could u recommend me a free texting app

[OBLAMA2009]

i went over this month and so ive got around $30 in extra fees, varizin charges 45 cents per text, ouch!!

 

[Fardringle]

What plan do you have that charged 45 cents per text? I have ZERO texting on my Verizon plan and it still only costs 20 cents when I actually do send a message.

 

[Muadib]

google voice has free texting.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

What plan do you have that charged 45 cents per text? I have ZERO texting on my Verizon plan and it still only costs 20 cents when I actually do send a message.

im getting charged 45 cents per text cuz i went over my allotment for this month, i think its like five hundred or so, im not exactly sure. i didnt realize it was that much until i asked them, i would have thought it was 10-20 cents. im on the old plan, youre on something different. they totally know how to jack us

 

[gmaster456]

Pinger or Textnow

 

[mnewsham]

im getting charged 45 cents per text cuz i went over my allotment for this month, i think its like five hundred or so, im not exactly sure. i didnt realize it was that much until i asked them, i would have thought it was 10-20 cents. im on the old plan, youre on something different. they totally know how to jack us

isn't it like $10 or $15 a month for unlimited texting...?

 

[Chocu1a]

It was only 5 bucks more to change my 500 texts to 1000. I am on an older unlimited grandfather plan. I have 450 talk, 1000 text & unlimited data.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

google voice has free texting.

do i have to give google my mobile number. im worried theyll then take it and put it on the internet where anyone can look it up

 

[OBLAMA2009]

It was only 5 bucks more to change my 500 texts to 1000. I am on an older unlimited grandfather plan. I have 450 talk, 1000 text & unlimited data.

really, thats what i have is the old plan. i called them two days ago and they didnt offer me that. they said they could change my plan for the month and it would be an additional 20 i think. maybe you made the change before they stopped the unlimited plans?

 

[OBLAMA2009]

isn't it like $10 or $15 a month for unlimited texting...?

i dunno. it maybe different for those of us on the old unlimited plan

 

[Muadib]

do i have to give google my mobile number. im worried theyll then take it and put it on the internet where anyone can look it up

They will give you a new number, and then you forward that number to your cell phone. The problem is you have to give your new google voice number out to your people as your new phone number. They don't put it anywhere where others can look it up though.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

They will give you a new number, and then you forward that number to your cell phone. The problem is you have to give your new google voice number out to your people as your new phone number. They don't put it anywhere where others can look it up though.

but then google has your real mobile number, is there any reason i should be concerned about that. a couple weeks ago, i tried to sign up for a fake facebook account, and when it opened the account (under a fake name) facebook registered the account under my real name, in other words, they had somehow been able to connect this account to m real personal info, even though ive never used facebook, i found that sorta freakie

 

[nickbits]

Talkatone. It used to be a google voice proxy but now it is its own service. The app is pretty good.
I used to like textfree but when it changed to pinger I found it clunky.

 

[MrSquished]

but then google has your real mobile number, is there any reason i should be concerned about that.

Google has had my real cell phone number from Google Voice for 6 years now, and also as my phone number to use for account recovery for my Gmail accounts for years as wel.

have yet to receive any marketing calls. not sure what other risk there is.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Google has had my real cell phone number from Google Voice for 6 years now, and also as my phone number to use for account recovery for my Gmail accounts for years as wel.

have yet to receive any marketing calls. not sure what other risk there is.

if you google yourself, does you private number come up?

 

[Muadib]

if you google yourself, does you private number come up?

I've also used GV for around 5 years. I recently stopped when I went to a family share plan, but people still call & text me on it. When I google myself, none of my cell phone numbers show up, only my home phone. It's been that way for over a decade.

 

[Chocu1a]

really, thats what i have is the old plan. i called them two days ago and they didnt offer me that. they said they could change my plan for the month and it would be an additional 20 i think. maybe you made the change before they stopped the unlimited plans?

Log into myverizon and see if you can change it there. That is how I did it. Once I changed it, the old plan was no longer available. I can only change it to unlimited for $20.00. I only use about 650-700 per month, out of 1000.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Log into myverizon and see if you can change it there. That is how I did it. Once I changed it, the old plan was no longer available. I can only change it to unlimited for $20.00. I only use about 650-700 per month, out of 1000.

i called them cuz i was afraid to make a change myself and lose my unlimited data. i doubt its possible to change on the site since they no longer offer unlimited plan.

you guys what alternatives are there to texting--instant messaging? what good apps are there for that

 

[lakedude]

Wow, you are paying more in overages than my entire plan costs!

Check out Republic wireless.

I'm on their $10 per month plan which includes unlimited talk, text and picture texts but no data.

You can add unlimited 3G data for $15 more ($25 total).

Unlimited 4G is $40 a month but only available on the Moto-X phone.

I've got the Moto-G which is a great phone.

No contract, free roaming, works anywhere (for voice, text and data) you can get either a cell or WiFi signal.

In the hospital where my son was born we had no cell service but we could still make calls and receive texts with our Republic phone using hospital's WiFi.

Let me know if you are interested and I'll shoot you a link that will save both of us $20.

 

[Chocu1a]

i called them cuz i was afraid to make a change myself and lose my unlimited data. i doubt its possible to change on the site since they no longer offer unlimited plan.

you guys what alternatives are there to texting--instant messaging? what good apps are there for that

My Verizon has the minutes, texting, and data separated. I have unlimited data, too. I can still change my talk and text allowances without messing with my data.
In fact, a few months back, I was going to go over my talk minutes, and went online and changed my talk to the next tier so it was only $10 more. The following month I signed it back to 450 minutes.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Just use Google Voice, and keep a separate number. I don't recommend tying them together. Furthermore, get your friends off SMS and onto better services.

My coworkers aren't tech edgey, so they can stay on SMS, but I only use maybe 100-200 a month. That's fine for me. The other thousands of useless messages that used to come in were redirected to WhatsApp, which helps out.

I am of the belief that you should migrate casual conversations that can easily take many texts to a mobile messaging app to save on charges, and you can keep important conversations on SMS still. For example if you just met someone, its unlikely you will just start WhatsApping them.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Just use Google Voice, and keep a separate number. I don't recommend tying them together. Furthermore, get your friends off SMS and onto better services.

My coworkers aren't tech edgey, so they can stay on SMS, but I only use maybe 100-200 a month. That's fine for me. The other thousands of useless messages that used to come in were redirected to WhatsApp, which helps out.

I am of the belief that you should migrate casual conversations that can easily take many texts to a mobile messaging app to save on charges, and you can keep important conversations on SMS still. For example if you just met someone, its unlikely you will just start WhatsApping them.

so whatsapp is the best thing to use for friends/family? also with google voice you still give them your mobile right, you can just ask for a separate google voice number right?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

so whatsapp is the best thing to use for friends/family? also with google voice you still give them your mobile right, you can just ask for a separate google voice number right?

Regarding WhatsApp, it doesn't have to be WhatsApp. I chose it because its popular, and because 190 of my contacts show up on it. Line by contrast is second place at ~60 or so. with that said I do use Line to talk to friends in Asia as that's quickly eclipsing WhatsApp at least in the young 20-35 demographic. Pick what works for you and your family and what you guys agree upon.

As for people who insist on SMS, perhaps its worth telling them to SMS with you on Google Voice if they chat a lot. If the remainder is just a small bunch, no need for Google Voice. I can give friends and other people my regular number because I don't expect that many SMS anyway. It's typically more urgent stuff where I'm needed anyway. I have a 1000 quota which is fine.

As for Google Voice, I use those for Craigslist sales or throwaway stuff. It keeps my number separate.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

you give google voice your real phone number tho right?
i was a little reluctant to use whatsapp cuz theyre owned by facebook, maybe ill try line

 

[Muadib]

you give google voice your real phone number tho right?
i was a little reluctant to use whatsapp cuz theyre owned by facebook, maybe ill try line

In your case, yes, because you want it to ring on your cell phone.