“There’s too many commercials in between calls there’s Emergency and these commercial keep it takes t — Too long to get to the keypad with these commercial, keep popping up it is ridiculous and calls. Keep dropping like crazy. It should be…”
Independent automated assessment · 6 signal sources · 2,148 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-06.
4.7 ★2,581,888 ratings
100M+Downloads
4+Age rating
497 MBApp size
FreeIn-app purchases
About this app
Call and text for free with TextNow, the free phone service with over 100 million users. Get nationwide coverage with unlimited talk and text on 5G—starting at $0/month.
Your phone service should work on your terms. No phone bill, no fixed contracts, no hidden fees.
What makes us different? • No phone bill, no fixed contracts, and no hidden fees • Get a free local phone number or keep your own for a private second line or business use • Flexible data options: choose the plan that fits your life, and change it anytime • Low-cost international calling to 230+ countries
FREE TALK & TEXT NATIONWIDE: NO PHONE BILL, NO FIXED CONTRACTS Stay connected with the TextNow free Wi-Fi calling and texting app, or activate TextNow Wireless on your existing phone to freely call and text without connecting to Wi-Fi.…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
The evidence behind this assessment
This is where the page changes from an app-store listing into an evidence report: findings, important reviews, pricing and a dated history.
Which version this describes
When we ran this analysis, and what the store lists now.
App Store
This analysis describes version 26.40.0 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-06 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 26.40.0, updated 2026-10-05.
Google Play
This analysis describes version 26.8.0.0 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-05 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 26.39.0.0, updated 2026-09-28.
What we measured
Each line is a measurement published as a measurement, never a verdict.
Each line is a measurement, published as a measurement. Where we have not looked, the line says so rather than reading as a zero.
Developer replies to reviews
Replies to at least 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
States a price and a billing period
Cancelling, in the store description
Does not say how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
2 themes reported
Counted from the reviews we have read for this app. "No theme reported" means no theme reached our reporting threshold — it is not a finding that nothing is wrong with this app, and we do not say it is.
Five-star share of ratings
80–89% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.
In the package we scanned
From the package we downloaded and read — version 26.8.0.0, scanned 2026-10-03.
Permissions Android classifies as dangerous
6 or more requested
Counted against the eighteen permissions listed in collect-package.ts. A dangerous permission is one Android asks the user to grant; requesting one is not itself a finding.
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
3 or more found
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
3–9 found
Counted as distinct SDKs in the package we scanned. One mediation bundle can contribute several, so this is not a count of advertisers.
Graded bands · predicate set 1.4 · how these are measured
What the analysis found
App-specific findings, grouped by what each one rests on. How they are graded lives on its own page.
The catch list 2
Charges we publish at a strength we stand behind: measured from an artefact, agreed by independent sources, or reported by enough users to clear that charge's own published bar.
Multiple ad networks bundled
The package embeds several distinct advertising or mediation SDKs — a stack built for ad volume, not for a single house ad.
What we saw: Bundles 7 distinct ad networks / mediation SDKs: Amazon Publisher Services, AppLovin MAX, Fyber / Digital Turbine Exchange, Google Mobile Ads (AdMob / Ad Manager) and 3 more
Aggressive ad load
Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.
What we saw: Progress is gated behind watching an ad: "Not enough credits. Watch a video ad to earn more credits for this reward"
Positive evidence 2
Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.
States a price, or offers a one-time purchase
The app's own text offers a one-time or lifetime purchase, or reviewers report that the price is stated clearly.
What we saw: Offers a one-time or lifetime purchase: "One-Time Purchase"
Developer says data deletion can be requested
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
What we saw: The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
One source only — shown, not confirmed 3
A single kind of evidence. We publish these because withholding them would be the bigger distortion, and we do not treat any of them as a finding we stand behind.
In the app's own text: Tracking and data collection concerns
The app ships session-recording or a wide tracking stack, holds permissions that read personal data, or is reported by users to sell, leak or over-collect it. The evidence line says which of those was observed.
What we saw: Ships 5 distinct tracking/analytics SDKs: Braze, Datadog RUM, Firebase Analytics, Leanplum and 1 more
Reported by users: Paywall blocks the basics
The core of the app — not extras — sits behind payment, or previously-free function moved behind a paywall.
What we saw: Paywall blocks the basics: raised by 5 distinct reviewers (0.7% of 674 reviews scanned)
In the app's own text: Countdown-timer purchase pressure
The app's own purchase copy attaches a deadline to buying — a countdown, 'offer ends in', 'limited time' — or ships a countdown view on a purchase-screen layout.
What we saw: Deadline pressure in the app's own copy: "Limited Time Offer"
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“Ads are too long — The Ads continue to pop up over and over again can’t even hang the phone up really can’t use it until the ad is done. Sometimes I played 3 times.”
“My nice review — I love TextNow because I can find images really like fast and also I can do voice record. I’m new to using phones so this is actually kind of cool. I just wish the ads weren’t here, but I actually still like it. I it…”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version 26.40.0.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Items shown0
Lowest—
Highest—
Google Play does not publish per-purchase prices.