Interesting that your device requires that much service for the app to work out. I suppose that can vary by device and OS. I have only tested it on IOS since I had that iPhone laying around without anything officially tied to it. So far, it seems to still work. I need to drive out to test out sending or receiving a photo using either app, as the signal here sucks. I will try to remember to do that this Monday. Anyway, maybe they have a better app implementation for iOS since iPhones are the same across the board except for the model numbers.
I have two problems now.
(1) TextNow could not ring my phone;
(2) The speaker function on textnow app does not work.
I am also having ring to problem with Textnow on my Android phone. When people called me I dont get any ring or notification but a few minutes later the phone would notify of a missed call. Google search shows a long history of problem with active notification but Textnow never got around fixing it. This problem happened on both wifi and LTE connections.
Is it possible that the TextNow app is being put to sleep, in some way, to extend battery life? Are you using any hibernation or battery extending apps?
I think the problem may exist even without user-installed apps, since hibernation is an Android 'feature'.
Some phones allow you to exclude an app from 'battery optimization'. I think this is a standard Android process with Android 6 or later. A VoIP app needs to be exempted from battery optimization to reliably notify on incoming calls & messages. Settings > Battery > Battery Optimization (On the phone I looked at, the Battery Optimization app list is accessed from the 3-dot menu under 'Battery'. (I think a well-designed app that needs this might be able to prompt the user to make the needed exclusion on setup.)
Looking at my Moto E2, on Android 5.1, the best available option seems to be turning off 'battery saver', which appears to be a universal setting without by-the-app granularity. (I have not tested this with TextNow.)
The issue seems to be a sticky one for apps needing constant background synching for their function, at least partially because Google/Android seems to keep changing the process for which an app can whitelist itself from the DOZE process. Here's an article describing the issue, from a developer viewpoint:
I already did all of the optimal settings for the phone and still problem exist. I believe this is the problem with delayed notification system from Textnow end but not the phone hence the notification of missed call a few seconds or minutes later. Even Textnow admitted of having problem with their system but the promised FIX never appear. When I asked for help on their chat system, was told the problem was being "escalated" to higher tech. LOL, this was last year, around June, 2019. I have also noticed the problem is more consistent during congested time around noon to 5. I'm in the LA, Cali area.
Actually last weekend when I was home the situation was completely the opposite. When others called me my phone would ring, and I could hold a conversation, but when I tried to call out, it said poor mobile network, reconnecting....and the phone just kept beeping. So I thought it was a wireless signal problem, and I was delighted to see I can make phone calls here, until I found that textnow would not ring my phone. I will see how it will act when I get home this weekend.
There were a few call-out problem on my phone also. I noticed a simple fix for that was to restart Textnow and put the phone in airplane mode then back to LTE. That would fix the call problem until the next one would show. I guess what I did somehow reset the connection and app to give it a fresh boost to initiate the calls.
Hungry-Hog, I've sent you a PM.
I currently live in the Philippines and needed a U.S. based number for different reasons and I got tired of paying with Skype. I am from Long Island and was lucky they had one 516 number available, so I grabbed it. I have been using the free version for about a year now and here's my spin. Calls are choppy, hit and miss. I find it best to ask the other party to call you back. Ads get annoying, but you get what you pay for. Texting wasn't working for a while, but now it is, thank God. There is a five second delay when you try to make a call before it actually rings. It doesn't have a directory system, so all your calls are just listed in the order they were last called.
Other than that, I'm satisfied with the free service. I use the number a lot to register with two-step verification. I believe you have to be logged onto wifi to use that service and if I use my data from my SIM chip in the Philippines (Globe) it doesn't work. My biggest fear is TextNow will go away and I'll be stuck without a U.S. nr.
I am worried that TextNow will pull the "bait and switch" and start charging. Comments welcome.
Port the # to Google Voice if they don't have 516 area code #s?
I've been testing TextNow for several weeks and here are my thoughts. First I am lucky because they gave me a free promo which is no adds, so I don't see the ads that some complain about. I like that it works on the web as well as a phone. I bought a Moto E5 Play (for 28 bucks) on Ebay to use with this service. Out going calls and texts and incoming texts work fine but 90% of the time incoming calls don't ring. When it goes to VM I get a message of a missed call but it rarely rings on incoming. This happens when the phone is asleep. So I tweaked the settings so the TextNow app is not battery optimized and therefor doesn't sleep, but this did not help. If the phone is not asleep (i.e. I just used it or i'm looking at the main screen, then incoming calls do work. Considering it's all "free" I suppose it's still worth it, but I don't think it could ever be my "main" phone with this issue.
I've had the version with ads for a long time on the same phone - and its OK for some uses.
Incoming calls on mine only ring when the app is left open.
Seems most likely this is to assure that they can annoy you with their flashing ads.
Since I get no important calls on that number I just keep the app off & don't worry about it.
I just found that the speaker problem is a hardware problem with my moto e2. I slapped its back three times and it works now.
However, incoming calls still cannot ring it. This is a software problem.
More TV ads for some phone providers such as TextNow. That they can afford to pay for ads is telling.
On the TextNow free cellular voice plan, does your phone show "3G" or does it show "LTE" at the top of your screen?
LTE
LTE but in my area (bad Sprint signal) it does go to 3G. It does not seem to perform (as expected) while on 3G.
My home has very good Sprint 3G signal but it doesn't work. It only works on lte.
Anyone still using TextNow? Would appreciate an update on how reliable (or unreliable) it’s been. I’m looking into this as an alternative to Tello for some in our group that have really tight budgets. Frasier1 gave a detailed report sometime ago and I’m wondering if that incoming call not ringing flaw was fixed.