When my friends and I get together, talk always inevitably turns to basketball. The other day, one of my buddies was telling me a story about how he saw the most amazing college basketball game of his life during his senior year of high school back in 2006. He said he’d never been to a more alive game, and that he still wishes he’d had a camera on him so he could have taken a picture. I asked him why he didn’t just use his phone and my friend replied that, back then, he was still on a flip phone—one that didn’t even have a camera.

For a minute, I was shocked; 2006 really doesn’t seem like all that long ago. But it’s true. In terms of smartphone and app development, it was basically an eternity ago. In fact, nobody even knew what an app was 12 years ago. Nowadays, it’s rare to find someone who doesn’t have a smartphone, though. And, as these phones have become so prevalent, so too have the apps we use on them. I like to think of myself as a pretty tech-forward kinda guy, but even I get surprised sometimes. Like, for example, did you know that there are iPhone apps that pay you cash?

That’s actually what I’d like to talk about today: iPhone apps that pay you cash and how, among all the many incredible things you can use your smartphone for, one of my personal favorites is to earn cash money. Who would have guessed way back in 2006—when my poor friend was at the basketball game of his life without any way to capture the memories—that our phones would have such broad capabilities a short decade later?

How Do iPhone Apps That Pay You Cash Work?

The thing about iPhone apps that pay you cash is that they’ve sprung up quickly and evolved fast—so fast, in fact, that there’s more than just one type. So, let’s start by discussing the different types of tech-forward money making apps for your iPhone!

Here are some of my personal favorites:

• Survey apps: There are a lot of cash-paying survey apps to choose from, but they all tend to generally work the same way: You download the app, enter some information about yourself, and the app begins sending you surveys to take. You then get paid for taking them! In my experience, the longest of these surveys can take about 15 to 20 minutes, but the longer the survey, the more they pay. In general, you can also expect most survey apps for iPhones to pay roughly $1 each, with the longer ones paying a bit more. Like all the apps on our list today, these are becoming more tech-forward by including videos and other interactive features.
• Advertisement apps: These advertisement apps pay you to watch trailers and short ads. You generally earn about $.50 each time you watch a quick 30-second clip. In my experience, this adds up quickly—and sometimes the trailers and ads are pretty interesting. It’s always a little bonus when you get paid to watch one that you would have chosen to watch for free. In terms of being tech-forward, the ads from these apps are also becoming more complex, often involving videos or little games.
• Shopping apps: Like I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m the type of shopper who gets in and out of a store as fast as possible. It’s not that I hate shopping, it’s just that I have a million other things on my mind, like work or stuff to do around the house—and fantasy football, of course. Shopping can feel like an obstacle between me and my priorities. I can tell you, though, I like shopping a whole lot more now that I’ve discovered I can make money shopping using free iPhone apps. These apps give you points for the shopping you would be doing anyway. You can then cash in those points for gift cards or even sometimes checks or cash. What makes these apps so tech-forward is that some of the best of them find new ways all the time to help you earn more points. For example, there’s one that knows when you walk into a partner store and automatically gives you points, even if all you end up doing is browsing!

The Best Tech-Forward iPhone App that Pays You Cash

There are plenty of options to choose from when it comes to iPhone apps that pay you in cash but, believe it or not, my favorite of them all actually happens to be one of the shopping apps. I know, shocker, right? But it’s true.

Now, I actually look forward to running into the store throughout the week.

It’s an app called Shopkick and how it works is super simple. Just like I described above, this app gives you points for the stuff you already do when you go out shopping, like walking into stores, scanning barcodes on featured products for more info, and, of course, making purchases. What I really like about Shopkick is that in addition to being really user-friendly with its tech-forward design, this app has also done something that I used to think was impossible: Shopkick has made shopping fun, turning it into a scavenger hunt for points. Now, I actually look forward to running into the store throughout the week.

So, there you have it, an overview of the tech-forward iPhone apps that pay you cash, plus a quick intro to my all-time favorite one. I use Shopkick so often that I can hardly even remember a time it wasn’t downloaded to my phone. It sort of makes me wonder what, in 12 years from now, the new technological advances will be that we’ll be shaking our heads at and wondering how we ever did without.

Ready to get in on one of the most cutting-edge and tech-forward iPhone apps that pays you cash? Download Shopkick for free and join a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered the rewards of shopping with us!

And, if you love using your smartphone to stay up on social media, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily shopping inspiration.

Image courtesy Daniel Ernst