Mining cryptocurrency seems like a fairly complicated process. However, the essence of it is quite simple. Miners get paid to verify cryptocurrency transactions, and their main job is to avoid the double-spending problem. For this, they get a small reward.
In order to verify the legitimacy of the transactions, miners need computing power. The more power they have, the faster they can mine.
Mining is usually done through a set of GPUs or an ASIC miner, which is a device built for the sole purpose of mining cryptocurrency.
However, newer algorithms are being developed that allow you to mine currency fairly fast through a CPU. Considering how fast mobile CPUs are, it’s not impractical for you to mine currency through your phone. As such, here are the top 4 Litecoin mining apps for iPhone and Android.
Note: Cryptomining apps have been banned both by Google and Apple. As such, you can only download them as APKs from the web, or jailbreak your iPhone to download them through a repository.
1. NeoNeon Miner
Right now, NeoNeon Miner is one of the best options for mining Litecoin on your phone. Like many other mining apps, NeoNeon Miner requires you to join a cryptocurrency mining pool.
A mining pool joins various miners together to increase the chances of them receiving block rewards. Simply put, you will be able to mine much faster through a mining pool than you would be able to on your own if you are only harnessing the power of your phone.
NeoNeon Miner is great in the sense that it gives you complete control over how you mine. Let’s look at some of its main features:
- You are free to switch between various mining pools.
- You have complete control over the protocols and the algorithms that you use to mine.
- You can select the number of threads involved in mining, so as to reduce the load on your processor.
- Optimization features in the app detect your SoC in seconds and decide the best configuration for you in case you are unsure.
- There is a detailed mining log to keep track of all your mining activities.
2. Pocket Miner
Pocket Miner is a great app for Litecoin miners because it was built solely and explicitly for Litecoin mining. However, just remember that it will use Litecoinpool.org’s servers to mine the cryptocurrency.
This does not mean that you will need to pay for an external mining rig. It will actually be your phone that does all of the mining, it will just take place through a single pool, and work with only Litecoin.
You are able to select the server that you ping the lowest to in the settings (which is usually the server closest to you).
The settings menu is as full of options as the best mobile cryptocurrency miners out there, and you will have no trouble in increasing the longevity of your phone while still mining in the background. Just remember that no matter how many settings you tweak, crypto mining will always cause some damage to your device.
- Here are the best features of Pocket Miner:
- Integrates flawlessly with LitecoinPool.
- Perfect if you only want to mine Litecoin (the app does not support any other cryptocurrency).
- Advanced settings available (including the ability to only mine when charging, or turn off mining when your phone’s battery is low).
3. Crypto Miner
In the beginning, Crypto Miner seems like a shabby little app hastily put together over the weekend.
However, you will be surprised by how much functionality you can get out of it.
Just like NeoNeon Miner, Crypto Miner requires you to join a mining pool to be able to mine cryptocurrency.
Like the name, Crypto Miner is focused on minimalism and simplicity. The one issue with the app seems to be that it only supports four threads for mining.
This is even if you have a phone with an eight-core processor.
While this may be considered a limitation, it is probably best for the health of your phone in the long run as it will prevent overheating and damage to the internal components.
Here are the major features of Crypto Miner:
- Support for lots of currencies. Apart from Litecoin, you can mine Bitcoin, DiamondCoin, Monero, and many others.
- Access to a ton of algorithms (just remember some of them are locked behind a paid version).
- Optimized for ARM processors.
- You can run the app in the background, and be notified when you generate new coins.
4. AA Miner
If you don’t like the first three apps for some reason, then AA Miner should do the trick for you. Unlike the previous apps that give you a lot of control over how you mine, AA Miner takes the opposite approach.
It essentially tries to make things as simple for you as possible. The interface is incredibly easy to navigate, so easy in fact that a child could figure it out. You also have support for a lot of currencies and access to the CryptoNight algorithm.
The CryptoNight algorithm is designed to take advantage of your CPU as opposed to your GPU. Considering that the CPU of your phone is much more powerful in the grand scheme of things, this algorithm is highly efficient for mobiles.
Here is what you get with AA Miner:
- Support for 50+ currencies along with Litecoin.
- The option to only use the app when your phone is being charged.
- Option to specify threads used by AA Miner.
- The ability to run the app in the background.
Conclusion
We just looked at the 4 best apps for mining Litecoin on your phone. All of them are fairly similar in the job that they do, so it is best to look for the app that gives you the most freedom over how you want to mine.
One important thing to remember is that no matter what precautions you take, mining on your phone will degrade its condition over time.
You may want to use your brand new iPhone or Samsung S series device so that you can mine quickly, but that is probably not a good idea.
Instead, mining on phones should be left to throwaway devices, or at least devices that you are thinking of upgrading soon.