Apps that give your phone a second number - CNET

The old standby for free phone service, Google Voice lets anyone with a Google account choose a phone number and then gives you plentiful ... 2023KiaTelluride StrangerThingsS4Trailer HasbrotoBuyD&DBeyondfor$146M HowtoFixNetflixErrorCodeM7111-5059 WordleArchiveIsShuttingDown YouShouldTryEldenRing Featured Mobile Computing Gaming HomeEntertainment Services&Software CNETeditorspicktheproductsandserviceswewriteabout.Whenyoubuythroughourlinks,wemaygetacommission. Appsthatgiveyourphoneasecondnumber Needadisposablenumber?Oraneffectivewaytojuggleworkandpersonallines?It'seasier,andcheaper,thanyouthink. RickBroida April23,20189:00p.m.PT RickBroida SeniorEditor RickBroidaistheauthorofnumerousbooksandthousandsofreviews,featuresandblogposts.HewritesCNET'spopularCheapskateblogandco-hostsProtocol1:ATravelersPodcast(abouttheTVshowTravelers).HelivesinMichigan,wherehepreviouslyownedtwoescaperooms(chronicledintheebook"IWasaMiddle-AgedZombie"). Seefullbio RickBroida/CNET Ifyou'veeverhadtojuggletwomobilephones,youknowit'saspecialformoftorture.Twophonestocarry.Twophonestokeepcharged.Twophonestoanswer! Unfortunately,that'stherealityforsomanyfolkswhoneedasecondnumber.Itmightbeonephoneforwork,anotherforpersonal.Ormaybeyou'reactiveonCraigslist,Etsyoradatingsiteandkeepasecondphonesoyoudon'thavetogiveoutyourpersonalnumber. Wouldn'titbegreatifyoucouldhavetwophonelinesononephone?Turnsoutyoucan.BelowI'veroundedupsomenotableappsandservicesthataddasecondline--includingacouplethatwon'tcostyouanything.(Unfortunately,oneofthebestinthatcategory--Sideline--recentlyabandoneditsfreeoption.) Ifyoudecideyou'dratherhaveaseconddevice,here'sourlistoffavoritecheapphones. 12awesomecheapphonesyoucanbuyrightnow Seeallphotos +11More ThedifferencebetweenasecondlineandWi-Ficalling BeforeIdelveintothem,letmeclarifyonething:Asecondlinemeansasecondphonenumber,onethatworksmoreorlesslikethefirstone.Thatmeanspeoplecancallyouonthatnumberandyoucanmakeoutboundcallsfromit,typicallybywayoftheprovider'sdialerapp.Itmightbeadisposableorsemipermanentnumber,butintheend,itreallyistheequivalentofasecondline.  Ifyou'resimplylookingtomakeortakecallswithoutusinganyofyourplan'sallottedmonthlyminutes,oryou'retravelinginternationallyandwanttoleverageaWi-Fihotspotforfreecalling,checkoutappslikeFacebookMessenger,WhatsAppandSkype.Theyletyoucallotherusers(ofthosesameapps)atnocharge. EnlargeImageBurnergivesyoudisposablephonenumbers,butyoucanalsomakeonepermanentifyouprefer. Burner Burner Burner wasbornfromthenotionofthe"burner"phone,offeringtemporary,disposablephonenumbersviaanappinsteadofanactualphone.Morerecently,however,theservicehasexpandedtoincludepermanent-numberoptions.Thusyoucanpurchasecreditstouseonsomethinglikea"miniburner,"goodfor20voiceminutes,60textmessagesand14daysofoperation.Orsubscribetoaplan,startingat$4.99amonth,thatgivesyouunlimitedeverything.(Newcomers,takenote:Thecreditsystemisabitconfusing,andpricingisn'tspelledoutanywhereexceptononeofthesupportpages.) Burnerhasalsoaddedathree-lineoption,at$14.99amonth,andBurnerConnections,anAPIsystemthatletsyousetuptext-messagebotsviaEvernote,savevoicemailandphotomessagestoDropboxandsoon.AllsubscribersgetrobocallandspamblockingviaNomorobo. Flypisgoodforpeoplewhoneedseveralextraphonenumbersfromoneservice. Flyp Flyp Flypaimstogiveyounotjustoneextranumber,butmultiplenumbers.Thatmakesitastrongoptionforfreelancersorfolkswhomanagemultiplebusinesses. Eachlineincludesunlimitedcallsandtextmessages,pluscustomvoicemailalongwithyourchoiceofareacodeforthatnumber. Youpay$7.99amonthperline,or$79.99annually,andyoucanoperateuptofivelinesononephone. GoogleVoiceistotallyfree. Google GoogleVoice Theoldstandbyforfreephoneservice,GoogleVoiceletsanyonewithaGoogleaccountchooseaphonenumberandthengivesyouplentifuloptionsformanagingcallsmadetothatnumber. Mostlikely,you'llwantthemtoringyourmobilephone.Butcallscanalsoberoutedtooneormoreadditionallines:office,homeandsoon.  YoucanusetheGoogleVoiceapptoplaceoutboundcalls,sendandreceivetextmessages,toggledo-not-disturbmode,andplayvoicemailmessages,whicharealsotranscribedtotext,ahandyextra. It'sagreatservice,nottomentiontotallyfree,andrecentupdateshavemadethemobileapplessclunkyandconfusing.  Hushedcangetyouashort-termphonenumberforfree,andoffersvariouspaytierswhenyouwanttokeepitforalongerperiodoftime. Hushed Hushed Hushedoffersalittlesomethingforeveryone,startingwithafreedisposablephonenumberthat'sgoodforthreedays.Ifyouneeditalittlelonger,theseven-dayplancostsjust$1.99andincludes20voiceminutesand60textmessages(includingSMS). Ifyourgoalissomethingabitmorepermanent,Hushedcharges$4.99permonthforunlimitedmessagingandminutes--acompetitivepricefornumber-permanence. Wantabetterdeal?StackSocialcontinuestoofferalifetimeHushedsubscriptionfor$25,thoughyou'relimitedtoacombinationof300SMSor500voiceminutesperyear.(It'sbasicallythesecondnumberyou'regettingforlife;servicemayeventuallycostyouextra.)Whateveryouchoose,optionsincludeacustomvoicemailmessageandsupportforcall-forwarding. Sideline Whatusedtobethebestsecond-linedealintownisnowoneofthemostexpensive.Pinger's Sideline nolongeroffersfreeaccounts--theservicewillcostyou$9.99permonth. Youdogetalotoffeatures,includingchoiceofareacode,customvoicemail,voicemail-transcription,automatedrepliesviatextandoptionalnumberporting.Butthelong-promisedautoattendantoption(apotentiallymajorbenefitforbusinessowners)andinternationalcallinghaveyettoarrive.They'vebeenlistedas"comingsoon"onSideline'ssiteforwelloverayear. Pinger Textfree BeforetherewasSideline,therewasTextfree.Thankfully,thelatterisstillfree,thoughonlyuptoapoint.Alltextmessagesandinboundcallsarefree,butyougetonly60minutesforoutboundcallstonon-Textfreeusers.Beyondthat,you'llneedtopay:$1.99for100minutes,$4.99for400minutesandsoon. Ifyoudon'tuseyourTextfreenumberatleastoncewithin30days,itwillbereclaimed,thoughyoucanalwaysgetanewone.Alternately,youcanpay$4.99monthlytokeepit,whichseemsalittleasteep,giventhatyoudon'tgetanyextravoiceminutes.Wanttoremoveadsfromtheapporaddvoicemail-to-text?Thoseoptionscost$2.99permontheach.It'salsoimportanttonotethatTextfreecan'tbeusedfor911calls. OnebigpointinfavorofTextfreeovermanysimilarservices:Youdon'tneeda"first"phonenumbertouseit,justanemailaddress.Thatmeansyoucanleverageitonaphonethat'snotcurrentlyactivatedoronatablet;callsgetroutedoverWi-Fi.Plus,itsupportsmessaginginabrowser,whichsomepeoplefindmoreconvenientthanmessagingbyphone. Otheroptions Haveyoufoundanothersecond-linesolutionyoulikebetterthananyofthese?Orhaveyoutriedoneofthesealreadyandfounditgood,badorsomewhereinbetween?Shareyourthoughtsinthecomments! OriginallypublishedNovember18,2016. Update,April23: Thisarticlehasbeenupdatedwithcurrentpricingandfeatures. GettheCNETCheapskatenewsletter Savemoneyonyourtechpurchasesandgiftswiththehottestdealsinournewsletter.Deliveredonweekdays. Close Discuss:Appsthatgiveyourphoneasecondnumber Signintocomment Berespectful,keepitcivilandstayontopic.Wedeletecommentsthatviolateourpolicy,whichweencourageyoutoread.Discussionthreadscanbeclosedatanytimeatourdiscretion.