FaxReceive - receive fax phone

Review by eFreeware

FaxReceive is an Android app from Actual Software Inc. that handles one half of the fax equation: getting a document in. You rent an inbound US fax number for a set window, hand that number to whoever is sending you something, and the finished fax arrives on your phone or tablet as a PDF. The app has been on Google Play since October 2015, sits in the Business category, and has passed 50,000 installs with a 4.4 average across 487 ratings.

The reason to consider it is the shape of the problem it solves. A fax machine is a piece of hardware that needs a place to sit and a line that bills you every month, whether or not anything comes through. FaxReceive replaces that with a number you borrow when you need it, which is a sensible trade for anyone whose fax traffic is a few documents a year rather than a daily flow.

Built for occasional inbound documents

The clearest fit is the person who needs to receive something signed or annotated once in a while. The developer points to signed legal documents, handwritten or hand-notated pages, and simple scans of paperwork as the sort of material this handles. Those are the cases where a sender insists on fax rather than email, and where you would otherwise be hunting for a machine at a copy shop or an office you do not work in.

Because the fax lands on your device rather than at a fixed address, the location of the sender and the location of the recipient stop mattering. You are not tied to a fax machine in a building, and you are not asking someone to stand by a shared device while your document sits in its output tray. The developer describes this as a more secure way to receive, since the pages do not rest unattended on a machine that anyone can walk past.

The second audience is the small business that wants a number it can print on letterhead and keep. For that, the developer offers a one-year receive option, and renewing it keeps the same number rather than issuing a new one. That matters if clients or agencies have the number saved, because a changed number would mean chasing everyone down to update their records.

How the temporary number works

The mechanics are straightforward. The app assigns you an inbound number for a limited time when a document arrives. You pass that number to the sender, they transmit during the window you have paid for, and once the window closes the number stops being valid. You are buying a slot rather than a standing service, which is why the developer frames the whole thing as pay per use.

Two details are worth holding onto. First, the temporary numbers are all based in the United States, so a sender abroad may be dialing internationally to reach you. Your own number, handset and minutes stay out of it. What it does need is an internet connection of some kind, so the phone can pull the document down once it has been transmitted.

The delivery path is deliberately narrow. The fax goes straight to your Android device and does not route through or sit in your email account. If you would rather not have a confidential page forwarded into a mailbox that other people or services can reach, that is the part of the design that will matter to you.

PDFs, printing and where the files go

Every fax comes through as a PDF, which is the practical choice for this job. A PDF can be opened on the phone, moved into other applications, filed away, or forwarded to whoever needs to see it. The developer also builds in direct Cloud Print support, so a fax can be sent to a printer when and where you want a paper copy rather than being trapped on the screen.

The app supports Android 17 and offers improved notification filtering. The first is housekeeping that keeps the app working on current devices. The second is the more interesting one for regular users: if you would rather not have every incoming fax announce itself loudly, more control over notifications is a small but welcome addition.

What it costs and how you pay

The download itself is free. In-app purchases are offered, and the core service is billed per use, with a one-year receive option for a permanent number. You pay for the use of a number rather than for the software.

I would treat the cost as a running one rather than a one-off. If your fax traffic is genuinely occasional, the per-use approach lines up with how often you actually need it. If you are receiving documents every week, the yearly option is the one that matches that rhythm, and the fact that the number survives renewal is the detail that makes it usable as a business line.

How it compares with the alternatives

The obvious comparison is a fax machine or a dedicated fax line. Both carry a physical footprint and a recurring bill, and both tie you to one place. FaxReceive trades that for a number you borrow when a document is coming, which is a better fit for low volumes and a worse fit if you need a machine that is always listening on the same line.

The second comparison is a general-purpose document or scanning service. Those tend to be built around documents you create or photograph yourself, and around storage and sharing. This app is narrower by design: it is about accepting an inbound transmission from someone else and turning it into a file you can use.

The third is the office fax machine down the hall. It costs nothing directly, but it puts your document in a shared tray and asks you to be present when it arrives. The developer's pitch is partly about that physical exposure, and if the pages you receive are confidential, the difference is worth weighing.

A narrow tool that does its one job

FaxReceive is not trying to be a document suite. It receives faxes, delivers them as PDFs, and leaves the rest to the applications you already have. That focus is the appeal: there is no fax machine to buy, no monthly line to keep alive, and no email inbox in the middle of a confidential transmission.

The trade-offs are the ones the design implies. You need an internet connection for the fax to reach you, the temporary numbers are US-based, and the service is paid for by use or by the year rather than being free once installed. Those are reasonable conditions for the problem it solves, but they are conditions.

If you receive a signed contract, a referral letter or a handwritten form a handful of times a year, and you would rather not own hardware to do it, this is the sort of app that earns a place on your phone for those moments. If faxes are a constant part of your working week, the yearly number is the version of this that makes sense. Either way, the app is doing something specific, and it is clear about what that is.

What's new

Android 17 compatibility. Improved notification filtering options.