If you want to make real money with mobile mining apps, you need to know what to watch out for. I’ve looked into the most popular mining apps for smartphones and can tell you what actually works and what’s just a waste of time.

Let’s start with the classics: CryptoTab was one of the first mining apps ever and is pretty simple to use—install, start, done. The app uses your smartphone hardware to generate hashes. You can also invite friends with referral links and earn commissions. There are also cloud mining options from well-known exchange platforms, where you buy hashrate instead of mining yourself—convenient if you don’t want to monitor it daily.

StormGain is also popular because of its easy interface and secure storage, but honestly, it’s annoying that you have to restart it every 4 hours. NiceHash offers a handy profit calculator and is considered quite secure—just make sure to enable 2FA. Bitdeer is more for experienced miners who use professional mining setups and want to mine multiple coins.

Now, the realistic question: Is it even worth it? That depends heavily on how much time you’re willing to invest. Experts say you need about 8 hours daily to earn a significant amount. Coins like Monero (XMR), Dogecoin (DOGE), Vertcoin, and Ravencoin are considered the easiest to mine, but even then, you need to keep an eye on electricity costs and market value.

Mining a full Bitcoin on your phone? Forget it. It would take forever. That’s why many use cloud services as a workaround. My tip: Do thorough research before you start, test with small amounts, and always enable 2FA. The best mining app for you depends on whether you prefer active mining or passive earnings through cloud solutions.