the app and see your earnings for the previous day. There is also an option to donate your earnings to charity if you so choose.  Just like with similar Internet ad programs, the developers have built-in safeguards against users trying to game the system by locking and unlocking their screen repeatedly to increase the view count.  In fact, they have left the earnings equation a secret and simply encourage users to use their phone as usual.  The amount you earn may not be tied to solely the number of views on your phone, but I think that would certainly be one variable.

The Future For Slidejoy

In addition to the app coming for iPhone, Slidejoy says they are going to expand the service to tablets as well.  There may also be a referral program giving users the chance to earn more by inviting friends to use the app.  At the time of this writing, this is the only screen lock app paying out.  A popular predecessor to Slidejoy was an app called Locket (just a few weeks ago Locket announced that it was no longer paying users of the app).  At this point, I see no downside to giving a few weeks to Slidejoy as a test run.

Other Ways To Earn Money With Your SmartPhone

I published an article in January of 2013, 12 Ways To Make Money With Your SmartPhone, which has received an incredible amount of traffic.  If you have not taken a look at this blog post, check out it for more ideas.

If you are using Slidejoy or have used Locket and would like to share your experience, please use the comments section below and we can start a conversation.

Helping you make the most of God's Money!

James L. Paris 
Editor-In-Chief ChristianMoney.com 
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