TextNow: Call + Text Unlimited Reviews

So I work really really hard but like a lot of people- sometimes in between paydays comes that phone bill. Which can be that little extra that’s either going to get you by or give you phone. Of course I choose to use it to get by! Downloading this app- I have Wi-Fi at home and at work. So while I’m here or at home I can call my FS card to check my balance (which can be VERY important when I need milk for my 2 yr old ect;) and I’m unsure of what I’ve got- and avoid embarrassment in the store being declined for misunderstanding my balance. It can be helpful for a lot. I need it for little thank God but where I need it- it comes in clutch like any phone I PAY for to make calls. I don’t use it as my main use but it’s definitely 1000% my go-to in a tight spot. Thank you Creators! (If you use this for texting pics, videos, voicemail; I think you pay for it but it’s like $10 a month…whiiiich is still $50 MINIMUM cheaper than a lot of plans elsewhere- I only use it for sparingly important phone calls in-between paydays so it’s perfect for users like me and that function- really is free.)

I paid the $4.99/yr for locking my number, and now all of a sudden a month later i click on the app to try and look at what number i have so i can log back into my Telegram account that i needed it for, and it will only ask for me to choose a new number. It’s clearly a glitch though, because it will show the list of texts i have gotten on the number i already paid to use and keep for less than a second before the other screen pops up in front of it. I can’t get around it. Update: i went back and forth with customer service over email and provided them the information they asked for, and a week later even after i ask if there’s been any update on progress, i get nothing back. I found out whoever has my number now deleted my telegram account to make their own with the number, so trying to keep it is just pointless now. Don’t use this app. They put receiving verification codes and “locking in” your number so that people don't take your information or number behind a paywall, but then it doesn’t even lock it in! I still got my number reassigned to somebody else and they were still able to log into my account and delete it so they could make their own. Waste of time and money. It took me two weeks of being logged out of my account for me to finally realize that all of this has been for nothing.

I’ve had TextNow for over 4 years and counting. I used to love this app because the ads while they were there (as they ought to be since it’s a free service), they were non intrusive and bearable. It was a tiny banner ad in between messages in the inbox . That’s it. However in the past few months it has gotten so bad that I’ve considered simply uninstalling the app and moving on . I’ve always used this service as a secondary number for non personal stuff (I even paid to get my number locked in) , but now it seems it’s not even worth it. To say that the ads are very frequent would be a total understatement.. it literally seems that after every call made , you get blasted with a 20-30 second full screen ad (which you cannot skip or close or do anything with other than wait it out) . Why should I have to deal with that so often ? It never used to be like this and if it had to come to the point in which full screen ads like that had to be implemented , then ok if it was once in a while fine , I would just deal with it. But every other phone call or 30 seconds of going through messages? Nah that’s too much I’m sorry. You guys sold out plain and simple.

I have been a customer for the last two years and this app helped make the most difficult time of my life more bearable. When COVID hit the city I liv4d in in March of 2020 I was unable to pay my $55 phone bill and as a result they turned off my phone . FortunatleyI had#iFi and came across the app . Thanks to the app I was able to notify paramedics and my others hospice nurse when she was in the final stages of COVID and then family and friends when she passed the following day. I’ve tried other apps and was very disappointed. One in particular charged me $ 10and then wouldn’t let me make more than a couple of calls or texts and then said I had reached my,limit ! I l0ve this app and so grateful it helps people like me make it through the toughest of times without having to lose contact with others when it can be a life or death situation. Thank you much for being so beneficial to people who cannot make ends meet9n the middle of a global pandemic you’ve been a beacon of light !! Thank you so much for all you do to help without being greedy.

This app is great. Especially for me because I have an iPad, which means I cannot text phones from Samsung etc. This app is good because I could text my friends with phones from other providers. But, I faced many issues such as sometimes I would click on the app and it would shut me out and I would be back on the home screen after being in the app for about 3 seconds. I do get a lot of spam calls and a lot of people I don’t know txt me. It is really glitchy and sometimes I send messages and the person I am texting did not receive it. Another thing I didn’t like was I didn’t receive notifications most of the time when people texted me. One day I went on the app and all but the contact names went black. It shut me out of the app and I was back at the home screen. I tried many times getting back on the app, but it never worked. Then I got back on about a couple months later and I was logged out of my account! I can’t get back on and I don’t know what to do!! All of my text messages with my friends and family are gone. I would not recommend this app... it has just brought me so much anger and unless they fixed something with a magical update I don’t know if it’s going to be any good because I WAS LOGGED OUT OF MY ACCOUNT AND CAN’T CHECK FOR YOU. Hope this helped.

I have used this app for several years. First stated having issues 1 year ago where my number was almost lost even though I had paid the subscription to keep my number. Now this week when I try to use the service I receive a message that my account has been terminated for violation of terms. However I have barely used the app in the last few months except for every once in a while and I am definitely sure I violated no terms as I have been using the app for several years. When I contacted customer service they informed me the account was closed for violation but are not able to tell me what the violation was and there is not appeal process to get reactivated. It is my feeling that they just wanted the subscription fee and then wanted to recycle my number to someone else. I do not recommend this app to anyone due to sketchy business practices and no business integrity. Update: They contacted me to try and resolve issue supposedly but would only say sorry we can't help your account terminated even though I had paid the yearly subscription fee to keep my number. This app use to be good, however as many of the other reviews have stated it is now a total scam to get money then free up cell number to other to try and scam over and over.

Updated. I was all wrong. Tech support was able to send instructions to fix my situation. It was working within 5 minutes. That’s all it took. Live Chat support was very supportive. Issue resolved and rating updated. Thank you. The offer is truly free no strings attached. Thanks again. (It offers free unlimited calling and texting with one time purchase of the SIM card kit on our nationwide network. So it says on the advertisement. There’s an asterisk in the advertisement however when you scroll down you can’t find the notice for the asterisk. It’s only after purchase I realize the SIM card purchase only activates the free calling on WiFi only portion of the plan. Free texting remains the same on WiFi only. My phone did not work outside. You need to purchase the AdFree+ plan or a data plan to have your phone work outside. The SIM card kit offer page she be updated without any words mentioning or referencing your nationwide network. That is highly misleading and disingenuous. It’s a classic bait and switch.)

I had text now app for a long while and then I caught wind of their free cell service, I ordered a sim card and I installed it in my iPhone and activated it. Once I activated the sim card I went down the street and I was able to make and receive high quality audio calls and the texts send and receive fast, you truly get free cell service yes $0.00 with no WiFi I am able to call and text this is a wonderful thing!! I decided to transfer my cell number over to TextNow and it was a smooth and pleasant process that took less then 24 hours!! I transferred my number from Straight Talk to TextNow. There is no cell data included with the free plan but that’s ok with me I’ll just use the internet on WiFi, although if you wanted cell data TextNow has affordable options. What’s the catch you say ? There are ads that pop up from time to time when you call or text but besides that there is no catch!! I highly recommend this it’s great

I’ve been a TextNow user for many years, ever since 2011, and haven’t run into so much trouble until recently when their ads just became unbearable. I believe in ads and have even tried buying their service several times. However, the ads are ruining the experience. Whenever I enter the app and tap on a contact and begin to type a message the app just freezes. I sometimes end up calling my boss on accident due to the horrible lag. The actual texting and calling is good otherwise. The texting is far better than the calling at times. I have unlimited data, but this apps can go from working great to not working at all in seconds. I can see that it’s the ads causing all the issues. My fix would be to have ads take up less data or use less ads or use a better way to get these ads on the app. Please fix this devs. It gets very confusing and frustrating when I can’t use the app due to all the ads. I will try to get a plan to remove the ads, but the normal service is advertised as free. I do hope you can fix the interface to run smoothly once again. I will return to the app when it gets better.

#1: USE TALKU OR DINGTONE!! always guaranteed credits to earn through watching videos and playing games-very interactive! And one of the best for free-yes free international calls and texts that actually go through! It’s not perfect 100% of the time but it’s gotten so much better. Avoid TEXTNOW. You’re lucky if you can earn one credit a day. Talking to support today made me want to literally rip my eyes out because I was going in circles with someone who clearly didn’t read or understand not only the initial issue, but know what’s in their FAQs and articles. 1st, they have a submit a request feature through the app, but then when you submit a request, you get a canned reply through email saying they don’t use that anymore and to utilize chat instead. Then you need to remove anything that is obsolete from your app!! A customer should not be going in circles to try to get help. I had to explain to this person practically 3 times what I was referring to. For example-they say you can complete offers for credit but there is nowhere to ever do that! So do not refer me to Tap Joy when you don’t even offer the opportunity to earn credits for offers! It was just awful… I wind up turning off the message communication with this person because my patience was depleted.

Idk what happened to this app but it’s been complete garbage the last few days (both the iPhone and the iPad versions of the app). It completely overloads the device’s operating system or something because when I try to open the app whatever media is playing in the background (and would normally continue to play in the background) stops playing. This wouldn’t really bother me if it was the only problem, but from there it only gets worse. The app freezes and will not respond to any taps. I’ve tried task killing the app and then restarting it but nothing changes. I’ve also tried doing a soft reset/force re-starting the devices, and then trying the app again to see if it’s working, but that hasn’t helped either. At first I thought it was my phone but then I realized the same thing was happening on my iPad too, so it must be the app itself because I’m not having any issues like this with any other apps. I really wish/hope the developer fixes the app because this was my favorite messaging app (before the update). But now that it’s completely unusable I’m going to have to try out some other apps and see if I can find a suitable alternative. Goodbye (for now?) TextNow ✌️

At the end of December I decided to purchase the $4.99 a year for the service of TextNow but I’ve been with them since maybe August. Well ALL of a sudden today I noticed that as I am receiving messages from my classmates and family and friends, I noticed that when I actually go to reply back that their message is not there??? I figured okay maybe I should update my phone and the app but after I did that I STILL am not able to see anyones messages inside of TextNow app but only in my notifications?! I even out of curiosity, canceled the yearly subscription and then repurchased the same subscription and the TextNow app still is displaying the same issue and now I’m out of an extra $4.99. I am a college student, I’m broke and I use this phone service to contact potential employers. I was recommended by my dear sister to use this app because I am extremely pressed on cash. I gave the app a 1 start because I’ve spent money on this app not once but twice and this issue is still on ongoing even after a supposed update of this app today, LITERALLY. This is a VERY OUT OF NOWHERE GLITCH that needs to be looked into and fixed as soon as possible. PLEASE fix this app as soon as possible.

I absolutely love the text no app! It’s convenient and steady. FMy family and I have used it for 5 years! What I like about bout text now is the fact that no matter what , I can always access it through any device I choose to use whenever I choose to use it! Another great thing about text now is when I do have to access it through a secondary device all my info and previous messages are still there! That is super convenient being I lose everything especially phone numbers and messages! But text now keeps all that stored and it’s accessible to me 24/7. Sometimes paying my and my family’s phone bills can be very stressful at times because it’s expensive and I’m not able to get all of them payed at the same time. So having text now as a back up or second number. I along with my children Can assure my friends and family that they’re still able to contact me through texting or calling. Thanks text now!🤗

TextNow is a great idea and provides a great service essentially - that you can have a free phone number and call North America from anywhere in the world -however the user experience is pretty bad. The app is slow, extremely glitchy, and the ads are meant to overwhelm your experience. The ad situation has gotten substantially worse in recent months. The standard bad ad experience on the app is that the ads pop up on the home screen constantly and they are hard to close. But recently I had the experience that video ads start playing through my calls and as the call time progresses the interval between the time the video ad plays gets shorter and shorter. So what happens is you're talking to someone and then an extremely loud ad (way above the call audio volume) starts playing over your call. You can shut it down but it will just start back up again a few moments later. Really unbearable. I am keeping the app because it's in its development stages and I'm hoping it will go in a different direction when it receives more funding. As a traveler it's a great tool for me, just wish it wasn't such a harrowing tool to use.

This was a good app. Today I didn’t receive 2 critical text messages. Instead, I received 2 text messages from your company saying that now I must pay to receive text messages…if I have a particular version of your app. I spent an hour hunting for my app’s version # without success. 1. What is the version # of my app? The emailed link to purchase the text messaging capability didn’t work. 2. Is that because I have the wrong version? How do I receive text messages as in the past? I spent an hour searching for a tech support phone or email without success. 3. How do I contact tech support? In trying to sign up for the text messaging plan, I accidentally purchased “lock in your #.” I don’t need that service 4. How do I get my $ back? Or, better yet, how do I get the plan switched from “lock in your #!” to “text messaging.” Your website and the Apple App store say that both phoning and texting are free, which apparently is untrue. 5. Isn’t false advertising illegal? - I reinstalled the app today to be sure I have the latest version. I have sent multiple text messages from my phone - not one has come through. Calls works, but not text messages.

I am not sure if it is my phone, or the phones of my contacts. At times, even when I seem to send them messages, they inform me that they do not receive them. Or when I call them, they say they do not receive a record of me calling them. I like the style and interface of the app, it is very appealing, but it is just these small inconveniences that make the experience troublesome. One feature that I would love to see is that when you send someone a message/text, that there would be a little notification that says “John has seen your message” or a simple little “seen” notification. Like on Instagram messaging. That would make this app much better, and would restore my confidence in it. It is a great app, and I would take it over any other competitor, just fix these things, and add that feature, and I would eagerly share with more of my friends and family. Thank you! 😁

I trusted TextNow for a couple of years until I heard you connect to their wireless data. Yes it works with WiFi but I decided to try the free wireless data and bought it for $10 and the same day I received my activation kit, I decided to cancel it because of some sketchy stuff that was going on with the SIM card not working and my device not connecting to their wireless data it said no refund but on their website before you buy the activation kit they advertise that they will give you a 30 day return refund and you get your money back but that’s a total lie I got no refund as it stated in the email (which had no reply) meaning I can’t reply to whoever sent that email so now I just lost $10... this is a total scam please don’t fall for it you’re just going to lose money do not fall for their free wireless plan or go with any of their plans. It’s all sketchy and just fake advertisements to get your money & improve their app. Something else I also found sketchy about TEXTNOW is that I’ve been looking for a customer service number/email and I couldn’t find anything it just takes me to a site that answers irrelevant questions. SMH BIG FAILURE!!!

I do love this app I use it all the time but sometimes when I press the hang up button it is really slow and glitchy and when I go to the app it will shut me out of it when I’m only in the app for 3 seconds but again I use this app all the time but I also get a lot of random numbers call and text me and it does get super annoying but I love this app so so so much I use it so much and it’s just really slow and glitchy but I mean it is what it is also this app is very very slow and glitchy when I go on the app it will take a while for it to actually load even when I full bars of WiFi’s and everything I think maybe it’s just really slow and I noticed if I get more than 13 phone numbers it will delete my most recent person I texted and if I don’t use my app for a 3 days it will log me out and say I need to get a new number I have spent so much time on this app and it’s not that good of quality I hop you guys the best to try and fix it and this app would be the bomb but as of right now it’s not such a great app🥰!

I have been having issues for months now, it would freeze or crash on my iPad mini 4 with the newest version of iOS and the last couple weeks have been horrible! Not getting important texts, or phone calls. It was like my ringer was off, it wasn’t! Once I opened the app it would say 4 Missed Calls, and it never rang! I tested it with a friends phone and called my apps number, it rang on his end but not on my end. After uninstalling and reinstalling the app, restarting before reinstalling, it has gone from being pretty reliable to wondering if I’ll be getting my phone calls! It went from a 4 star App to a 2 star app, and WoW, did I mention adds? Come on Text Now, Do we need adds flashing and popping up? No wonder the App keeps closing when I go to open it, the app is trying to run adds before loading messages! To much running makes apps crash!, UPDATE MAY 17th 2020, I’m still not getting notifications of incoming calls, my Alert goes off for a second and stops. Then a friend called and said somebody answered but wasn’t me. How’s this possible?? I’m not happy with this. Why is this happening? Who’s answering my calls when I’m not?

I’ve been using Text Now for a few months. At first, it started out like a great substitution for the more expensive (and horrible) Sprint service I’ve been wasting my money on. Since they both use the same network, I’d rather pay less for unreliable and sketchy phone service. But believe me, Text Now service is not at all reliable either. You won’t get much reception indoors, your texts msgs may or may not send, and there will be times when you won’t get phone calls. Anyway, my rant today is because TextNow took things to a new low. Today my bill is due and they SHUT ME OFF on the day it’s due. AND it’s a Saturday, so I can’t transfer money from my savings account into my (bill paying) account until Monday. I take complete ownership for not remembering about transferring sooner. Thanksgiving was just 2 days ago and I lost all sense of time in the planning. But to give NO notice is going too far. Since I drive for Uber, I cannot work or earn money either until Monday as well and I’M FURIOUS!!! They are screwing with my livelihood. So PLEASE reconsider your choice to use this service. Don’t be dumb like me. Find another way. Or someday you’ll be writing a scathing review too.