Aside from new weekly rates, a couple things have changed for the monthly prices.
When you buy monthly you also get unlimited slow speeds
Number locking is included automatically
As far as competitiveness in pricing...
2GB plan is pretty close to tello in pricing (if you don't care about using an app vs native dialer) .
I could see the $3 weekly being good for a one off and then cancelling after the 1 week (Especially if you can only use 1 sim in your phone)
As far as the other plans like the 7GB/mo @ $29.99 or 1GB/week @ $4.99/week, I believe they are rip offs as Tello has better duration or value for those GB price points
nice reminder: calling and sms DOES NOT count towards your high speed data allotment.
I had the SIM in an iPhone but I play game on it and want data service, so I moved my TMO sim to it. My SIM stays dormant but I still use the app as contact for craigslist and such (not my primary number).
I'm one of the lucky ones that got the free unrestricted use 250MB/mo offer.
There has been an ongoing uncertainty whether or not TextNow SIM cards provide roaming service in Canada and Mexico.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to Canada this weekend. I'm going to do my best to try to remember to bring the phone my TextNow SIM is in so I can test it there.
I've heard of people's accounts getting suspended for using the service in Canada or mexico. I wasn't aware of that and used mine in Mexico earlier this year with no problems. And my account didn't get suspended.
My TextNow SIM data did NOT work in Canada. So, if my experience is how it's supposed to be, roaming outside of the US with a TextNw SIM doesn't work.
The TextNow SERVICE still works fine in Canada over WiFi and cellular data (from another non-TextNow SIM source), and it also worked fine in Europe in April over WiFi and cellular data (from another non-TextNow SIM source).
I guess the way I see it is that for single-sim or Textnow-plus-FreedomPop dual-sim users, the price points you described as a rip-off compared to Tello aren't necessarily competing against other providers' regular plans; they're competing against other alternatives for (possibly sudden) cases of "I usually need almost no data, so I'm able to get by on effectively free service, but now I'm going to need some for a short while before going back to my usual."
So they might be competing against having to go get and swap to a new sim, or having one on hand that can be activated at a moment's notice, or maybe against gambling on the ability to switch to a plan with more data on Freedompop and then back to the Wal-Mart or Target plan, or against having to figure out all of a sudden how to activate a plan on an e-sim.
Granted, I probably overestimate that market, and underestimate the market of people who see this and think "oh, having some data would be nice" and don't compare with what else is available. But thinking about these options from the perspective of someone who's already using Textnow, I feel like either sudden need or convenience could make any of these options potentially more appealing than...well, anything that would require picking up a new sim in a hurry.
That would have been nice last week when my home internet was out for almost a day because apparently whoever hooked up my next door neighbor just unplugged mine...
Free: maps, email, and ride share apps are now included in the free plan that doesn't count towards your data.
In my testing, the email only works for the default app on your phone. I use an app, that allows for multiple accounts signed in and, so that doesn't work for me. But I have no doubt maps will now show traffic data.
However, if you get this, you may also have limited data options. I only now get the option to get unlimited data for $40 a month (10GB high speed + unlimited 2G) which is safe to say not a great deal. If you are not on the beta, it might be worthwhile buying the 2GB plan at $12 a month if you only have a single SIM phone and can't do tello esim otherwise.
I'm one of the ones that got the free unrestricted 250MB/mo last year. I had checked my add-on data options a few months ago, and while I didn't get all the options posted above on 8/29, I saw more than just the "Month Pass" for $39.99. But I just now checked again, and that's now my only other option.
Needless to say, TextNow is constantly experimenting...
