Is there a Google Voice-like Android app that meets my needs?

August 3, 2022 5:08 PM

I have US and Canadian sim cards and would like to make it easier for friends to contact me while I'm travelling by just having one phone number direct to the appropriate number. I did try Google Voice but it doesn't do everything I'd like, and I can't connect my Canadian number anyway. There's quite a few similar apps out there and I don't know if any one app will suit my needs or if I'll need multiple. Wishlist follows.

Wishlist:
- Android phone app!
- Under ~$10/month
- Forward incoming calls and SMS to US number when I'm in the US, Canadian number when I'm in Canada (Google Voice can only do this for US numbers and I can only find apps that forward calls, not SMS)
- Transcribe voicemails to text
- Create new/burner numbers on the fly

posted by dokodomo to Technology (5 answers total)

Have you considered Skype?
posted by heatherlogan at 5:26 PM on August 3, 2022

Most people I know who have some version of this problem just use Whatsapp instead of trying to deal with different phone numbers.
posted by derrinyet at 5:39 PM on August 3, 2022

It sounds like what would really work best is a phone with a dual SIM card slot (or physical SIM + eSIM). There might be an app to do what you describe but I would think it would require more involvement by multiple carriers than what an app could do.
posted by tubedogg at 8:53 PM on August 3, 2022

Response by poster:

Have you considered Skype?

Does Skype handle the things in my wishlist?

Most people I know who have some version of this problem just use Whatsapp instead of trying to deal with different phone numbers.

Does Whatsapp handle the things in my wishlist?
I'd rather not use a Meta/Facebook app for communications, though (should've had that in my wishlist).

It sounds like what would really work best is a phone with a dual SIM card slot (or physical SIM + eSIM). There might be an app to do what you describe but I would think it would require more involvement by multiple carriers than what an app could do.

I do have a dual SIM. I keep both my US and Canadian SIM in my phone but I turn off whichever one would be roaming. My problem right now is my friends (the ones that use plain SMS/phone calls) would need to know which country I'm in to know which number to use.
posted by dokodomo at 10:08 PM on August 3, 2022

Twilio can do this (well, except the Android app) but you need to be a computer person to set it up (it is really seriously involved), and it will fuck up a lot of SMS 2FA. It's what I do and I don't really recommend it. But I haven't found something better :(
posted by wesleyac at 5:45 AM on August 4, 2022