CoverMe - Second Phone Number

Review by eFreeware

CoverMe is built around one simple idea: you get a second phone number, on top of the line your carrier already gave you, and you use it for the conversations you would rather not attach to your real number. The developer positions it for business dealings, online dating and any situation where handing over your personal contact details feels like too much. If you have ever wanted a number you can give out freely and walk away from later, this is the category of app you would look at.

What you get is a US or Canada number with a choice of area codes, used for calls and texts from inside the app. The developer promises call quality that beats ordinary phone service, and says calls placed this way stay off your phone bill. The app has been on Google Play since July 2013, which makes it one of the longer-running names in this space, and it was updated as recently as October 2025.

Who the second line suits

The clearest fit is someone who needs a working number that is not their own. A freelancer handing out contact details to clients, a seller meeting strangers from a marketplace listing, or someone dating online and not ready to share a personal line all get the same benefit: a number that can be given out, used and then replaced. The developer lists business and online dating as the two obvious cases, and both make sense.

It also suits people who want their texting to leave fewer traces on the device itself. Messages can be set to vanish, sent messages can be pulled back, and the app can be locked or disguised. That combination is aimed at someone who shares a phone or regularly has people looking over their shoulder.

The average rating sits at 3.2 from more than 10,000 ratings, with over a million installs. That is a long-running app with a large user base and a mixed reception, which is worth factoring in before you commit to a number you intend to keep.

Calling and texting from the new number

The core of the app is straightforward: you pick a number, then call and text from it. Calling covers the US, Canada and China, and the number itself can be swapped for a different one whenever you want. That last point matters more than it first appears, because a disposable line you can replace is what separates this from simply owning a second SIM.

Texting works the same way. Messages go out from the second number rather than your personal one, and they are kept off the record. For anyone whose main worry is a personal number leaking into a group chat, a marketplace thread or a dating conversation, that alone is the feature doing the work.

Call logs from the second line do not appear on your phone bill. If you want a record of calls that stays inside the app rather than on a carrier statement, that is the appeal.

Disappearing messages and recall

CoverMe gives you control over what happens to a message after it is sent. You can see when the other person has read it, and you can set a message to disappear once it has been read. Sent messages can also be recalled, which covers the case of a photo or a message that went to the wrong person.

That is a meaningful set of options for anyone who has ever sent something and immediately regretted it. The trade-off is that these controls only work between people using the app.

Read receipts and disappearing messages change how a conversation feels, and not everyone wants that. If you prefer a plain, permanent record of what was said, this is a different style of messaging than you are used to.

Encryption and what it covers

Conversations between CoverMe users are end-to-end encrypted, which protects them from interception on ordinary phone networks. The app also describes calls and texts made through it as anonymous.

End-to-end encryption applies to app-to-app communication only. A message that leaves the app and lands on a regular phone does not get the same treatment.

What you still get is the separation between your real number and the one you hand out.

Locking, disguises and the private vault

The app includes a set of features for keeping its contents away from anyone holding your phone. You can lock it with a shake, disguise it behind a mask app so it does not look like a messaging tool, and set decoy passwords so that someone who does open it still cannot read your messages.

There is also a private vault for photos, videos, passwords, contacts, documents and notes. It is password-protected, and files stay safe even if the device is lost or left unattended. In practice this is a second job for the app beyond calling and texting, and it is the part that turns it into a general privacy tool rather than just a number.

Whether you want that much bundled into one place is a fair question. Someone who only needs a spare line for work calls will find a lot of the app pointed at a different problem.

What it costs

CoverMe is a free download. There are no ads, and the app offers in-app purchases.

The absence of advertising is worth noting for an app in this category, since a private messaging tool that interrupts you with ads would undercut its own purpose. In-app purchases are common for number-based services, and their presence here is not surprising.

If your use is occasional, a free download with optional purchases is an easy thing to try. If you plan to make the second number your main business line, you will want to understand the purchase options before you start giving the number out.

Alternatives in the same territory

The obvious comparison is a second SIM or an extra line from your carrier. That gives you a number that works everywhere, including on phones that do not have the app, but it comes with a monthly bill rather than a download you can remove.

A dedicated messaging service is the other direction. CoverMe is trying to cover both the number and the privacy storage in one app, which is a broader promise than most messaging tools make.

There is also the question of what you actually need. If your goal is simply to keep work and personal conversations apart, a carrier line is the cleaner answer. If your goal is a number you can change on a whim and a place to keep private files, the app's combination is harder to match elsewhere.

A second line worth trying for the right user

CoverMe is a reasonable fit for anyone who wants a US or Canada number they can use for calls and texts without exposing their own, and who values the extra controls around disappearing messages, locking and file storage. The free download and the absence of ads make it easy to evaluate, and the in-app purchases let you decide later whether the service is worth paying for.

The 3.2 average from more than 10,000 ratings suggests the experience has not been uniformly smooth for everyone, and the app-to-app limit on end-to-end encryption is worth understanding before you rely on it for sensitive conversations. It is not a replacement for a carrier line, and it is not trying to be.

If you need a disposable number for business, selling or dating, and you want the privacy extras in the same place, this is a sensible thing to install and try. If you just want a plain second line that works everywhere, a carrier option will serve you more directly.

What's new in version 2.8.85

*Fixed some minor bugs.