Earnest - living sustainably

What happens right after you open Earnest

The first screen shows a feed. Not a calculator, not a dashboard, just a scrollable list of tips and challenges. That is the entry point. Registration takes an email address or a Google, Apple, or Facebook account. Right after that, 1,000 points appear as a welcome bonus. The app does not ask for location data immediately. It does not request permissions for sensors or storage upfront. The only thing it wants is for you to start reading. A tip about saving water sits next to a challenge about drinking tap water instead of sugary drinks. The feed updates daily. New content arrives each morning. The design feels polished, with illustrations and photos that use the full screen. The Munich-based developer, uptodate Ventures, built this as a corporate spin-off from Versicherungskammer Bayern. The professional look is not accidental. Money and development effort went into this. The app launched in 2020 and has grown into one of the most downloaded sustainability apps in Germany.

Opening it for the first time does not feel like opening a tool. It feels like opening a social media app. That is the core design choice. Gamification drives the experience. Points, challenges, leaderboards, and rewards replace the usual serious tone of environmental apps. The name itself combines "Earth", "Earn", and "Honest" — a deliberate mix of purpose and reward. The target audience is adults who want to reduce their ecological footprint but do not want a lecture. The app delivers information in small doses. A mini-quiz about regional food sits next to a DIY guide for reusing glass jars. The variety keeps the feed fresh. The challenge system is the real engine. Users pick a topic — energy, water, food, waste — and commit to a small change for a set period. The app checks in periodically. It asks if you managed another day without soft drinks. It tracks progress. It shows CO2 savings in real time. That feedback loop is what keeps people coming back.

How two features work together in a real workflow

Take the challenges and the points system. They are not separate features. They form a loop. A user completes a challenge about reducing heating costs. The app awards points. Those points go into a reward pool. The reward is not a discount or a virtual badge. It is a real-world action: planting a tree in Germany or the Amazon, or funding ocean plastic cleanup. That connection between a daily habit and a tangible environmental outcome is unusual. Most sustainability apps stop at education. Earnest goes one step further. The points have actual value in the form of certified projects. The company claims the app has saved 10,000 tons of CO2 since launch. That number is not verifiable independently, but the mechanism is clear. The points system does not just motivate; it also creates a sense of collective impact. Leaderboards show how a user compares to others. Community challenges pit friends or colleagues against each other. The competitive element adds pressure, but it also adds fun. A user who finishes a challenge sees the points added immediately. The reward options appear in the app. Choosing a tree planting project takes a few taps. The feedback is immediate and visual. That is the loop: action, points, reward, impact. It is simple, but it works because the steps are short and the rewards are concrete.

The business version extends this loop to the workplace. Employers pay for access. The cost is €750 per year for companies with under 200 employees. Employees get the same challenges and points system, but with team challenges added. A team competes against another team within the same company. The CO2 calculator gives employers data for sustainability reports. Mini-quizzes reveal employee habits and needs. The data is anonymized and GDPR-compliant. The workplace version turns sustainability into a team sport. It also saves money. The company claims businesses save an average of €3,200 per year through reduced operating costs. That is a strong return on investment. The private version remains free. No ads appear in either version. The business model relies entirely on the B2B subscription.

The real-world performance of the current version

The changelog from December 2025 shows a major shift. The app has been redeveloped into a pure B2B application for Scope 3 mobility tracking. Login and work route recording are now exclusive to employees of registered partner companies. Private users can no longer register or log in. This is a fundamental change. The app is no longer a general sustainability tool for everyone. It is now a corporate mobility tracking system. The focus is on recording commuting and business travel emissions. The data supports CSRD reporting for employers. GPS movement is not tracked. Real-time location is not recorded. All data is anonymized before it reaches the employer's sustainability team. The app is GDPR-compliant. The change is significant because it removes the private user base entirely. The 750,000 downloads mentioned in earlier reports refer to the old version. The new version is restricted to employees of partner companies. That means the app is no longer available for individual download and use. The APK still exists on third-party sites, but the functionality is now locked behind a corporate login.

Performance in the current version is stable. The app does not crash frequently. The feed loads quickly. The challenges work as designed. The rewards system is functional. The CO2 calculator is present in the business version. The interface remains polished. No ads interrupt the experience. The app uses 33 permissions and 43 libraries, according to AppBrain. Three trackers are present, based on Exodus reports. The app size is 67.87 MB. The version number is 2.42.8. The last update was December 16, 2025. The app requires Android 5.0 or higher. The content rating is Everyone. The app has a 4.6 rating from 7,056 reviews on AppStor. The private version is no longer functional for new users. Existing private users may still have access, but the official stance is that the app is now B2B-only. The changelog confirms this explicitly. The login screen now only accepts credentials from registered partner companies. Private registration is not supported.

A specific technical detail about the permission model

The app requests 28 permissions in total. These include access to the camera, photos, and media files. It also requests location permission, though GPS is not used for tracking. The location permission is likely for manual entry of commuting routes. The app does not track real-time movement. It records the mode of transport and the distance. The data is anonymized. The employer receives only aggregated reports. Individual employees are not identifiable in the data. The permission model is standard for mobility tracking apps. The camera permission is for scanning QR codes or uploading receipts. The photos permission is for attaching images to expense reports. The app does not request contacts, SMS, or phone permissions. The data safety section states that data is encrypted in transit. Users can request data deletion. The developer is uptodate sustainable solutions GmbH, based in Munich. The contact email is [email protected]. The phone number is +49 89 20006748. The app is available in German and English. The iOS version exists but is also B2B-only. The private version is effectively discontinued.