iTellThe iTell blog
Practical guides on second numbers, texts, codes and privacy, written by the team.
How to use two phone numbers with one iPhone
Your second SIM lives in an Android phone? Here are the real options for using both numbers from the iPhone in your hand, and what each one costs you.
How to get your Android phone's texts on your iPhone
Moving texts once is easy. Getting new texts from an Android phone onto your iPhone every day is a different problem. Here's how to do it properly.
Verification codes going to your other phone? Here's the fix
Bank codes, logins and deliveries all send a one-time code to a number that lives in another phone. How to get those codes on your iPhone, safely.
How to answer your Android phone's calls on your iPhone
Calls to the number in your Android phone can ring on your iPhone, with the caller's name, on the lock screen, and you can call back from the same number.
Call forwarding, SMS apps or a Bluetooth mirror? An honest comparison
There are several ways to handle a second number on an iPhone. We compare call forwarding, SMS-forwarding apps, virtual numbers and iTell, limits included.
Travelling? Put the local SIM in a spare phone and keep your iPhone as it is
A local SIM saves money abroad, but swapping SIMs in your iPhone means losing your home number for the trip. Here's a cleaner setup with a spare phone.
Switching to iPhone without giving up your second number
Moving from Android to iPhone but keeping a number on the old phone? How to move your data, keep the old SIM working and use it from the iPhone.
How a phone call travels from one phone to another over Bluetooth
A behind-the-scenes look at what happens in the second between your Android phone ringing and your iPhone showing the call, in plain language.
End-to-end encryption, explained with two phones
What "end-to-end encrypted" really means, why pairing in person matters, and why we can't read your texts even if we wanted to.
Keep the phone in your bag charged and happy
Practical tips so the Android phone in your bag stays connected all day: battery settings, charging habits and what drains power.
Which Android phone makes the best phone for your bag?
Buying or reusing an Android phone to keep your second SIM? What matters, what doesn't, and the phones we've tested with live calls.
A privacy checklist for your second phone
Ten quick checks to keep a second phone and its number private and secure, whether it sits in your bag, your drawer or your desk.