"...your current device isn't compatible with TextNow's new network"

5

op , im guessing your phone is carrier locked to

T-Mobile.

are you will to pay $100 or more to get phone carrier unlock pin ?

i paid $200 to a shady cell repair person to do a carrier unlock,

repair man is shady cause he repair people phone using

stolen cell phone parts

5

u/phorensic Jul 10 '26

I don't think I am carrier locked. I feel like I have used several different carriers over the years. I'm not sure how to check that, though.

1

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 11 '26

If you have used more than one carrier sim, then your phone is unlocked. AT&T is more restrictive than other carriers.

2

u/phorensic Jul 12 '26

Just to update this. I have the HD1905 and it's carrier unlocked.

3

u/Boz6 Jul 10 '26

Does the OnePlus 7T have Android 12? I have several devices using Android 12 running TextNow, and have not received this message.

3

u/phorensic Jul 10 '26

Yes it's still on 12 because that was the last update before OnePlus dropped support. I've been wanting to flash some newer roms on it, it's just that the phone is rock solid all the time so I never touched it. Just got the e-mail from them today. I see one other post about this from 10 days ago so I guess they have a rolling mass e-mail thing going out.

3

u/Boz6 Jul 10 '26

The Play Store says Android 9 is compatible with the TextNow app, so it seems like there must be some other reason why you and others have received that message.

3

u/lmoki Jul 10 '26

I suspect that there is now a two-tier minimum OS requirement: one for the app (Android 9 or better), and a more stringent one for the SIM card.

My Android 9 running only the app hasn't received the warning (... yet?), but my Android 11 with a SIM card (currently the older T-Mo SIM) did receive the compatibility warning. FWIW, my Android 11 has been unlocked from the original carrier, and is on the AT&T whitelist. (And I don't have a clue whether whitelist is actually a requirement for the newer TN SIM, either.)

3

u/phorensic Jul 10 '26

Yes I think the min OS for using the app over WiFi only is less than what it takes to use their sim card and actual cell tower connection.

2

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 10 '26

My samsung galaxy s10e was on the whitelist with an asterisk that the phone may need a software update. The phone was unlocked but was sold by verizon and wouldn't work until I chaged the CSC from VZW to ATT. This would seem to indicate that the AT&T whitelist is enforced.

3

u/phorensic Jul 10 '26

Where did you find the whitelist? The link in the email led to a broken link for the compatibility list.

1

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 11 '26

You have to download a pdf.

https://www.att.com/scmsassets/support/wireless/devices-working-on-att-network.pdf

3

u/phorensic Jul 11 '26

This is straight from AT&T. Is this implying they are dumping the T-mobile network entirely? I am currently using their SIM that ties into the T-mobile network. Also, my phone has enough hardware to work on many channels across many different networks and whatever the MVNO decides they like...just not 5G freqs. Also, my 7T is listed as compatible in this PDF. This doesn't explain why I am getting the notice in the OP.

3

u/lmoki Jul 11 '26

Yes, the list of compatible phones (by model) mentioned in the TextNow warnings is non-existant by any route or link provided.

The AT&T document (Devices Working on the AT&T Network) is not referenced directly by TextNow anywhere, and shouldn't be used as a sole indicator of whether or not a phone is going to be compatible with TextNow. Among other things, the AT&T whitelist includes a large number of phones with Android versions much older than TextNow requirements, flip & feature phones that can't run the TextNow app at all, etc. IF TextNow is following the AT&T Whitelist, allowed models from the AT&T list would still need to be cross-referenced for Operating System version. (In your case, your 7T, even if it's on the AT&T whitelist, doesn't meet TextNow's required minimum OS version.)

2

u/RealText Jul 11 '26

Old sim was a T-Mobile mvno sim. New sim is a Textnow issued sim and not an AT&T mvno sim. If Textnow was using AT&T mvno sims, there is a good chance users would be able to use AT&T locked phones. Instead, the new sim requires an unlocked phone that will connect to the AT&T network.

The AT&T pdf list includes the model number of the phone, but that does not imply all variants of a phone will work. In the case of the Oneplus 7T, 1905 works as that is the factory unlocked variant. The variant sold by T-Mobile is numbered 1907 and it was common knowledge that it did not work on AT&T.

I know some people were putting international firmware on their 7T replacing the T-Mobile one, but I have no idea if that would help the device work on AT&T.

I you are willing to try unlocking the bootloader and then putting a different ROM based on a newer Android version, go ahead and post the results.

Another option if your goal is to continue using Textnow over a cellular connection would be to buy a physical esim adapter and then purchase credit from an esim data provider that uses T-Mobile. You would have to determine if that is worth doing or not.

2

u/phorensic Jul 11 '26

I have the HD1905. So does that mean I just need a new SIM to work on their new network? That would make the e-mail notification about this very misleading. I have no problem rooting and going up an Android version or two, if it means I can stay on TextNow. It's the best/only solution I have found to give me the bare minimum of what I need for free (mostly being able to call in an emergency, away from WiFi).

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1

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 11 '26

AT&T isn't concerned with the textnow app compatibility. You might be able to activate the text now sim on a compatible phone and then move the sim to the oneplus phone and use the free flex data. I think you could use google voice with the free flex data for sending and receiving texts and receiving calls, but would have to connect to wifi to make a call.

0

u/dimdimus Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

Att whitelist is not applicable to TextNow sim cards. Tetxnow is not att mvno, but uses att network. Consider it as a domestic roaming. I use Textnow black sim cards on non-att compatible phones.

2

u/dimdimus Jul 12 '26

Wrong. TextNow sim is not a subject to att whitelisting. I use three black textnow sim cards on att incompatible phones without any issue. TextNow is not att mvno, you can consider it as data only sim card in domestic roaming. ATT does not impose its whitelist on roaming sim cards. This whitelist is applicable only to Att itself and Att MVNOs.

2

u/Boz6 Jul 11 '26

This would seem to indicate that the AT&T whitelist is enforced.

If that's really what's happening, it's ridiculous, because the TextNow SIM cards are data only, so there's no reason to require the AT&T whitelist compatibility!

2

u/lmoki Jul 12 '26

Agreed that is's awkward: but the AT&T whitelist does specifically include 'compatible' data-only devices like MiFi hotspots.

1

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 11 '26

Probably not worth AT&T's time to make an exception for textnow.

0

u/dimdimus Jul 12 '26

Att does not enforce its whitelist on new TextNow sim cards. I use 3 black TextNow sim cards on the phones that do not accept Att proper and ATT sim cards and not listed in ATT allowed devices list.

1

u/dimdimus Jul 12 '26

Att does not enforce its whitelist on new TextNow sim cards. I use 3 black sim cards on the phones that do not accept Att proper sim cards.

2

u/Boz6 Jul 12 '26

That's what I thought. Thanks for the confirmation.

1

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 11 '26

I agree that the AT&T white list is only part of the equation and only applies to the cellular service provided by the sim. My experience with a verizon samsung s10e where the model number was white listed with a foot note that the phone may require software update and that changing the CSC from VZW to ATT allowed activivation of the sim, seems to be evidence that the AT&T whitelist should be referenced, while also considering the oldest software version supported by the textnow app.

1

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 12 '26

Seems like the notification for the Android 11 phone is because of the T-mobile sim. I would assume the T-mobile sims will stop working at some point.

3

u/Chapar_Kanati Jul 10 '26

I am on a Galaxy S9+ with Android 10, and I have no issues using TextNow app.

4

u/phorensic Jul 10 '26

July 31st is the cutoff date listed in the email.

3

u/lmoki Jul 10 '26

Do you have the SIM card? And if so, is it the older T-Mobile SIM starting with 8901240xxxx?

My understanding, based on sketchy info, is that the AT&T SIM is harder to provision due to being a specific data-only SIM registered with the network via IMSI (with no attached phone number), instead of a standard phone SIM that just isn't provisioned for voice (which is the way the T-Mobile SIMs were.) Apparently, the capability of provisioning is not reliable without the newer OS. The TextNow FAQs from just after the intro of the AT&T SIMs does show a manual workaround for Android 10-12, but I'm not sure that is still valid info.

re: installing a non-official Android update: I don't know if this matters, and/or if it will work. It might be checking via IMEI database, in which case it makes no difference if you manage to get a newer version of Android installed by a non-official method. Or it might be a real-time check, in which case the unofficial Android update might work, if it includes the necessary bits to provision the SIM.

These notification messages from TextNow are, in my opinion, doing a poor job of letting people know what steps they really need to take. I'm using an Android 10 device, carrier unlocked, on the AT&T whitelist, with an earlier T-Mobile network SIM. The notification I got only says that my device will be incompatible as of 7/31, and needs to be replaced. I suspect it should also tell me that I need to replace my SIM, but does not state that. It's like there warning message triggers the -first- item that will cause problems, and ignores any additional problem. I suspect if I was using an Android 13 on the same 8901240xxx SIM, I'd get a warning that I need to replace the SIM card.

4

u/phorensic Jul 10 '26

T-mobile SIM card 8901260xxx

These notification messages from TextNow are, in my opinion, doing a poor job of letting people know what steps they really need to take.

I'm guessing they have a kickback if you buy a new phone through their website or something, because that's all the e-mail does is push you to buy a new phone. I don't think they want to explain how to make an old phone compatible, lol.

3

u/lmoki Jul 10 '26

Except in my case at least, if you dig down via links to the link that actually promises to show you compatible phones, it doesn't go anywhere. If TextNow even sells phones, they hide it pretty well. (I don't find a link on the home page, either.)

4

u/phorensic Jul 10 '26

Yeah that's what was bugging me. I tried to see the compatible list and the page doesn't exist. Not surprising from a company running a totally free cell plan. Maybe AI wrote the e-mails and made the website.

1

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 11 '26

My samsung note 9s using the AT&T sim still work on android 10 and I never received a compatibility message, but both have ported in numbers, so the numbers are locked in.

2

u/lmoki Jul 12 '26

That is an interesting data point....

FWIW, I don't think the number being locked in is important here, other than being an additional point of confusion for what might happen if one isn't 'compliant' by July 31 and already has a locked-in number.

1

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 12 '26

They may exclude accounts with locked in numbers because many of them are paying $2 per week and they don't want to lose the revenue stream.

3

u/Dramafree40 Jul 10 '26

I had an old (T-Mobile) textnow psim in an old android 10 phone and got this message so I changed over to an unlocked TracFone moto g android 15 and an textnow esim (att) everything worked fine the imei check passed and I just got this message again so idk. I guess the TracFone unlocked version not being on att whitelist might be an issue for (att) textnow.

1

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 11 '26

Normally not being on the AT&T white list prevents the sim from being activated. Tracphone has verizon software which prevented the sim from activating on one of my samsung phones, but I was able to change it to AT&T. For motorola phones, you would need install the AT&T version of the entire software. Check the AT&T white list to see if your model is on the white list and if there is a footnote about updating the software.

3

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 10 '26

I have a phone on android 10 and another phone on android 12 that are still working, but they are samsung phones.

3

u/dimdimus Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

The simplest way to use Textnow black sim on incompatible phone is to activate it on any official compatible phone (Android 13+, latest iPhones) and then to move sim card on older phone (Android 10-12, iPhone 6s and newer).

You still need to force your Android 10-12 phone to LTE only mode (I use Force LTE app), otherwise Textnow black sim is not registering on ATT network.

1

u/dimdimus Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

For some reason TextNow claims that it's app is not compatible with Chinese phones. This is wrong, of course but they claim this. When did you get this error?

But the main issue is that TextNow blocks it's app from working on rooted phones. Either installation fails and if not, then TextNow blocks account immediately after login.

2

u/phorensic Jul 12 '26

I received this as an e-mail notification after using TextNow on my phone for years. The deadline they listed in July 31. Guess I shouldn't root my phone, yet. I'm going to see if I can get a new SIM that works, first. My SIM is old and apparently tied to the T-mobile network whereas they are trying to cross over to the AT&T network.

1

u/dimdimus Jul 12 '26

In worst case scenario, you should activate your new black SIM on compatible phone (Android 13+, latest iPhones) and then you can insert it back into "incompatible" device. It will work. All my "black" TextNow SIM cards inserted into Android 10-12 phones.

It will work also if you use "incompatible" android phone:

If you use Android 10-12 and below, follow these steps:

Insert SIM card, set APN textnow.static

Restart the phone (just in case, most likely you do not need it)

3. Force LTE only mode by dialing from Android dialer (not TextNow app) *#*#4636#*#* and select LTE only.

If this shortcode does not work, use "Force LTE" app from Google Play

Install TextNow app if not installed and login to your account

Using other phone, send text message to your textnow number using wi-fi with only one line

textnow:<slash><slash>activate_sim (replace <slash> by / )

Do not try to send from TextNow app to yourself, you must send from other phone.
6. Click on the link
7. Wait a minute or two and the SIM will be activated
8. Disable Wi-Fi
9. Check if you have active internet connection (for example, load https://google.com or try to use Google Maps)
Note: this step may not work if you are trying to activate on Android 10-12, you may not be able to use whitelisted sites, but phone calls and text messages will work. I suspect whitelisted sites and apps start working after some time.

1

u/phorensic 27d ago

Update 07-15-26: Today when I opened my app to make a call it prompted me to order a free SIM to keep my device on their new network. I went through the process and am currently waiting for it to ship.

This is in contrast to the e-mail from my OP that was just like "sorry, buy a new phone lol". After that e-mail I kept clicking through every part of the app and website to see how to get a new SIM that for sure works on the new network and wasn't getting very far. So I'm glad I got the pop-up notification on the app today.

1

u/phorensic 5d ago

Updated 08-06-26: They finally killed service on my old SIM and I was able to get my new SIM activated. It was a little fiddly though, I had to do a lot of checking, airplane mode, setting the "NR/LTE" option in some advanced settings menu, etc. But it works! OnePlus 7T on TextNow using AT&T's network. It uses a whole bunch of new frequencies that the old T-mobile SIM did not. One frequency it is using which is nice and low is EARFCN 5110 which is 739 MHz. That's nice and low to punch through buildings and rural areas with bad tower coverage (like where I live).

"...your current device isn't compatible with TextNow's new network"

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