I've gotten great use out of keeping a TN number for years.
Paid the 4.99/year 'lock in number' very happily too, and just realized I haven't gotten that bill in a while, so...
Tried reaching their support via chat & after 15+ minutes with zero answer, gave up.
Did some searching & it seems (sadly) that paying to keep a TN number now costs LOTS more...meh.
Since I want to keep that number alive there are only 2 options I can think of:
1 - Somehow automatically send it an SMS every 4-5 days;
2 - Port it away from TN, likely to VOIP.ms.
If anyone here has a better idea for how to keep it, please do tell ?!?
The Textnow minimum requirement is actually doing something at least once a month. So calling something like the weather forecast number or a joke hotline once or twice every 30 days would meet the usage requirement. Should you wish to continue with Textnow without paying for locking in the number, they do email/text 2 or 3 warnings before the number gets recycled.
Is (was?) the # important to you to keep? You mention yes but is it lost already? Was the # originally assigned by TN? Assuming yes since you were paying to lock it in.
In any case, if you port a # into TN it will be a "Locked In Number", no charge.*
So, if you still have the # you could choose to do the rigamarole of porting out for a bit and then port back in to TN. If you lost the number but decide that you still want TN don't start with them, get the # elsewhere and port in.
I'm not sure that you'd be able to continue using the old T-mo based SIM, might be forced to AT&T based service.
*This has been my experience for about 6 mo. no use # ported in around the same time as I ported in an actively used #.
When you tap the menu "hamburger" button in the app on the phone both display the number with a green lock symbol and if you click on it is says locked in number and shows a subscription renewal on date for monthly renewal.
JVV - While bored & waiting for a chat agent I checked their site as well as others & got the impression that the once or twice a month usage requirement has been changed to just days - perhaps when they extincted the 'lock in number' deal @4.99 ??
Always good to hear from you Redrotors.
That number is still quite alive as of now & I wish to keep it 'cuz it is used for discount programs at markets, etc. - rather than my actual 'home number'.
I prefer to do something automated for timed stuff 'cuz I'm old & forget lots of stuff !!
In the past I've used ReminderGuru.com - but it is 404 lately.
I did some more searching using different terms & found reminderbase.com .
Their free level does what I want & I set it to send SMS & email once each week starting on 2/2 after I did a live test to be sure it worked.
This way it'll also remind me that I can send another from TN regularly.
A great solution IMO, so long as it sticks around...