HONEST REVIEW of OnMyWay: the app that pays you $0.05/mile to keep your phone locked while driving

I don’t know about you, but my Facebook feed has been plastered with these “no texting” images. The accompanying posts praise the OnMyWay app for paying 5 cents per mile you drive with your phone locked. Friends are proudly sharing how much they earned in a day and asking others to join in by using their referral code to download the app. And these are not ads placed by Facebook; they are actual posts from people I know. I couldn’t help but wonder if this is a scam. I had to try it out.

How Does It Work?

When you download OnMyWay, you’ll be asked to allow the app to have access to various features on your phone, including GPS. When you begin driving, the app will recognize your movement via GPS and begin awarding 5 cents per mile you drive as long as you don’t unlock your phone. You can see the total amount you’ve earned at the top of your OnMyWay dashboard.

There is a multi-level marketing (MLM) component as well. I’m seeing more and more apps adopt this structure. MLM means you earn money from your own participation AND the participation of those you’ve referred. When a friend signs up with your referral code, you immediately get a $2 bonus plus you earn 2 cents per mile they drive using the app. This is why we’re seeing so many posts about this app on social media. You could amass quite a bit of passive income if you gain enough referrals.

Something else to note is that you earn money when you are a passenger as well. Think about it. The app knows that you are a licensed driver, and it activates any time it detects movement via GPS. If you are riding in a vehicle and you have the app and you keep your phone locked, you still earn! Of course this is not the primary intent of the app, but it is a fun perk! And keeping your phone locked as a passenger is going to allow you to have more quality time and conversation with the driver. It’s a win-win!

A very common objection to OnMyWay is that many of us can’t keep our phones locked during driving for perfectly good reasons. Maybe you frequently use Google Maps for driving directions. Maybe you use you time in the car to make phone calls. Maybe you like to stream music of podcasts in the car.

But here’s the trick! You CAN still do all of those things! You earn as long as you don’t UNLOCK your phone WHILE DRIVING. If you turn on Google Maps, Calls, Spotify or any other app BEFORE you start moving, it will continue to run while you drive AND you won’t be penalized in OnMyWay because you don’t need to UNLOCK again until you reach your destination.

So What’s the Catch?

Two, in my opinion.

(1) It will kill your battery life. The app has to continually monitor your location in order to know when you are driving and when you are stationary. With something like that running in the background, you can expect your battery to last about half as long as it normally would before needing a recharge.

(2) Cash out options are not readily available. What I mean by that is in order to get the cash you’ve earned, you have to redeem what are called Marathon Deals. On your dashboard, you’ll see a short list of gift card options – Walmart, VISA, Shell, etc. There are a limited number of gift cards per month and once they are gone, they’re gone. Currently the top 4 options are marked as “Sold Out.”

OnMyWay has now added PayPal and Venmo as cash out options, which is fantastic! BUT from what I’ve read, you still have to wait for an applicable Marathon Deal in order to use these payment methods.

Here’s a quote from the OnMyWay Help & Support section.

“You can redeem your OnMyWay cash through Marathon Deals only.

We will be adding many more options to redeem your OnMyWay cash in next month. We will be offering different items such as gift cards as well as short term Cash Deals.

Please be patient with us while we work on bringing you new great options and continue to accumulate your OnMyWay rewards!

The OnMyWay funds can not be paid directly to your Venmo or PayPal account unless it is through a Marathon Deal.”

Know Before You Download

(1) When you create your OnMyWay account, the last step is to scan your driver’s license. The app claims this is required in order to verify that you are a licensed driver. You’ll use your phone’s camera to scan the barcode on the back of your license, and the app will record your date of birth, address, and expiration date.

(2) When you join OnMyWay, you receive a $10 sign up bonus. (I joined using someone’s referral code and am not sure if the bonus applies to those who join without a referral.) When you see people posting how much they earned in their first day of using the app, be aware that 10 of those dollars were freebies.

(3) When the app detects that you are driving, it will go into “do not disturb” mode. This means you will not hear your phone ring if you get a phone call, text message, notification, etc. The purpose of the app is to promote distraction-free driving.

Additionally, if someone does text you while driving, OnMyWay will send an auto-reply message to notify the person that you cannot respond as the moment because you are driving.

The part about this I don’t personally care for is the length of the auto-reply message. It’s not just a quick message to say that you’re driving. It also provides your referral code and invites the person to download the app. If you’re like me and a bit uncomfortable with what’s basically a sales pitch being sent to whoever’s texting you, you can easily deactivate this feature in your settings.

What Do You Think?

OnMyWay is not for everyone, and there is still room for improvement in the functionality of the app. But for some, it IS a great way to earn a little cash for something we already do everyday - drive. I’m going to stick with it for a while and see what kind of cash out Marathon Deals become available in November. So far I've earned $26.54.

If you want to give it a try, here’s MY referral link ;)

r.onmyway.com/axoa3PUFU0

Drive safe!