Frequently Asked Questions

Our Frequently Asked Questions are listed below. If you still need help after reading a relevant question, please do get in touch with BetterPoints via the in-app Help section.

General

How do I?

Technical

Troubleshooting

Automatic Tracking

Partners

General

Can I refer my friends and earn BetterPoints or BetterTickets?

Yes go to the "Refer a Friend" page on the app and share your code with a friend - if they join, you may both get bonus BetterPoints or BetterTickets, depending on the challenge you are in.

What are BetterPoints?

BetterPoints are reward points that you can use to reward yourself by exchanging points for high street vouchers, or you can donate to charities or community groups. We run localised challenges with different incentives for different activities, and national rewards for the UK if you’re not in those local areas. See the challenges section for what you can be rewarded for in your local area.

Where do my points go?

Your points are banked in your account until you'd like to spend them, either on a 'reward' for a gift voucher or 'donate' them to a charity or community group. They are yours unless you don't spend or earn points for 18 months, at which point they would be removed.

Who is behind BetterPoints and why are you giving them out?

BetterPoints is the customer brand used by BetterPoints Ltd., a private limited company with a Community Interest Company (C.I.C.) subsidiary. Our vision is to create local self-supporting challenges that deliver sustainability, carbon reduction, improved resident self-health and social care, as well as community cohesion. We do this by working with Local Authorities, Public Transport Organisations, and major sustainability, academic and social non-profit organisations. BetterPoints are funded through partner challenge contracts, grants, donations and sponsorship.

Why do people in different areas have different rewards?

We run challenges in different areas to motivate participation in certain activities, e.g. rewarding residents of a council borough for visiting parks, paid for by public bodies such as councils, or non-profit organisations that want to see people change. You can see what you are able to earn for different activities by going to 'challenges'. If you are outside of our focused areas, we do have national challenges that anyone is able to take part in.

Why do you track location data?

We track location using GPS (Global Positioning System) to work out an accurate distance travelled for an activity such as walking or cycling. We do not share your personal location with anyone else, including partners, and your location data is not used by us for any other purposes. Sometimes location data is aggregated and anonymised across all users to help public bodies make decisions such as working out whether a pedestrianised bridge is being used, or which parks are being used most in a city.

Why is there an age restriction of 14 for using the BetterPoints app?

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) passed in 1998 protects every child under the age of 13. The Act requires that operators of websites and online services provide notice and obtain permission from a child’s parents before collecting personal information — such as name, address, phone number and screen name — from that child. Companies also cannot collect geolocation data that could identify the city street, and any image, video or audio files containing the child’s image or voice. Anything that can identify what the child is using, like cookies, IP addresses or the unique device identifier (UDID) for mobile devices is restricted by COPPA. But COPPA doesn’t work if a 9-year-old claims they are 13. When a social network account is created for a child under 13, or when a child uses a false birthdate, this Federal law cannot protect their personal information from being collected and shared with third party advertisers.

I have a referral code, where can I use it?

Referral codes are specific to funded challenges, and if you haven't been given one by your local council, employer or the like then there are none available for you in your area. If you add a referral code and you don't fit the criteria (activities in a certain postcode) then you will not gain extra BetterPoints or BetterTickets for activities.

Referral codes can be added on the app, go to the menu and 'Add Referral Code' and clicking submit.

What are BetterTickets?

BetterTickets are entries into a prize draw. We have an impressive set of prizes to be won. Winners are announced every week or month depending on the challenge you are part of.

You can check the number of BetterTickets you have collected and what prizes you could win using our app - by going to 'Progress' and then 'Prize Draws.'

Why do my activities receive only BetterTickets?

As of 1st September 2018, our National Rewards challenges changed. The new BetterPoints National Rewards Challenges are designed to give you lots of new ways to earn BetterTickets to win prizes.

What happens to BetterPoints that are donated?

If you donate your BetterPoints to a charity or organisation, this is converted to a cash donation when the charity or organisation has a total of above 20,000 BetterPoints. 1,000 BetterPoints equals £1.

What are leaderboards?

We have instituted leaderboards for individuals as well as workplaces. You can find out how you are doing by going to the Progress tab of the app, then clicking on Leaderboards. If both individual and company ones are available to you - you’ll be able to select one or  other to view.

As an individual you will see how  you have done compared to everyone in your local challenge. So you can  check out how you’ve been doing each week, and compare it with how you  did the previous week. Even if you join part way through the week,  there’s still plenty of ways you can increase your activity to be top of the local leaderboard! You won’t see names of other people here though due to data privacy rules.

As part of a company, you will see how you have done in relation to your  colleagues for the duration of the workplace challenge you are taking  part in. See how engaged your company has been in the size category it  belongs to (small, medium or large.)

We will send out a message to your timeline each week, on a Monday morning - to let  you know how you did overall for the previous week: How many miles  tracked, rewarded activities, BetterTickets earned, how you did compared to your colleagues or other local app users etc.

Where are the funded challenges in the UK?

The current funded BetterPoints challenges are for people who are residents of:

  • Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley or those who work in Ebbsfleet Garden City from the Greater London area
  • Leicestershire
  • Sheffield – University staff and students only
  • Warwick District Towns: Leamington Spa, Warwick, Kenilworth and Whitnash
  • Brighton & Hove
  • Hounslow
  • Sussex – University staff and students only
  • York
  • Cardiff – University staff and students only
  • Surrey
  • Renfrewshire
  • Sunderland
  • Buckinghamshire
  • South Lanarkshire
  • Southwark
  • Sheffield
  • Highlands and Islands area
  • Newham
  • East Dunbartonshire

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How do I?

How do I earn points for a car share activity?

Rewards for car sharing are available in some of our funded challenges. To be rewarded for a car share activity, both the driver and the passenger must be registered and have downloaded the smartphone app. The driver starts the activity 'car share' and a QR code appears. The passenger then selects start new activity and "Scan QR code" and then you will both earn rewards on your car share activity. 

How do I see my latest activities in the activities list?

Simply pull down and the app will refresh your list.

How do you record an activity?

To start recording an activity, follow these simple steps:

  • Use the Tracking toggle in the top right of your screen to toggle tracking to "on." ​
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    You can toggle this to "off" when you finish an activity, or just leave the tracking on and allow the app to automatically identify when you have finished your activity. This will take a few more minutes to process and appear on the Home tab.
How do you scan a QR code?

Go to the start activity button at the top right and select 'Scan QR code.' This switches your camera on. Hold it so that the QR code is shown clearly and it will capture it and start the activity in your app. This is only relevant in some areas where QR code posters/stickers are used to promote certain types of activities.

How do I change my email address?

Send us a message via the 'contact us' function with your old and new email addresses, and we will be happy to do this for you.

How do I close my BetterPoints account?

Send us a message via the 'contact us' function and we will do this for you.

How do I use my BetterPoints?

You can use your BetterPoints for two things: either donate them to a charity/organisation, or redeem them for a gift voucher that can be emailed to you or sent to you in the post, or alternatively one that can be used instore at the point of sale.

Can I delete an activity from my Home page?

You can mark an activity as 'not a trip' when given the option to confirm, and it'll be removed from your Home tab.

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Technical

Can I earn BetterPoints if I do not have a smartphone or tablet?

Unfortunately we only allow activities to be logged via our app run on a smartphone or tablet and not by our website, as most activities are verified by GPS location and/or the motion of a handheld device.

Can I earn BetterPoints if I have a Windows Smartphone?

There are no plans to develop an app for the Windows Smartphone due to the smaller percentage of handsets that run this operating system.

Can I link my BetterPoints account to Strava/Garmin or any other fitness tracking device?

It is not possible to link any other fitness account or device, but many of our users do run other apps alongside the BetterPoints app. Keep in mind that we're not only tracking distance via GPS, but also speed and waypoints for each activity, so the qualifying distance may vary from the Strava log for example.

As BetterPoints provides evidenced data through automatic tracking of activities (Strava does not do this as you must manually start and stop activities) it is a challenge to connect through API as some other services do. In addition, Strava allows self-reported activities through their app which BetterPoints does not. There are several cyclists on our team and they set their automatic tracking to run on the BetterPoints app and Strava journeys to upload from connected peripherals (wahoo, apple health, or google health) which seem to provide a fairly seamless parallel service.

Can I use a WiFi-only iPad?

WiFi-only iPads, without 3G connectivity, do not have GPS capability either. Therefore activity tracking will not work properly with one, unless if you're in a built up area with lots of wifi networks, you may be able to be tracked by these if you have WiFi turned on.

Can I use BetterPoints on a tablet?

If your tablet (iPad or Android) can determine your location by GPS, then it can run the BetterPoints app as well as a smartphone. You need to login to the app while connected to a data source but the activity tracking will work without data, should you not have a 3G or Wifi connection whilst doing the activity.

How much data is used by the app?

The BetterPoints app does not require a data connection to track activities, so it should not drain the data you have. Though if any app seems to be using an unreasonably large amount you can usually go into the settings to disable background data just for that app.

The app does not have to cost anything at all on data. You can have a phone with the data turned off completely and use the app just on WiFi. The tracking itself does not use any data (only GPS), but it will then just need the WiFi connection at the start and end of activities to sync when you complete them. Otherwise very little data is used at the beginning of an activity if the WiFi is not available.

What does "processing" next to my activity mean?

Processing means that the server is processing many activities. Your activity is saved in your phone and has yet to be analysed for what BetterPoints, vouchers or medals you will receive from it.

What is the minimum specification smartphone for running the app?

For the latest version of the app to run properly, you'll need iPhone iOS 13 or above (for Automatic Tracking iPhone 5s or newer) or Android 8 or above.

We recommend that you have at least 500MB of RAM and 1GB of memory on your phone in order to run our app. Phones with a lower spec might work, but issues may occur.

Can I use the app without mobile data?

Yes. You can be tracked on a journey without mobile data, as long as you log in and start your journey whilst connected to mobile data or WiFi. You can stop your journey without a data connection, but your journey will only be sent to the BetterPoints system to give you BetterPoints when you are connected to WiFi or mobile data again.

What is an activity’s Qualifying distance or ‘Qualifying time’?

By 'Qualifying Distance' and 'Qualifying Time' it means the part of the journey covered where you were travelling not too fast, not too slowly, and in a way that agreed with the phone's reported movement.

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Troubleshooting

Can I get points if my device fails to track an activity?

Whilst we make an enormous effort to get our app to work on as many phones as possible, there are issues that can prevent activities from properly tracking on certain devices. Other running apps, GPS issues, internal memory and speed can all affect performance and cause activities to fail. Whilst we cannot award points for activities that fail to track, we can offer assistance in helping you to assure the app is running as well as possible on your device.

  • If you are having trouble getting the app to track your activities, make sure there are not other activity trackers running alongside our app such as MapMyRun, Strava, etc.
  • Other mobile applications that stay active and take up a lot of memory such as Facebook, Twitter, or Battery saving apps should be closed before running the app unless you've tested this and they work together fine.
  • When having consistent tracking issues, make sure your phone is in a location where it can get a proper signal. Not all phones are equal when it comes to GPS, so make sure yours is not in a location, such as the bottom of your bag, where it might not be getting a good signal. Please refer to the GPS optimization FAQ for further details.
  • We recommend that you have at least 500MB of RAM and 1GB of memory on your phone in order to run our app. Phones with a lower spec might work, but issues may occur.
How can I get a better GPS signal?

When taking part in an activity, if your position is not shown accurately on the map, there are some things you can do to help. However there are other things, like a gloomy day or the age of your phone which aren't factors that you can easily change! Here are some tips at getting the best out of your phone's GPS capability:

  • When you start your activity on the app, check that your position is accurate on the map before moving. When you complete the activity, wait until your position is shown accurately on the map.
  • Check your GPS settings. It might help to turn GPS off and then on again to reset which satellites your phone is communicating with.
  • Get your phone out in the open air. GPS signals find it harder to go through things you cannot see through. This includes tall buildings and trees - not only can they block signals but can give you reflected signals which may not be as accurate.
  • Keep your phone battery charged. It will keep a better signal and performance.
  • Don't put your phone in a case.
  • Start your GPS while you are stationary, before you set off for your journey. There's no time limit or minimum speed so why not start the activity on the app a few minutes before you start your journey?
  • Learn where your phone's GPS receiver is located. If this is pointed upwards it might get a better signal.
  • Update your phone's operating system. Software is improving all the time, so make sure you have downloaded and applied the latest software for your phone.
  • Start your activity with WiFi turned on or be connected to a WiFi source.
I haven't got any BetterPoints of BetterTickets for an activity - why?

Firstly check that your activity has qualified for BetterPoints or BetterTickets by looking at the activity rewards for in your challenges.
Activity rewards often have rules, for example a minimum distance, or a maximum frequency per day or week. The week or monthly bonuses have a minimum of a certain amount of days per week that you need to record one activity.

I haven't received my confirmation email, where is it?

When you register, you will be sent a confirmation email to the address that you've entered. Please check your email inboxes thoroughly including spam folders. If you haven't got it, please enter your email address in the 'forgot password' section and your email address will be validated and you can choose a new password.

I recorded an activity, but the app says it was not valid. Why?

The BetterPoints system uses various tools and algorithms to test a journey's validity, such as the motion of your phone and (for some challenges) the path that you took was not on a bus route. There may be situations where the data read by the phone and sent to the app are incorrect, or the GPS signal does not have enough strength to allow the app to check the path and assign BetterPoints.

I recorded an activity, where is it on my Home page?

Sometimes when a lot of activities are being done, the BetterPoints system can get a bit slower. Don't worry: your journey is still saved in the phone memory to be processed at a later time.

Why can't I collect points on the same device as another user?

The app prevents the collection of points for a second user who uses a device within a calendar week. This is to prevent cheating. To use BetterPoints, one user will need access to a different device than another user.

Why hasn't part of my journey been tracked?

This is normally due to a poor GPS signal, which could be for many different reasons, many of which are out of our control. Please read “How can I get a better GPS signal?”

If part of your journey hasn’t been tracked accurately, the app will use the accurate waypoints to work out your route and will assign some points anyway using the waypoints that were taken, this may result in a straight line as-the-crow-flies which is shorter than your real journey. However if this doesn’t happen because too much of your journey is missing and you don’t get your points, please let us know by contacting us, sending the activity details such as your start and stop time,  and we will look at your activity details.

Why isn't the app running on my phone?

There are over 550 variations of phones that have logged activities with BetterPoints. Whilst we make an enormous effort to make sure the app works as well as possible on most makes of phone, we cannot guarantee that the app will run problem-free for you. We are not liable for missed points due to failed activities that are not caused by a bug in our software. Please refer to the FAQ sections for GPS optimisation and activity failure if you have issues. If you are still having problems, get in touch via the help section on the app.

Why isn't the map loading while doing an activity?

If you do not have a data connection, the map will be blank, however you may still be tracked using GPS which does not depend on a data connection.

Where has an activity button gone?

The activity buttons are available when there is a reward available to you for doing the activity. If an activity button has disappeared, this is because there is no longer an activity reward available for this activity. Check the challenges tab to make sure you have joined the challenges available to you so you can get all the rewards you are eligible for.

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Automatic Tracking

Can my smartphone run Automatic Tracking?

To run automatic tracking, your smartphone must have something called a motion co-processor or accelerometer that monitors movement of your phone. These smartphones can run automatic tracking:

  • Android Smartphones 4.1 (or later) 
  • iPhone 5s (or later)
  • iPad Air (or later)

Any handsets earlier (including the iPhone 5c) will not be able to run automatic tracking and it will not appear on your handset. You can still track all your activities manually using the select activity function.
Using battery saving mode may also impact how accurately automatic tracking works.

How does Automatic Tracking work?

The app monitors movement of the phone and will start registering a movement when the device has moved a significant distance. This can sometimes mean it appears a bit slow at picking up the start of an activity (especially on iOS, we have found). Once recording, waypoints are uploaded to the server as you move. When the waypoints stop for a significant time (about five minutes) we mark the activity as complete. The activity will be listed on the app if it is longer than five minutes total duration, and four "moving and qualifying" minutes. Activities like walking around your home will not be picked up. Once an activity is registered as complete, BetterPoints or BetterTickets can be applied to it.

The Automatic Tracking doesn't seem to track me well

On some Android smartphones, there is a power-saving feature that switches the BetterPoints app off. Go to settings, select battery and then from the sub-menu select battery optimisation. If the setting on your smartphone is to "optimise" usage for the BetterPoints app, the app will stop working in the background if you've not interacted with it for a long time. Select ‘not optimised’ to improve the automatic tracking.

My Android phone isn't tracking properly 

Unfortunately, some Android devices may stop tracking halfway through an activity. This is a common, known issue for Android apps. There are full details of how to fix this for different here: https://dontkillmyapp.com. Huawei, OnePlus and Samsung phones are particularly prone to this. Here is specific information to address it for those manufacturers:

Huawei

OnePlus

Samsung

If you still have trouble after changing the battery settings, contact us via email.

What is Automatic Tracking and what can be recognised?

This feature can be switched on to track your methods of travel automatically instead of manually selecting the activity type yourself.

  • It can detect: walking, running, cycling and being in a vehicle (by default this assumes the sole occupancy of a car.
  • It cannot detect: public transport journeys, car-sharing and scooting.
  • Automatic tracking is only available in some BetterPoints challenges. This will be specified in your challenge description. If you need help finding this or understanding more about what is or isn't available in your area please contact us using the Help function in the app. 

Things to note with automatic tracking:

  • The app works better if the phone is in your pocket rather than a bag, especially for detecting cycling.
  • The amount of BetterPoints you can earn will not be different if you use automatic tracking – it just might help you have an accurate record of activities if you sometimes forget to track your journeys.
  • Most current smartphones will support automatic tracking, including iPhone 5S or above and nearly all Android phones.
  • Activities recorded by automatic tracking will not show up on your device straight away, as it can take up to 15 minutes from stopping an activity for it to appear in your timeline.
Will automatic tracking affect my battery life?

The app will use slightly more battery life this way, so we recommend you charge your mobile overnight. Once it detects movement, the app will turn the GPS on and when stationary or not moving much – it turns off (so it shouldn't use too much battery when still.)

How does the new Automatic Tracking Confirmation system work?

We've developed a new way for Automatic Tracking to work, so that you've got the opportunity to change your activity types after the app has tracked you. 

How does it work?
Activities will be coloured orange when they are tracked:

If this is correct - great! You don't have to do anything, and your activity will confirm overnight for you to get any rewards you're entitled to. You can tick the green tick if you'd like to see your rewards now. 

If its not correct, change the activity by clicking the little triangle and selecting the correct activity, then tap the green tick.

Do I have to confirm every activity?
No, only if you want to check what rewards you get now or to change the activity type. Your activity will confirm overnight automatically for you to get rewarded.

My activity is orange - why haven't I been rewarded?

Your activities need to be confirmed before they are rewarded- just to give you a chance to change the app's best guess of how you were travelling! So if you'd like to see your rewards, tap the green tick once you've selected how you travelled and any BetterPoints or BetterTickets will apply. 

My activity doesn't have a drop down box - how do I confirm it?

If you've done more than one activity, only the oldest activity will have a drop-down menu of activities. So if you see this in your timeline:

If you want to change your walk activity to something else you'll need to confirm the activity from 08:37 first, and then the drop-down menu for your 08:58 activity will appear. Activities need to be confirmed in chronological order as sometimes rewards are dependent on activities you've done in the past.  

I've confirmed the wrong activity - can this be undone?

Unfortunately an activity cannot be changed to unconfirmed after it has been confirmed - as the rewards have already been applied. 

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Partners

Can BetterPoints be used in a Corporate or Workplace setting?

Yes, BetterPoints can be used to facilitate and track outcomes for CSR and Employee Wellbeing challenges, or to incentivise car-sharing or other initiatives. Please go to our corporate site for more information.

How can I administrate a listed charity or community group account?

We have listed thousands of charities and community groups to invite people to donate their BetterPoints to them. If you work for a charity or organisation that is listed, you can we get access to this account by emailing the customer care team, preferably from your official/work email address. You can then administrate the partner account yourself using a login.

How do I create a charity or organisation listing?

Firstly, search for your name in the Donate section, as we may already list your charity or organisation. Then email us to set it up.

How does BetterPoints work for a Local Authority?

BetterPoints can be applied to any behaviour change or engagement challenge you can imagine. This may be a short-term initiative such as a summer of activities in the park or a longer-term intervention to meet public health or climate change goals. The flexibility of our system, coupled with the combined expertise of our team in rewards, marketing, psychology, social media and technical development means we can customise our behaviour change system to your needs. 

I'm a retailer, how can we offer goods or vouchers for purchase with BetterPoints?

You can create a partner account by registering for our site as a normal user, then under ‘My Account’ click ‘Create Partner’. This then sends an email to us for approval and we’ll let you know when it is live. You can then administrate your own Partner account, creating vouchers from the Partner Admin area.

I'm interested in commissioning a challenge using BetterPoints, how do I find out more?

Our challenges are designed to suit each individual project and we are happy to chat about what best fits your needs and budget. Please email [email protected].

What are the benefits of joining BetterPoints for a charity or retailer?

BetterPoints are a financially backed digital currency. This means that when someone donates BetterPoints to your charity or exchanges BetterPoints for a voucher for your shop, you get the full value in real cash. The BetterPoints community is growing fast and our portal and app offer great promotional channels for your organisation or business. Many users have enough BetterPoints to redeem on a regular basis and letting people donate or spend their points with you will help introduce you to new customers or help your customers spend with you more regularly.