You recently bought a new smartphone, or tablet, to be used only for leisure, especially when you want to relax or on the weekend, without having the smartphone you usually use for work at hand. You have not inserted any SIM inside this smartphone, but you still want to use it to text with your favorite apps.
Unfortunately, you soon realized that many messaging apps, such as WhatsApp or Telegram, require a SIM with its phone number in order to work, so now you would like to understand if they exist SIM-free texting appwhich you could use as an alternative.
No problem, because you’ve come to the right place at the right time. During this tutorial, I’ll tell you about the best messaging apps that don’t require a SIM during registration, just an email address and password. Make yourself comfortable, take five minutes of free time and continue reading the next paragraphs. Enjoy the reading!
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Application for messaging without SIM
You can’t wait to be able to text with your friends even with your SIM-free smartphone or even on your tablet, perhaps lying comfortably on the sofa. For this reason you can’t wait to figure out which one SIM-free texting application it could be for you.
Below I will tell you about some of the best messaging apps that you can access without a phone number, explaining both how they work and the main functions available.
Facebook Messenger (Android/iOS/iPadOS)
The first app I want to tell you about is Facebook Messenger, or the messaging app connected to the well-known social network, through which you can easily chat with all your friends on the platform. The app is available for download both for Android devices (also on alternative stores) and for iPhone/iPad. Once downloaded and installed, open it, enter your email address and password Facebook accounts and tap the button Log in. If you don’t have a Facebook account, just tap the button Create a new account and follow the wizard. More info here.
After logging in with your account, tap the button Activate to allow the app to find all the contacts you have in your address book who are also on the platform: confirm the operation by tapping on the button Allow from the pop-up that appears on the screen.
Continue by tapping the button Okay and in a few seconds you will find yourself on the main Messenger screen. In this screen you will find listed all the chats with the contacts you have messaged with, but if you have never done so, the list will be empty.
To start a new chat, just tap on the tab People mail at the bottom and then select the contact with whom you will decide to message from the list that appears. Alternatively, you can tap the button with thea pen icon located at the top right, type the name of the contact and select it from the list that appears: in this case, in addition to your friends, you will also see other contacts that you don’t yet have as friends on Facebook but that you may know, usually selected on the basis of mutual friends.
Once you have entered the chat, you can start messaging by simply tapping on the section Aa and then typing the message: to send it, tap the button Enter. In addition to text messages, you can send a photo, video, voice message, and even your location.
For more information on how Facebook Messenger works, take a look at my tutorial on the subject.
Instagram (Android/iOS)
The second app that you surely could use to text without having to register with a phone number is Instagram. The well-known social network of the Meta group (the same as Facebook and WhatsApp), in addition to the ability to upload photos, videos and stories, also allows you to chat with other users of the platform.
The app is available for free download for both Android devices (also on alternative stores) and iPhone. Once downloaded and installed, open it, enter your email address and password instagram accounts and tap the button Log in.
If you don’t have an Instagram account, you can log in to the platform using a Facebook account by tapping on the button Log in with Facebookor if you want to register on the platform, just tap the button subscribe and follow the wizard. More info here.
After logging in with your account you will find yourself in the main screen of the app. To access the chat section of the app, just tap the button with thepaper plane icon which you find at the top right. In the screen that appears you will find the list of all chats with other users of the platform.
If, on the other hand, the list is empty and you want to start a new chat, all you have to do is tap the button with thea pen icon located at the top right: from the menu that appears, select the contact you want to chat with from among those suggested and tap the button Chats. If the contact is not among the suggestions, just look for it in the appropriate section by typing in his first name.
Once inside the chat, all you have to do is type the text inside the section Write a message… and press the button Submit to send the message. In addition to the classic text message, you can also send images, stickers and voice recordings.
For more information on how Instagram works, take a look at my tutorial on the subject.
Skype (Android/iOS/iPadOS)
Another alternative app you could use to text without the need for a phone number is definitely Skype, Microsoft’s historical platform mainly dedicated to calls and video calls. However within the app there is also a section Chats dedicated to messaging between platform users.
The app is available for free download for both Android devices (also on alternative stores) and iPhone/iPad. Once downloaded and installed, open it and tap on the buttons Start And Login or create account.
Then type the Skype name ol’email addresstap up After youtype the password and tap on the button Log in. How do you say? Don’t have a Skype account? To use Skype, any Microsoft account will suffice, but if you don’t have one, just tap on the item Click here to create one and follow the instructions on the screen. More info here.
After logging in with your account, tap on the button Continues and then up Allow from the pop-up that appears on the screen to allow the app access to your contacts. Proceed with the configuration by tapping on the button Continues and allow access to microphone and camera.
On the next screen, decide whether or not to contribute to the development of the app by sending the optional data and after a few seconds you will find yourself on the app’s main screen. To be able to start messaging right away, just tap on the card Chats placed in the bar at the bottom and tap on the button at the bottom right to start a new conversation: now all you have to do is select the contact from the list that appears.
Once in the chat, you can type the text of the message by tapping on the section write a message and send it by tapping on the button Enter placed on the right. If, on the other hand, you tap the button + located at the bottom left, from the menu that appears you can choose to send Media files, Video camera (both photos and videos), File, Contact, Position and even a Survey.
For more information on how Skype works, take a look at my tutorial on the subject.
Discord (Android/iOS/iPadOS)
Another app you could use is Discord, a popular platform for group communication and coordination while playing online. However, it can also be used as a regular messaging app, like the ones I mentioned to you earlier.
The app is available for free download for both Android devices (also on alternative stores) and iPhone/iPad. Once downloaded and installed, open it and tap the button Log inif you already have an account, or su Sign in to create a new account. More info here.
Once on the main screen of the app, you will immediately find the chat screen, from which you can send direct messages to various contacts. Before you can chat, however, you will need to add the contacts to the list, so tap on Friends tab (the icon with a little man waving) at the bottom and tap the button with theicon of little man and a + located at the top right: type your username and tag and tap the button Send friend request.
How do you say? Not sure where to retrieve your username and tag? In this case it must be the contact you want to message with to let you know what his username and tag is. To know yours, however, just tap on theavatar of your account placed in the bar at the bottom and on the screen that appears you will immediately find the username followed by the tag at the top.
Once in the chat, you can type the text of the message by tapping on the section Send a message to and send it by tapping on the button Enter placed on the right. If, on the other hand, you tap the button + located at the bottom left, from the menu that appears you can choose to send media files (both photos and videos), file or take a picture from the app.
How do you say? Would you like to find out how to download Discord on PC? No problem, for more info check out my tutorial on the subject.
Other SIM-free texting apps
How do you say? The apps I told you about don’t satisfy you and you want to understand if they exist other SIM-free texting apps? No problem, below you will find other apps that may be right for you.
- Snapchat (Android/iOS) — widely used social network, especially by younger people, which is halfway between Instagram and TikTok, which has risen to prominence for the possibility of exchanging photos and short videos that are deleted after viewing (it is the one that, in fact, invented the stories). However, the app also allows you to chat with your friends on the platform and, in addition to normal text messages, you can send multimedia files, voice recordings and take photos directly in the app. More info here.
- Kik (Android/iOS) — app free instant messaging born in 2010 that does not require a telephone number and therefore a SIM to register for the service. All the main functions present in applications of this type are present, in fact other than text messages it is possible to send multimedia files, files of various types and voice recordings. More info here.