Email us
Tell us which phone you use and what happened. For anything about your account, write from the email address you signed up with.
Common questions
Walking and earning
What do I need to use Emshi?
An Android phone running Android 8.0 or later, with Google Play services — they provide the step and activity detection that walks need in order to earn.
Location lets a walk count in full and lets you earn in booster zones. Health Connect is optional, for the Health tab.
Why does Emshi need my location?
To measure your walks, and to know when you walk into a sponsor’s booster zone. Emshi reads location while it is on screen, and during a walk you start with Track walk until you finish it — including with the screen off. It never asks for “Allow all the time”.
Without location, your steps still earn, at half the rate and up to 300 points a day.
Is Emshi tracking me when I’m not using it?
No. When Emshi isn’t on screen and you aren’t recording a walk, it doesn’t read your location.
Two things do keep working in the background, and neither uses location: the step counter, so Emshi can tell you when you’re walking with nothing recording, and activity detection, so a drive isn’t paid as a walk.
Why didn’t my walk earn points?
Points come from your phone’s step counter, and distance only counts where GPS and steps agree. A walk can earn less, or nothing, if your phone thought you were in a vehicle or on a bicycle, if the phone moved without steps being counted, if you allowed only approximate location, or if the walk hasn’t uploaded yet — walks recorded offline upload once you’re back online.
Steps without location earn at half the rate, up to 300 points a day.
What is a booster zone?
An area a sponsor has put on the map, usually around their location. Inside one, every step pays double or triple — the zone shows its multiplier — until you leave.
How do I redeem a reward?
Open Rewards, pick a reward you have enough points for — some also need a particular rank — and redeem it. You get a voucher code to use with the sponsor, and each reward lists its own terms.
Points have no cash value, and a redemption is final. See the terms.
Your phone and your account
I reinstalled Emshi or changed phones, and my streak is gone.
Your points, zone visits and rewards come back when you sign in, because they are stored with your account. Your streak and settings are kept only on your phone for now, and Emshi’s phone data isn’t backed up, so they don’t move with you.
How do I stop the “you’re walking” notifications?
These nudges appear when your phone notices you walking with nothing recording. There’s no switch for them in the app yet: turn them off in your phone’s Settings → Apps → Emshi → Notifications.
Streak reminders are separate, and you can turn them off in Emshi’s Settings.
What does Emshi do with Health Connect?
It reads steps, distance, active calories, workouts and heart rate for the Health tab — on your phone only; nothing is sent to Emshi. If you turn on Save walks to Health Connect in Settings → Privacy, it also adds your Emshi walks there.
You can change these permissions at any time in Health Connect. The privacy policy has the detail.
Can I use Emshi outside Qatar?
You can open it and your steps still earn, but every booster zone is in Qatar today, so nothing is boosted and no zone visit is recorded. The map says so and offers to show you where the zones are.
Is Emshi a health or fitness tracker I can rely on?
No. Emshi is not a medical device and gives no medical advice. The steps, distance, calories and heart-rate figures come from your phone and from Health Connect, are there for your interest, and are not accurate enough to diagnose, treat or monitor anything. Talk to a doctor before changing how you exercise.
How do I delete my account?
In Emshi: open the menu, then Settings → Account → Delete account. Or email us. Delete your account has the full steps, and what is kept.