STUDY: Hawai‘i’s Favorite Wellness App is ‘Sweatcoin’

Graphic courtesy of ATTSavings.com.

It’s 2019 and perhaps you’ve made a new year’s resolution to save more money, get back in shape or change your diet. Whatever your goal in mind, there’s probably an app for it to help you stay on track. And some are more popular than others.

According to a new Web study by ATTSavings.com, the most popular physical health app in Hawai‘i is called  Sweatcoin. Touted as a “step counter that pays,” Sweatcoin is a free mobile app for iOS devices that does what it advertises—earns digital currency for its users. App users earn points based on the number of steps they take each day and the currency can be redeemed for—not surprisingly—fitness products. Products like a Fitbit tracker, fitness classes, or subscriptions to other health-related apps.

Sweatcoin’s developers say the whole point of the app is to get people moving. Using GPS, the app can tell whether you are walking inside or outside and only tallies the steps you take outdoors.

Though Sweatcoin might sound like a less-savory spin-off of the blockchain technology and digital currency Bitcoin, it ranks as the most popular physical health app in seven U.S. states, according to the ATTSavings.com study.

So will exercise some day became another source of income? Though getting paid to care for your physical health might stir even the most exercise-resistant people into action, it seems unlikely. But if Hawai‘i continues to use it among their favorite apps, they’ll likely enjoy a better quality of life and live longer.

Sweatcoin screenshots from the Apple App Store.