This article was automatically translated from Japanese using AI. The Japanese version is the authoritative version.
Apps that let you earn points or miles just by getting around have become popular in recent years.
The trouble is, many of them make you open the app and watch an ad every single time you move, or they simply bombard you with ads. It gets so irritating that you start to wonder whether you’re collecting points or just collecting frustration.
Recently I came across two apps featured in a magazine that are remarkably convenient: none of the tiresome ads I’d come to expect, and you can actually enjoy racking up miles.
Official sites ↓
Miles
ANA Pocket
They made quite an impression on me, so I thought I’d write up a blog post about them.
About the two apps
The two apps use almost the same system, and you can run both at once, so I’d recommend using them together.
With both apps, you accumulate miles as you travel, and those miles can be exchanged for points or goods.
Note that neither offers a cash-back option.
The rate at which you earn miles depends on your mode of transport, with walking earning more per unit distance than driving.
Your mode of transport is classified automatically, and if it gets it wrong you can request a manual correction.
You can also view your travel history, so you can check how far you moved on any given day.
In my experience, both apps track movement quite accurately—they properly register even a quick trip from home to the convenience store, and you earn miles for it!
The one drawback is that your phone’s battery drains unusually fast.
Well, of course it does—they’re using location services continuously.
That’s just something you have to live with.
About Miles
Miles is an app made by Miles Japan Inc., and as the original app of the two, it’s very solidly built.
The actual screen looks like the one below: beyond your earned miles, it shows travel data and lets you view detailed trips in your history, which makes it handy for getting a rough picture of your health and daily activity.
The miles you accumulate can be exchanged for all sorts of things—JAL miles, campaign entries, convenience store coffee, and more.
There’s nothing you have to do on a daily basis, so you can just leave it installed and check in whenever you feel like it. That’s a nice difference from ANA Pocket.
Invitation campaign code
(Install the app using the code below and you’ll get 100 yen in Amazon gift credit!)
Invitation code: NVPRMO
About ANA Pocket
ANA Pocket is ANA’s app, which runs on the Miles system.
As you’d expect from a major company, the home screen is extremely easy to read.
Here you accumulate points instead of miles.
ANA Pocket has a “Challenges” system: you sign up for a challenge, and if you meet its conditions you earn bonus points.
The best thing about ANA Pocket is that you can convert your points into ANA miles, and there’s also a gacha you can spend points on, so you’re never at a loss for how to use them.
Converting to ANA miles always feels like good value, so if there’s nothing else you want, that’s a perfectly fine default.
Like Miles, it also lets you view your travel history, so you can review your activity in the same way.
The biggest sticking point is probably that it isn’t available on Android…
Here’s hoping that changes.
Invitation campaign code
(Install the app using the code below and you’ll get 5,000 pt!)