Good… but no rewards?
So far I am really liking this app. Its very rewarding to put my phone down at the beginning of a lecture and then get greeted with reward points at the end. I really like the goal part of it as well. Its nice to essentially set a timer and work for that amount of time, while also receiving a few points. My only complaint is that there are no rewards that I can get. I dont mean that theres no rewards that only cost a little bit and I dont have that much. I mean that the only reward I can get is free shipping on a brand. There are no other rewards like the app store displays. I am able to still find the internal gratification of getting the reward points enough to stay with the app, but I dont think ill want to stay much longer if there arent other exchange options given
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Mmm
I use to love this app but now I just feel like I’m getting cheated out of points and not earning what I deserve. The only way I earn points if through the goal setting and if I need to access my phone sooner for an emergency, I just wasted an hour of staying off it and no points rewarded. There’s not a lot of options for food places which I’m more interested in being a college student and all. The clothing brands on there being offered, way to expensive even after the discount. If you guys could offer more food places and deals for Walmart, target, hobby lobby, Ross, Kohl’s, tjmaxx, and other things like these. Imagine the great deal of more downloads you guys would get. I know I would definitely refer the app to more people and use it a lot more. I love the app because of the discounts on food, but it hasn’t been worth it lately. Thanks..
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Versions give varying points.
I used to love this app to no end. I use it multiple times per week, and I used to always have the pocket points I needed when I needed them. Lately with this latest update, or perhaps a glitch in my version, the free points prizes are few and far between, I no longer get them for claiming my 10 unclaimed points, also sometimes I’ll get home and check my points after driving and there’s none. I don’t know what’s going on, but this week I had to pay for Chips and. Drink at subway, with money instead of points and I just don’t know why. I talked with some friends of mine at a dinner last night, and they’re still getting tons of points. I’m not sure if their version is different. I’m a full time student and work part time at the school and should be getting lots of points, but it’s gotten to where they’re super rare. Please bring the points back!
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Not Enough Options
As a university student, I thought the whole concept of the app was amazing and I was really excited to try out the app. However, most of the stores and restaurants the app gives rewards for aren't in my area or just aren't places I often go to so basically I'm currently just saving points for no reason because I have nothing to spend them on. I wish the app had a lot more places to spend your points for like common restaurants at campuses, for example. Us university students live on food. We study with snacks right next to us, we try to eat in campus to not waste gas or lose our good parking spot, and we're always hungry. Stress makes us hungry. I have nothing to spend the points on because the restaurants at my campus aren't included in the app like Panda Express, McDonalds, Burger King, Sushi Maki, etc.
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Rewards make app not worth it for me
I love the overall concept of the app and was super thrilled about it first, but when I looked at the rewards section I no longer wanted it. The rewards are mostly just discounts for stores I have never even heard of and there’s no way to earn actual money back, so I feel like I’m not really getting rewarded for being off my phone. What I thought was going to be a perfect app for me turned into one that I’m now deleting because I see no reason for it. If the rewards got better and I could actually earn points to use towards gift cards or some way to get money back (like in other apps similar to this), I’d get it in a heartbeat. Even if the rewards were discounts for popular restaurants or stores that I could actually shop at I’d be happier.
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Decent
Overall, my experience with this app has been fairly good. It is a cool concept and actually works, allowing me to stay off my phone while competing with friends. However, two big complaints I have (hence only four stars) is the fact that the app logs my “distracted driving time” while I am just a passenger and reduces my total points. There also is little incentive as there are few rewards which are actually relevant to me (more food and trendier clothing shops would be nice) and it is difficult to find any rewards local to my area or while I’m out of town. Besides that, I think the app is based on a cool concept and executes it well.
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Ok, just not developed enough
This app is great! The concept is very helpful for students. I learned about this through a teacher who wanted us all to do it. I thought it was a great idea, because I have no problem with staying off my phone in class, and now I get rewarded for it. The problem is, once you earn a bunch of points, like I have, there is not enough places to spend it. I go to/use only one of all of these place (Moe’s), and I would definitely like to see that change. This game definitely targets stereotypical teenagers, because I haven’t even heard of half the stuff on there. In the end, they need to expand there quantity of stores by a bunch. If someone from development actually reads this, please try to add more free stuff and less discounts to things. Don’t add any more clothing stores. PLEASE!
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Not working
When I first downloaded, it worked like a charm. I’d get the little notification telling me I was earning points and I’d be good to go. Now whenever I’m on campus or just trying to set a timer, I’ll open pocket points to the correct screen and press start or whatever. The green bar at the top appears telling me to lock my phone. Yet when I do, I get a notification to go back to the app so I don’t lose my points. When I open the back back up, it’ll always say I was locked for ___ seconds and earned like .02 points. What is the point of staying off your phone if I have to leave it on and tap it every minute or so to make sure it doesn’t stop giving me points? Right now my primary earner is the distracted driving. But I’d really like to know how to fix this?
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Better a few years ago
I first downloaded pocket points when I was going to college and it was a great way to keep you engaged in class and stay off your phone. The rewards were pretty good and you could get discounts you couldn’t find else where. I stopped using it after I graduated but then I saw they’ve made it for everyone, not just students. While the concept behind everything is positive (reducing phone time), in my opinion, the rewards are wack! They’re not even unique to pocket points. You spend your points on discounts that you can find by easily googling for coupons. Or they’ll even make you spend points on deals that exist alone without using pocket points. For example, they had a Stila Cosmetics bogo for eye liner but when you go to the Stila website, they have the same deal and I don’t have to trade pocket points for it. Idk maybe the food discounts are better, but the retail store discounts aren’t that great.
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Not Getting Points
I was loving this app and would have given it a 4-5 star rating if you would have asked me about it a few days ago. However, all of the sudden the app is no longer rewarding me points for the longer periods of time that I am off my phone. For example, yesterday I was off my phone for about 5 hours in total: 1 early in the day during a class, 2 at work, and another 2 in the evening. During all of those times when I locked me phone I had the notification that I was earning points. When I unlocked my phone, it was to my surprise that I actually had earned no points, though I had been off of my phone. I even tried setting a goal later in the evening and I got the notification on my screen that I finished my goal, but when I unlocked my phone there were no points. Very frustrated at this app. Great in concept, and it was great for a while, but very lacking in delivery. I’m tempted to give it a 2 star rating, but because I had a good experience at first I’m giving it a 3 star rating.
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Response from developer
Thanks for the review and the feedback! We have just fixed this issue and the next release will include the fix. Please keep an eye out for an update!
Needs improvement
I’ve been a frequent user of pocket points for the past few years and made a lot of use out of it. However, the new points earning system makes it extremely difficult to earn points now. Not only it’s gathering less points than before, when you set up the goal time, the app often refreshes and exits by itself, and when it happens the app indicates it as me exiting the app and therefore I end up losing the time I spent away from the phone. And there are no indications that this happened, so it takes me a while to realize I’ve lost all that time and points 🙄. This happened so many times now that theres no point and I’ve almost given up. If there’s any ways to fix this problem, please do, because otherwise it’s a great app.
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Response from developer
Thanks for the review and the feedback! We have just fixed this issue and the next release will include the fix. Please keep an eye out for an update!
It used to work great
I don’t think I have earned points since any of the new updates (since the app started creating goals and adding ads at the beginning). I set a goal and when I pick up my phone after the allotted time it tells me I failed. Alternatively, when I’m on campus, open and lock the app, I have yet to see any points even after keeping it locked through an entire class period.
I keep the app only because I got a lot of points at the beginning so it’s worth my while to use the points but when they are gone they app serves no purpose.
It’s a great app for local businesses; I’ve returned to a number of restaurants I discovered only through pocket points. I tried the JcPenny deal and nothing in my cart was eligible for the discount and it doesn’t tell you what is eligible. The Target points were practically useless as well
I keep the app only because I got a lot of points at the beginning so it’s worth my while to use the points but when they are gone they app serves no purpose.
It’s a great app for local businesses; I’ve returned to a number of restaurants I discovered only through pocket points. I tried the JcPenny deal and nothing in my cart was eligible for the discount and it doesn’t tell you what is eligible. The Target points were practically useless as well
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Response from developer
We're sorry about that! Please email us at team@pocketpoints.com so we can take a look at your account. Thanks!
Classic PP was Better
The original way to gain Pocket Points was more unique than other apps on the market. You’d have to be on campus and in the app, and based on how long you were in the app you got more points. That was great because no other app on the market was approaching it in that way. If you were to get out of class early, you’d only get a few points, but you’d still get something. Now, you have to set a specific time for how long you want to be off your phone. What if you have a 3 hour long night class and you get out an hour early? You can either lose the points you’ve been earning for the past two hours completely, or wait another hour not using your phone at all. It’s just like every other “stay off your phone” productivity app nowadays, and is nothing special. Also, the app won’t recognize when it’s being used. An example, I left my phone in the app for hours in the campus library working on a paper, only to find out it awarded me no points despite giving me the “congrats on earning points” notification. RIP Pocket Points, you are not what you once were.
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Response from developer
We just brought back the old method of earning. Do you like it?
New Point System is Terrible
The new timer point system is the worst, it’s almost impossible to get any sort of reward now and isn’t even worth using anymore.
Edit: yeah.... it’s still the worst. They haven’t fixed anything.
Edit 2.0: re-download the app for the new semester hoping it would be better. They said they added a non timer version which they did, but it’s awful. If you’re by yourself trying to earn the max you can get per hour is 4.8 points which is absolutely useless. Most things on this app cost an absurd amount of points and would require me to be off my phone for a solid two weeks while on campus to get 2 dollars off an ice cream cone..... and when my phone is used for homework it kind of defeats the purpose of even trying. 1 Star is far to high of a rating for this app. Don’t waste your time using it.
Edit: yeah.... it’s still the worst. They haven’t fixed anything.
Edit 2.0: re-download the app for the new semester hoping it would be better. They said they added a non timer version which they did, but it’s awful. If you’re by yourself trying to earn the max you can get per hour is 4.8 points which is absolutely useless. Most things on this app cost an absurd amount of points and would require me to be off my phone for a solid two weeks while on campus to get 2 dollars off an ice cream cone..... and when my phone is used for homework it kind of defeats the purpose of even trying. 1 Star is far to high of a rating for this app. Don’t waste your time using it.
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Response from developer
Thanks for the feedback. We would love to hear more from you about what we can do to improve the earning system. Please email us at team@pocketpoints.com.
Disappointed
I am very disappointed on this new update. I liked when we could just open the app and close it and get considered points without a set time to receive points. I think it’s super inconvenient because when I do set it; I would set it for the class but then class would get it early and so I would have to give up all the points. In addition, every time I do set, the application wouldn’t realize and I would check after hours of not using my phone and I wouldn’t be able to receive any points. That is super frustrating! However, what I do like is the driving setting as well as we can earn points being off campus too. I think if we could bring back those aspects it would make the app a lot better than it is now.
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Response from developer
Thanks for the review and the feedback. We just brought back the old earning method that you asked for. What do you think about it?
Meh
When this app first came out I loved the idea, it’s great for students, it’s incentive to stay off your phone during class and you can use the rewards to save money because as a college student you are really on a budget. I really liked the system, the only thing I felt was lacking was the rewards but I figured that would get better with time. I stopped using it when I couldn’t spend my points on anything. I picked it back up after the update and I absolutely hate the goal change, it’s just a way to cheat you out of points. It also doesn’t really make sense because now you have to check your phone and tell it to keep going occasionally which defeats the purpose of getting you off your phone. The rewards increased in the number of places but they still haven’t gotten better. It’s just not worth spending a crap ton of points on 5% off someplace I wasn’t planning on going in the first place. This was originally targeted for students but now they are trying to broaden the spectrum of users, which is fine, but if you are catering to students and people of low income maybe have rewards that actually make sense to your demographic and are monetarily worth it. 5% a clothing store I can’t afford anyway isn’t really great.
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Response from developer
Thanks for the review! We just added a new earning mode that allows you to earn without setting a goal again. Please check it out and let us know what you think!
Has potential
This app could be great if it worked well at ALL TIMES and not certain circumstances. It only works well if you continuously use the 30 min goal. If you try to go higher, for example - 60 min, it will cut off on you and you don’t earn points. It sends a reminder to come back to the app only for the 30 min or less. It also doesn’t give you time to come back to the app if you go over 30 min. I don’t know if it’s their way of cheating people out of points or not, but I have lost like 20-30 points because the app wouldn’t stay active for the 60 min goal. I haven’t tried the class option yet. We’ll see how that works! This is really helpful for focusing, but they HAVE to fix this! It’s annoying to keep putting in 30 min goals when you want to focus for an hour or more. Excited for the new features coming!
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Response from developer
Thanks for the review and for letting us know about this issue. Please email us at team@pocketpoints.com so we can take a look at your account and get this bug fixed for you. Thanks!
LOOVE the new update! Just one suggestion...
I REALLY like this new update, I stopped using Pocket Points because it was never locating me on campus, and it was simply too frustrating to try and make it. Now I use it to reach my goals of staying off the phone. However, I notice that sometimes I lose my points even when I haven’t unlocked my phone, but I receive a text. I feel kinda cheated losing all that time. Maybe we could receive a very small portion of points based on how long we have our phone locked, then if we reach a goal, we can receive significant bonus points? Just a thought. Otherwise, LOVE this app!!
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Response from developer
Thanks for the feedback! We're working on some solutions to the problem you mentioned. Once those are out, we would love to hear more of your thoughts!
Updated is trash
I would’ve given this five stars before but now it gets one star. The new update cheats you out of potential points with the fifty minute goal. I have two classes nearly three hours long and I don’t get rewarded for it like I would’ve before for having my phone locked for three hours consecutively because the fifty minute goal is so limiting in terms of points and you have to remember to reset it. I feel like the update was to appeal to businesses and in the end, capitalism, but the whole point is to help the student be less distracted so screw the update. I’m still going to use it because discounts are cool, but the new system doesn’t actually reward your actual effort anymore. If you haven’t gotten this app yet, I would reconsider and not do it, especially if you have longer classes or if you wouldn’t remember to reset it. Maybe try to find other ways for deals, and a lot of places gives you discounts right off the bat if they’re near your campus or if you have a student ID. It actually defeats the purpose because you’ll be distracted by the phone waiting for fifty minutes to pass rather than just locking it and forgetting it.
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It’s impossible to earn points with new update.
New update makes it extremely difficult to get points. I had an hour and 40 minute long class and got zero points because some solicitor called me. I didn’t even mean to hit the ‘end call’ button because I just knew it would say I lost points. It’s much easier to do the 10-20 minute time limits, but also you can really earn anything since you shouldn’t be resetting the timer during class. It’s also hard to check for points after class because if you get too far away from the room (like if you had to leave because a new class was coming in) it doesn’t register that you were ever on campus and therefore gives you nothing. If the next update won’t fix any of this, I’m just going to delete it.
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