Rise of Trivia Apps

So have you ever signed into your social media account and all of a sudden, you're seeing an ad revealing an app that shows a couple of trivia questions, followed by the "you win $150?" Since 2017, live trivia apps have been on the rise. Apps like HQ and Hangtime to name, for example, and what these apps have in common are the cash prizes—and I'm talking about actual cash prizes that you can cash out with.

When you go onto these apps, some of them would start at certain times, mostly in the afternoon, with actual hosts standing there asking the questions and giving out the correct answers. But before you go to look up these apps and download them and start playing, you should know a few things, both good and bad, about the apps. Let's get started.

For the good parts about the apps, you get challenging questions and you have the chance to win either a portion of the cash prizes, or you win the full amount. The reason that I say a portion is because you will be facing off against other people as well and they may get as many of the correct answers as you.

Some apps have it where if you get one answer wrong, you are automatically eliminated and you can't answer anymore throughout the rest while others allow you to keep answering even though you had one wrong. Cash prizes range from $150 to over $1000.

The bad parts about the apps are mostly the chat boxes. In almost every app, there are so many who would give out answers, right or wrong, and on some apps, you get the annoying chat spams such as "Wakanda Forever," "Bird Nest Soup," and "It's My Birthday," just to name out some.

Also, in certain ones, you're allowed to team up with others and help each other out with answers; however, there are some who will "help" you and then give you one wrong answer just to stop you from winning. The worst (and you usually find these almost everywhere online) are the trolls who will pick a fight with you online for practically no reason and will cause drama over even the littlest of things (like a simple texting error).

If you're one who wants to get to the questions with no chats, there's a few out there for you, but it's rather hard to find as these just started coming out.

One of the greatest things about some of the livestream apps is that the moderators would interact with the players and they are quick to deal with those causing trouble (especially ones with racist/offensive account names).

When you do win the prize, either a portion or the full amount, if you are the only winner, you can cash out, but you would have to wait for approval on some, if not all, and you have to have a PayPal if you want to cash out.

Another thing about all these apps is that the trivia questions are all timed—mainly 10 seconds or less—so you're pressured into answering quickly. Now for some apps, like Hangtime, you have the option to change your answer if you are second guessing where in the others, your answer is locked in.

Another good thing about the pals is that they're multi-choice so you don't have to type in an answer. Also, as for the subjects/themes they ask in the trivia is limitless, for it could be history, celebrity, science—pretty much anything.

So if you do go for these apps, don't be upset if you don't win anything. There's always another chance. Most importantly, have fun.