Options for SMS/texting without a Smartphone?

A lot of things depend on text messages.

Is there a way to recieve them without a smartpain or a smartpain subscription?

Feature phones still exist, but most/all of them have a screen of some sort, although I was able to find one with an e-ink screen pretty easily. They’re not that cheap, and they would still need a phone plan to work.

I’m reasonably certain the Google Voice is still around. You should be able to get a number that way and use it to text and make calls without a plan. It being a Google service, though, means that its days are likely numbered.

Also, it bears mentioning that if you’re using SMS for multi-factor authentication, you should try to use a more secure method if at all possible. Not all services support more secure methods, but definitely consider using them where you can.

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I’m not familiar with any of this stuff. We have a standard phone phone, but when I answer a call I only ever get a busy signal.

It’s free:

https://voice.google.com/u/0/calls

You get a number for free. You can choose your area code so you get one in your local area or close to it. You can select your number.

You receive notifications you have received a text in your email.

It has an interface on the computer for texting.


Texting is also a feature of any phone, even dumb phones. You can then connect it to your computer Phone app. Here is how you do it on Microsoft, for example.

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