Slidejoy Review

Need to sign up to more GPT sites?

Click here to compare our list of the best survey sites you probably haven’t heard too much about yet

As a kid who grew up in the 80s in South Africa, technology was a foreign concept that landed late, and landed badly. Afraid to embrace technology for its ability to leapfrog whole societies out of a third world environment, most of Africa struggled to adopt technological advances until late in the last century. In South Africa, this digital divide has been attributed to the monopolization of telecommunications in the last decade of the 1900s by the parastatal, Telkom. Mobile GSM services were launched in South Africa in 1994, and Telkom has seen a steady rise in competition, with four additional mobile operators sharing market value as of May 2020.

Although South Africa boasts many Nobel laureates and technological advances, the country is still considered a third-world country. This labeling is due in large part to the layout, environment, poor rural villages, and densely populated urban areas that are built on slum lands and marshes. With a population of almost 60 million, technological advances make it possible for more than 34 million of those South African people to currently access the internet via their mobile devices.

Mobile technology has forever changed the way we do things, from shopping to schooling, dating, and eating. Once housebound by a fixed-line, mobile technology now makes it possible for people to move between districts and environments unhindered by a lack of traditional infrastructure.

While South Africa struggled to put processes and technological advances in place, the world came to rely more heavily on mobile technology. At one point, Blackberry held market share in South Africa, and RIM technology was considered one of the best solutions for rural users. RIM technology reluctantly gave way to Android technology worldwide, with iOS devices holding a strong second place for market share.

Figure 1: Mobile Operating System Market Share Worldwide – April ’19 – April ‘20

Android is a modified and open-source mobile operating system, designed for touchscreen mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, that was created by a consortium of developers known as the Open Handset Alliance. Google remains the main contributor and commercial marketer for the Android system.

As of the day of this SlideJoy review, 89 versions of the Android software kernel (the operating system) have been recorded, beginning in November of 2011. The latest stable release – if your technology can handle it – is dated 17^th May 2020 and is a hybrid of Linux and Android technology.

What is SlideJoy?

Lock screen functionality on smart devices – unavoidable for most people – is not something the average person thinks about much because it forms part of the Android operating system and is simply a tool. You may want to add a specific theme to your device and this invariably comes with lock screen capabilities, though you run the risk of insecure and possibly unstable apps taking control of your smart device. It’s always wise to check the permissions and access rights when installing apps, even if those are installed from reputable sites like the Google Play Store.

SlideJoy is a lock screen app available for download from the Google Play Store. The app has been installed more than a million times and enjoys a four-star rating from just under 100,000 users worldwide.

Your email address will give you access to the SlideJoy app, where you can sign up via your email or Facebook account, and start earning rewards and making money with your smartphone.

Who is SlideJoy?

In early 2017, Slidejoy was acquired by its South Korean competitor, Buzzvil. Featured on The Today Show, SlideJoy won the Wharton Business Plan Competition Grand Prize and raised $1.2 million in a seed round prior to the acquisition. Founded in 2014 by a group of five friends across the world,  the acquisition allowed Buzzvil to expand into Western markets, where Asia was their biggest market up until then.

A former marine, Ironman Triathlete, and a Wharton MBA alumnus, Robert Seo was CEO at the time of the acquisition and retained his position thereafter. Seo attributes SlideJoy’s success to great teamwork, an inspired and shared company vision and hard work.

Buzzvil CEO John Lee summed up the acquisition in his press release by saying “Slidejoy is the perfect opportunity for Buzzvil to diversify its geographic footprint while bringing on a world-class team. With our combined scale and geographic reach, we are now positioned to propel lock screen advertising forward and shape the mobile advertising landscape worldwide.” Lee added that the acquisition was expected to deliver 4 billion ad impressions to users each month.

Reviewer’s note: On a mathematical level, the numbers don’t really add up and maybe an indication of repetitive adverts. 4 billion expected ad impressions means 1 million users are each allocated roughly 4,000 impressions in each user’s app lifecycle (also called the app abandonment rate). That’s about 11 adverts per day – or an advert roughly every two hours – for a year.

 

The average app abandonment rate is far shorter than that, though. According to an article, we read here, an estimated 80% of apps uploaded to just about any app store are never discovered!

 

Quoted on the SlideJoy website, the app claims to reach a consumer over 60 times a day with advanced geo-targeting capabilities. That’s 0.4 impressions per user per hour per day – however a 2015 report compiled by Catalina Personalized Digital Media and 4Info discussed the RoAS (Return on Ad Spend) in-depth, with the best industry practices and norms, and SlideJoy’s purported impressions just don’t make sense.

How much does SlideJoy pay per slide?

According to an article on CNBC.com in February 2014, Seo is quoted as saying that users can expect to earn between $2 and $10 per month, whether you engage with the SlideJoy lock screen app or not. He goes on to assure users that they can earn more, as more advertisers come on board with SlideJoy. More up-to-date user comments on some forums indicate that the payment structure and possible earnings (points) per day have drastically reduced to anywhere between 20 points (for signing up), and about 50-100 additional points daily – without doing any additional SlideJoy activities such as surveys, games, etc.

SlideJoy points are called “carats”, and 1,000 carats equals $1. Once you’ve earned at least 2,000 carats (worth $2) you can choose to cash out either via Visa or other popular gift cards.

Reviewer’s note: In this scenario, we chose to take Seo at his word, and calculated an average of $24 per year in payouts – IF that $2 earned per month is still the baseline on which SlideJoy calculates minimum earnings.at an average of 50 points per day, it would take you about 40 days to earn 2,000 carats ($2).

How does the Slidejoy app make money?

SlideJoy sells advertising packets to clients such as Macy’s, Dell, McDonald’s, Toyota, The Daily Show, Nexus, Levis, and more. Data scientists continually work to improve the analytics and insights generated by the users of the SlideJoy app, but the revenue stream this suggests does not align with the number of cash users can expect to earn.

Reviewer’s note: This shortlist is based on the screenshots found on SlideJoy’s website, but SlideJoy makes no secret of having Fortune 500 clients. As you may have read above, 1 million users cashing out $2 a month on average indicates expenditure of about $2 million per month. With Fortune 500 clients like those above, you can bet your bottom dollar that SlideJoy’s monthly advertising income far exceeds that!

How do you redeem Slidejoy points?

SlideJoy carats can be redeemed for popular gift cards such as Visa pre-paid, Google Play Store, Steam, Amazon, Bitcoin (in some regions), Walmart, Starbucks, and many more. There is also an option to donate your carats to charity.

Recently, SlideJoy chose not to continue paying out to PayPal – a decision that no doubt had many users abandoning the app for easier ways to cash out.

Reviewer’s note: Be aware when signing up to SlideJoy that signing up via Hero mode means you automatically donate your carats to charity. Be sure to choose Normal mode when signing up.

How do I get more carats on Slidejoy?

As with most Get-Paid-To (GPT) sites and apps, it is possible to increase your points, but this involves actively interacting with the app – in which case, it’s no longer a static activity that requires no attention. SlideJoy currently allows you to earn additional carats for your effort, by completing surveys, scratch cards, taking part in offers, and various other activities that also include a referral program – though this is reportedly not worth it as many users seem to find that they are somewhat unable to recommend SlideJoy to close friends or coworkers.

What are the pros and cons of installing SlideJoy?

I was pleasantly surprised to find somewhat different pros and cons for this lock screen app:

Pros

 

• To use the app, simply unlock your phone to make free money online.
• The app does not slow devices down.
• It is possible to temporarily disable the app if you find it annoying or intrusive to swipe left or swipe right all day.
• Temporarily disabling the app does not pause your carats accumulating.
• The news and trending sections of the app are worth the install.
• If all you do is install the lock screen app, there is absolutely no effort to earning extra cash.
• There is no cost to install the app (other than data if you’re not on wifi) meaning what you earn is pure profit.
• Unless you’re interacting with the app to make money and get additional carats, it should take up none of your time.
• Great interface.
• Unobtrusive and runs in the background – whether you swipe or not during the day.

Cons

 

• Remember to choose Normal mode installation – unless you want to donate all your earnings to charity.
• You run the risk of a potential ban if you try to exploit the app too much.
• Not recommended for super smartphone users who would be irritated by constantly having to unlock the device.
• Not available worldwide – earnings and adverts seem to be location-based – meaning your earning potential could be a lot less than advertised.
• No obvious way to transfer points to another device – check with support if you need to do this. 
• Inconsistent points meaning its impossible to accurately predict or budget your monthly earnings.
• Really low yearly earning potential.
• No PayPal option.

Is SlideJoy legit?

SlideJoy makes it really easy to earn a few bucks on the side – but that’s really all it’s going to end up being. One of the best features of this app is that you don’t have to interact with the app to slowly generate carats and eventually cash out.

Says Seo, “The fact that it (Slidejoy)’s not intrusive is a huge deal. One of our reviews said it’s less intrusive than your stepmother, so it’s pretty funny how open they (the consumers) are to advertising.”

Is SlideJoy legit? Yes. Is it worth it? Maybe.