![]() And I was able to use the iPhone as a host for each of the Android phones. I was able to use the Android phones as hosts for each other and for the iPhone. This allowed me to pretend I was three different people, each with his or her own phone and distinct phone number. The company says that your information is completely erased from the borrowed phone when you log out, and that the lender’s data is also protected.įor my tests, I downloaded the Hotel My Phone app to two Android phones - a Nexus 5 and an HTC One M8. The app works by storing your phone’s number and contacts in the cloud, and making them available when you log in on a borrowed phone. And if your phone is dead or off, texts cost 10 cents each, though the app itself can also send and receive text-like messages, which are free. While Hotel My Phone is free, there are some fees, though the company starts you off with $1 in credit. You can also use strangers’ out-of-network phones as hosts, by quickly downloading the app onto them, though the company plans to charge about $1 per use for this scenario (using phones in your network is free). You can even “check into” an Android phone to turn it into your virtual iPhone, and vice versa, if both phones have the app. The idea is that you get a small circle of close friends to download the app, creating a trusted network of phones you can use with your own number in a pinch. ![]() The company describes Hotel My Phone as a sort of Airbnb for phones. (Apple has since built similar calling functionality for iPhones into the Mac, and already had migrated texting across all its devices via its iMessage service.) Hotel My Phone comes from a tiny Montreal company, PplConnect, which earlier this year released its first product, also called PplConnect, which allowed Android users to make and receive texts and phone calls on a PC or Mac. ![]() A text sent from a virtual iPhone inside a physical Android phone It mostly works, but it still has a few bugs and limitations that may frustrate some users. The app, available for both Android and iOS, is called Hotel My Phone, and I’ve been testing it. And the borrowed phone won’t have your contacts in it, so if you can’t recall a person’s number, you’re sunk.īut now there’s a new app that allows you to temporarily log in to a borrowed phone to create a limited virtual copy of your own absent or dead phone - a copy that allows texting or calling from your own number, and displays your contacts. If it’s a call, the recipient may even ignore it due to the strange number. ![]() It’s not the end of the world, but it does have a disadvantage: The call or text won’t come from your own phone number, so you have to explain that it’s really you on an unfamiliar number. So, if they have to send a text or make a call, they borrow a phone from a friend. People either forget their smartphones, or discover that their phones’ batteries are dead. ![]()
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