Textfree

Last updated
Text Free (formerly Pinger)
Developer(s) Pinger, Inc.
Initial release2006;17 years ago (2006)
Operating system Android and iOS (mobile app); Windows and macOS (desktop version)
Platform
Type Texting and VoIP
Licence Proprietary
Website textfree.us

TextFree (formerly called Pinger and sometimes stylized as textfree) is a mobile application and web service that allows users to send and receive text messages, as well as make and receive VoIP phone calls, for free over the internet. The service costs nothing because it is supported by ads, but users have the option of paying for an ad-free version with enhanced features. TextFree was developed by American telecommunications provider Pinger, Inc. It was released in 2006.

TextFree states on its website that it has more than 130 million users (as of September 2022). [1]

The mobile app runs on both iOS and Android devices, [2] and there is a desktop version available for download on macOS and Windows. Users can also access TextFree's services online via a web browser. Competitors include GOGII, Optini and WhatsApp.

Usage

Users can communicate with others who do not use the app via texting and calling. Users can call within US and Canada, while texting is free in 35 countries. New accounts receive a new phone number and 60 free minutes. Users may also communicate with any other user worldwide. Moreover, Textfree has a web based version of its application that allows users to send and receive text messages directly from a computer. They provide a permanent number to their users, which they can use to send free texts for lifetime. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AIM (software)</span> Instant messaging service

AIM was an instant messaging and presence computer program created by AOL, which used the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Talk</span> Instant messaging service

Google Talk was an instant messaging service that provided both text and voice communication. The instant messaging service was variously referred to colloquially as Gchat, Gtalk, or Gmessage among its users.

Mobile marketing is a multi-channel online marketing technique focused at reaching a specific audience on their smartphones, feature phones, tablets, or any other related devices through websites, e-mail, SMS and MMS, social media, or mobile applications. Mobile marketing can provide customers with time and location sensitive, personalized information that promotes goods, services, appointment reminders and ideas. In a more theoretical manner, academic Andreas Kaplan defines mobile marketing as "any marketing activity conducted through a ubiquitous network to which consumers are constantly connected using a personal mobile device".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Voice</span> Telecommunications service by Google

Google Voice is a telephone service that provides a U.S. phone number to Google Account customers in the U.S. and Google Workspace customers in Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the contiguous United States. It is used for call forwarding and voicemail services, voice and text messaging, as well as U.S. and international calls. Calls are forwarded to the phone number that each user must configure in the account web portal. Users can answer and receive calls on any of the phones configured to ring in the web portal. While answering a call, the user can switch between the configured phones. Subscribers in the United States can make outgoing calls to domestic and international destinations. The service is configured and maintained by users in a web-based application, similar in style to Google's email service Gmail, or Android and iOS applications on smartphones or tablets.

Skype offers a number of features based around calling, messaging, video chat, and file and screen sharing. The following is a partial list of Skype's features:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ovi (Nokia)</span> Former Internet services by Nokia

Ovi by Nokia was the brand for Nokia's Internet services. The Ovi services could be used from a mobile device, computer or via the web. Nokia focused on five key service areas: Games, Maps, Media, Messaging and Music. Nokia's aim with Ovi was to include third party developers, such as operators and third-party services like Yahoo's Flickr photo site. With the announcement of Ovi Maps Player API, Nokia started to evolve their services into a platform, enabling third parties to make use of Nokia's Ovi services.

Founded in 2008, Voxofon develops mobile apps and communication services that utilize over-the-top (OTT) voice and messaging technologies for smartphones, tablets, and web applications. Voxofon enables free app-to-app domestic and international calls and texts, as well as provides the option for users to make international calls and texts to friends and family that use feature phones or landlines. The Voxofon app is a cross-platform application that is supported on iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, and through any web browser.

Mobile security, or mobile device security, is the protection of smartphones, tablets, and laptops from threats associated with wireless computing. It has become increasingly important in mobile computing. The security of personal and business information now stored on smartphones is of particular concern.

iMessage Instant messaging service by Apple

iMessage is an instant messaging service developed by Apple Inc. and launched in 2011. iMessage functions exclusively on Apple platforms – including macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS – as part of Apple's broader strategy of vendor lock-in.

Viber, or Rakuten Viber, is a cross-platform voice over IP (VoIP) and instant messaging (IM) software application owned by Japanese multinational company Rakuten, provided as freeware for the Google Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS and Linux platforms. Users are registered and identified through a cellular telephone number, although the service is accessible on desktop platforms without needing mobile connectivity. In addition to instant messaging it allows users to exchange media such as images and video records, and also provides a paid international landline and mobile calling service called Viber Out. As of 2018, there are over a billion registered users on the network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messages (Apple)</span> Instant messaging software applications

Messages is an text messaging software application developed by Apple Inc. for its macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS operating systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ChatON</span> Mobile communication service

ChatON was a global mobile communication service provided by Samsung Electronics from September 2011 to March 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinger</span> Company

Pinger, Inc. is a US Telecom provider for free texts, pictures, calls, and voicemails. Pinger was founded in 2005 by former Palm, Inc. managers Greg Woock and Joe Sipher. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upptalk</span> Proprietary voice-over-IP service and software application

Upptalk was a proprietary voice-over-IP service and software application that provided mobile phone numbers in the cloud and allows users to call or text any phone for free whether or not the device receiving the calls and texts has the Yuilop application. The service was discontinued in 2017 and even its domain was abandoned.

TextSecure was an encrypted messaging application for Android that was developed from 2010 to 2015. It was a predecessor to Signal and the first application to use the Signal Protocol, which has since been implemented into WhatsApp and other applications. TextSecure used end-to-end encryption to secure the transmission of text messages, group messages, attachments and media messages to other TextSecure users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Signal (software)</span> Privacy-focused encrypted messaging app

Signal is an encrypted messaging service for instant messaging, voice, and video calls. The instant messaging function includes sending text, voice notes, images, videos, and other files. Communication may be one-to-one between users or may involve group messaging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phone Link</span> Software application developed by Microsoft

Phone Link, previously Your Phone, is a syncing software developed by Microsoft to connect Windows PCs to Android and iOS mobile devices to view notifications, make phone calls, use mobile apps amongst others, via the PC. It is a native component of Windows 10 and Windows 11, where it is a UWP app and consists of a driver that communicates with the mobile device, where it is named the Link to Windows app. Phone Link makes use of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth for voice calls, or mobile data; it syncs via Microsoft servers, meaning that an internet connection is required.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Messages</span> Messaging application developed by Google

Google Messages is a text messaging software application developed by Google for its Android and Wear OS mobile operating systems, while it's also available via the Web.

Comparison of user features of messaging platforms refers to a comparison of all the various user features of various electronic instant messaging platforms. This includes a wide variety of resources; it includes standalone apps, platforms within websites, computer software, and various internal functions available on specific devices, such as iMessage for iPhones.

References

  1. "Free Texting and Calling". TextFree. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  2. Textfree is now Pinger App Review [ permanent dead link ], AppPicker
  3. "Textfree Web for Free Unlimited Texting From Your Computer". 29 July 2015.