DISCLAIMER: This website provides the following information for educational purposes only, and does not endorse or condone any violation of terms or agreements caused by use of the “auto refresh” methods or options discussed. We are not responsible for any damages or breach of contact that occurs due to your use of the information below.
Are you tired of seeing “no blocks available” on the Amazon Flex app? Do you wish you could get more delivery blocks assigned? Want to know if there are any tricks you can use to improve your chances? If you’re a veteran Amazon Flex driver there is no doubt that you’ve wished there is a clever trick or a way to have an AUTO REFRESH function to see if new blocks have become available.
Why would an auto refresh feature help me in the Amazon Flex app?
After you’ve completed registration, completed the background check, installed the Amazon Flex app, set up your available times in the calendar, and think you’re ready to start delivering, the unexpected happens. You see the dreaded “no offers available” screen.
How frustrating is that? Unfortunately because of the way Amazon Flex is set up, there are many drivers competing for limited spots, so the app decides to assign blocks on a first come first serve basis, in the app itself. The only way to check if blocks are available, is to swipe or tap the screen and let the screen refresh as it pings to server to see if any blocks are available.
You will likely need to do this process many, many times before you ever see any availability. Your fingers will get tired. Your eyes will get tired. You will start seeing things and even have nightmares about it.
If only there was a way to automatically refresh the Amazon Flex app for you, and let you know when it finds one! You would no longer need to play the swiping game, and have so many delivery blocks assigned, every day.
Later in this article, we discuss 4 ways you can potentially come up with an auto refresh method. The unfortunate reality, however, is that there are no published, simple tricks, hacks or apps that will automatically refresh the block availability page for you. The fact of the matter is, if there were an app or hack that became popular and universal, the delivery blocks will basically be given to those with the fastest internet connection or phone devices. At that point, Amazon Flex would certainly catch on, and determine the source of the auto fresh app or hack and shut it down. After all, Amazon Flex depends on a happy and satisfied workforce – with any discontent or complaint about fairness with getting delivery blocks assigned, Amazon Flex can quickly have a messy situation quickly escalate.
Can you get in trouble for using an auto refresh app or other tricks for Amazon Flex?
It is not clear from the Amazon Flex Independent Contractor terms of service that using an auto refresh app is explicitly prohibited. What does seem clear is that creating an auto refresh app is prohibited as stated below:
“You may not incorporate any portion of the Licensed Materials into your own works or compile any portion of it in combination with your own works, transfer it, in whole or in part, for use with another service, or sell, rent, distribute, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble, or make derivative works based on the Licensed Materials or any part of the Licensed Materials or otherwise sublicense or assign any rights to the Licensed Materials in whole or in part.”
One user on social media shared the following screenshot showing an email that they allegedly received from Amazon Flex about their illegal use of an auto refresh hack:
While we won’t know for sure what actions Amazon Flex has taken or will take against users who use tricks or auto refresh methods, this is always a risky endeavor so you should only do what you are comfortable with – and proceed at your own risk!
Below is a list of ways you might be able to come close to an auto refresh solution for getting Amazon Flex delivery blocks:
1) Purchase an Amazon Flex auto refresh swiper bot
This product, called the Flex Bot 6, is sold on…you guessed it…Amazon.com! For $149, you can let an automated contraption do all the work for you. Admittedly, it looks very homemade, but the actual swiping motion is indeed very simple so it would not be surprising to see that this works as described. Designed for Samsung S5, S6 and S7s only (no iPhones), the contraption is powered by a 5V USB cable, which means you can run this in your car through a regular phone charger. The product description claims that the device is perfectly legal and does not violate the Amazon Flex terms. In reality, this may still be in violation of Amazon Flex terms, but it may just be a matter of Amazon Flex having a harder time finding out due to this being a hardware auto refresh solution, rather than a hack or software modification solution.
It’s too bad that the Flex Bot 6 is not available on Amazon Prime, otherwise this would be an Inception-like situation to have a auto refresh bot for Amazon Flex delivered to you by one of your Amazon Flex colleagues…so that you can do more Amazon Flex deliveries.
2) Make your own Amazon Flex auto refresh swiper bot
Don’t have $149 to dish out on a contraption like this? Maybe you can get creative with your own DIY solution. You’ll want to use something like a stylus to ensure that whatever contraption you build taps the phone screen in a way that allows your phone the register the tap / swipe as a human touch. Building something that taps/swipes repeatedly would be the first step, but the second step of knowing that a block is available and knowing which one to select would certainly be a bigger challenge.
Sound like a lot of work? It sure is, but you can use all that time you spend swiping to think about your design.
3) Get nerdy with your own auto refresh script
If you have coding skills, you may be able to figure out how to write your own script to automatically refresh. The idea here would be to determine a way to “synthesize” a touch event such that you can trick your phone into thinking you are actually a user tapping a certain part of the screen. Then, you will somehow need to get this to run on repeat, since of course delivery blocks will not always be available. For example, check out Tasker for Android which may help you accomplish an auto refresh effect.
4) Work with other app developers on an auto refresh solution
Other app developers who have coding skills have been willing to work with Amazon Flex drivers to help out with their need for an auto refresh solution. See threads like this one, for example.
Finally, accept that there is no easy auto refresh app solution
As mentioned above, any auto refresh app for Amazon Flex that gains enough popularity and traction will eventually be shut down as it will be easy to detect. If you do take an approach that gives you an unfair advantage, do know that if enough people do it, you will eventually be found out. In the mean time, get better at knowing how to get delivery blocks, and check out other tweaks that can make swiping less laborious.
