Text Me: Second Phone Number

Review by eFreeware

Handing out your main phone number has a cost that has nothing to do with money. It follows you into every marketplace listing, every form and every group chat, and once it is out there, changing it means telling everyone you know. A second number solves that, but a carrier line usually means another contract or another prepaid top-up. Text Me, from TextMe, Inc., takes a different route: it gives you a US or Canada number that lives inside an app and runs over WiFi.

The app has been on Google Play since August 2011 and has passed 50 million installs, with a 4.1 average across more than half a million ratings. It is free to download, supported by ads, and offers in-app purchases. The pitch is straightforward: a real number for texting and calling, no cellular data plan required, and a set of privacy tools that a standard carrier line does not give you.

A number that lives in the app

The core of Text Me is the number itself. You get a US or Canada number to text and call from, and the app treats it as a real line rather than a messaging layer on top of your carrier. Texts, picture messages and group chats go through it, and calls are placed as voice calls with voicemail attached. Because everything runs over WiFi, the number is not tied to a SIM card.

That last point is what makes the app interesting on a tablet. An Android tablet with no cellular radio can become a texting and calling device, which is not something a normal messaging app can do. The same applies to a phone that is out of contract or traveling on WiFi only. The developer describes Text Me as a free WiFi calling app, and the practical effect is that your number travels with your Google account rather than with a piece of plastic.

Signing up happens through Facebook or Google. From there, the app covers the ordinary ground you would expect: texting, calls, voicemail, and a set of settings for how messages and calls announce themselves.

Messaging, calls and the extras around them

Texting inside Text Me is not limited to plain SMS. The app handles MMS picture messaging, group chat and group messaging, so sending a photo or keeping a conversation going with several people works the same way it would on a carrier line. There is a customizable signature you can attach to outgoing texts, a text tone and sent-message sound you can change, and a wallpaper or background for the app itself.

Calls come with their own set of options. Voicemail is included, and you can record a custom greeting rather than living with a default one. Call forwarding is listed among the features, as is video calling and a customizable ringtone. Number lookup is there for checking a number before you answer or call back, which is a small feature that saves a certain amount of guesswork.

One feature worth singling out is location sharing. You can send your GPS position by text, SMS or MMS, which is the kind of thing that is awkward to do over a normal message thread and genuinely useful when you are trying to meet someone. The app also reminds you about unread messages, which matters more than usual here: a second number is easy to forget to check, and a nudge keeps it from going stale.

Privacy tools that a carrier line does not offer

The privacy side is where Text Me makes its strongest case. The number is described as anonymous, a burner or disposable line you can use for texting and calling without exposing your main one. A passcode can lock the app, and conversations can be hidden rather than merely archived. For anyone who wants a number that does not lead back to their name, that combination is the point of the whole exercise.

Filtering extends to both directions. Incoming texts can be filtered, and calls can be filtered as well, including inbound calls on the lock screen, so a number you hand out for one purpose does not become a channel for everything else. You can preview a message on the locked screen if you want the convenience, or rely on the passcode and hidden conversations if you would rather not.

The developer says it works alongside services like TextNow, TextFree, Talkatone and Google Voice. That matters if you already use one of them for a different purpose and want Text Me to sit alongside it rather than replace it.

International use and what it costs

Free texting and calling cover the United States and Canada. Beyond that, international calling and texting to around 200 destinations is handled with credits you buy in the app, which is where the in-app purchases come in. If your contacts are mostly in the US or Canada, the free side of the app covers the bulk of what you would do with it. If you need to reach other countries regularly, credits are the mechanism, and the cost depends on the destination.

The developer attaches several limitations to the free offer. Free SMS is limited to users based in the United States and Canada. Texting to Latin America falls under a fair usage policy based on balanced inbound and outbound traffic. Not every carrier or area in those 200 countries is covered, the developer says. All of it is subject to the app's terms and conditions.

The free download is supported by ads, and the app offers in-app purchases. That is the shape of the deal: you are not paying a monthly line fee, and in exchange the app is ad-supported and reserves credits for international use.

What the app asks of you

No cellular data plan is needed, but the app depends on being online. On a tablet that is a non-issue, since WiFi is the only option anyway. On a phone it means the second number is only as reachable as your connection, which is worth thinking through if you plan to rely on it for anything time-sensitive.

International use is possible through credits, but the free core is a North American proposition. Readers outside that region should treat Text Me as an international calling tool with a credit balance rather than a free texting service.

Signing up through Facebook or Google ties the number to one of those identities, which is a reasonable convenience and also the thing that makes the number portable between devices. The app's last update was at the end of September 2026, and the notes describe minor bug fixes and improvements.

A second line for WiFi-first users

Text Me suits people who want a separate number without a separate contract. That includes anyone who wants to keep marketplace listings, dating profiles or one-off signups away from their main line, and anyone who wants a number they can discard when it stops being useful. The passcode, hidden conversations and filtering options are built for exactly that kind of use.

It also suits tablet owners and WiFi-only phone users. Turning an Android tablet into a device that can text and call is a genuinely useful trick, and it is not something most messaging apps offer. Students, travelers on WiFi, and anyone who spends most of their day near a connection will get the most out of it.

The people who will find it less useful are those who need a number that works everywhere, including on the road with no WiFi in sight, and those outside the US and Canada who want free texting rather than paid credits. The app is clear about its focus, and that focus is a North American WiFi-first second line.

A second number without a second contract

The combination of free texting and calling within the US and Canada, WiFi operation, tablet support, MMS and group chat, voicemail and a solid set of privacy controls covers a lot of ground for a free download.

The developer lists the limits: ads in the free version, credits for international calls, a free texting offer for US and Canada users only, and a fair usage policy on Latin American traffic. None of that is hidden, and none of it changes what the app is good at.

If your second line needs to work without WiFi, or if you are outside North America and hoping for free texting, the app's stated limits will matter more than its features.

What's new in version 3.56.2

- Minor bug fixes and improvements