I dug in some trying to find the best app to use here in Japan for a U.S. number, including support for short numbers and ID verification. There is stuff of interest to residents of the U.S. and Canada also I think. Please check it out if you are interested. Thanks.
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Hi Doug, thanks for the read and steer to Pinger. As a blended Irish/American family which has found itself outside the US more often than inside we too have used these services. I did set up Google Voice while in the US and had a US cell to activate at the time. However now exclusively use GV within the App, no forwarding needed and it works fine, I use for texting mainly and as a number when I am in the US or for those services who can’t cope with non-US numbers. Managed to get the same GV number as my Irish cell phone number bar the area code which is handy. You have to use it at least once a year to keep it.
Thanks again for the steer to Pinger/Text Free, worth checking out.
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Thanks @doug2, that’s a very useful guide. I’ve looked for this sort of thing in the past and not had much luck. Great to have the details and your recommendations.
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I’m also in Japan (specifically the Kanto Plain, what about you?), so I really appreciate your rundown of these apps. For over a decade, I’ve been using Skype (non-subscription) to call outside of Japan, while using a couple of US toll free numbers to make it easy for my family to call me. However, the toll free numbers cost more than the price you’re paying for Pinger Pro, so I’m very interested. Additionally, the quality of Skype calls has been spotty, sometimes really clear and sometimes broken, so I’m hoping to find something that provides better quality VoIP calling.
One question: You say in the linked page that you “switched to Pinger today just because it sounds nicer.” What about Pinger makes you prefer it versus TextFree?
Hi, Ted. Yes, I’m in the Kanto region - in Tokyo.
I’ve used the app for calls since posting my review and it seems to work well so far. I’ve used it for text messages for several years.
Pinger and TextFree are the same app. There’s a link in my article where the developer talks about why there are two differently-named apps. What I meant was that the app name “Pinger” just sounded nicer to me than the name “TextFree” so I deleted TextFree and download Pinger and everything was the same except for the name. Same number, same credentials, same call history, same saved voicemails.
It shouldn’t make any difference which one you use.
Also please note that if texting with short numbers and getting things like U.S. bank ID verifications don’t matter to you, and if you don’t mind the ads, and you don’t need voicemail transcriptions, you can use Talkatone (different company) completely free and for making calls, receiving calls, and sending and receiving texts it works just fine.
doug
I’m getting frustrated with Pinger because of a call sound issue that they acknowledge but don’t seem to be in a hurry to fix. Basically if I am on speaker, or using my Apple standard earbuds, the people on the other end can barely hear me. I can easily reproduce this by calling and leaving a Skype voice message both with and without the earplugs in. Without the earplugs in the sound is fine. With them in you can barely hear on the other end.
I’m sort of vested in Pinger right now because I have it registered with my banks and credit cards and it does work well for texting, including short numbers and verifications. But I’ve been making VoIP phone calls using the free Talkatone app.
Talkatone actually is a nicer app. And they have an iPad version as well. They also say with subscriptions that short numbers and verifications work, but their subscriptions are confusing, and it’s completely impossible to get a reply from support to clarify.
Pinger support has gotten poor as well.
Basically I’m in the market for an alternative. Some of the VoIP text/call apps seem to be all by the same company or companies releasing duplicate products. Some are quite expensive. Many have a model where you get a 3 day free trial but then are locked into a year’s subscription unless you cancel in time.
Anyway, I’m looking for recommendations to an alternative to Pinger (Text Free, same app) or Talkatone. Any suggestions?
Thanks.
Another update!
I did finally get a clarification of the subscriptions needed for verification codes and short number support from Talktatone. Even the least expensive $1.99/month subscription (just gets rid of ads) supports those, so I gave it a try and successfully received verification codes from two of my U.S. credit card companies.
Support is basically very slow to respond for both Pinger and Talkatone.
The advantages of Talkatone is that (1) the sound volume is much better (like a different world better) than Pinger/Text Free when using earplugs or on speaker phone. Pinger is basically unusable that way, but that’s the way you normally would use your phone if you need hands free or are outside. Talktatone sounds loud enough and clear with either earplugs or on speakerphone. I tested this with three different people so far, and it’s 100% reproducible.
Reason (2) is Pinger dropped their iPad support so you need to use the iPhone app in portrait mode only on the iPad, which is awkward if you are using the keyboard case. Talkatone has a proper iPad app. Also, notifications seem to be more obvious and work better with Talkatone.
Currently I’m subscribed to both Pinger and Talkatone, but may drop my paid Pinger subscription because of these usability issues.