These days, WhatsApp is a trendy social networking platform for chatting and messaging friends and family, so it’s improbable that you haven’t heard of this app before. WhatsApp started as a simple app meant for chatting with other people, but it has evolved significantly throughout the years. Now, you’re required to use your phone number when registering for an account, but what do you do if you don’t have a SIM card or a phone number? Does this mean you’re indefinitely barred from WhatsApp’s features until you have your own number?
Well, there are actually several ways you can jump over this requirement. Let’s find out more about it below.
What You Need to Know About This Trick
As we all know, most apps only require you to use your email address when creating an account for their platform. However, this isn’t the case for WhatsApp because you really need to use a phone number. This is because when syncing the data, WhatsApp will look for your contacts and automatically adds them to the app’s contact list so you know who you can message. Basically, here’s the process of creating a WhatsApp account:
- First, you install the app.
- The app will then ask you to enter your phone number.
- WhatsApp will send you an OTP to the number you used to sign up with.
Now, these loopholes or tricks below will bypass the required OTP step so that you can use WhatsApp even without a phone number. How? Various websites can create fake or temporary phone numbers for you, which you can use when registering to the app. We’ll explain more about it below.
Different Ways You Can Use WhatsApp Without a Phone Number
Before trying these methods, make sure that you already have the WhatsApp app downloaded and installed on your device. Another thing you need to make sure that you haven’t created a WhatsApp account before because this needs to be a fresh installation. That being said, let’s get started:
Use a Landline Number
Believe it or not, you can use your landline number to sign up with WhatsApp. This is a major loophole to the app’s rules because while it says that a legit phone number is needed, it didn’t specify whether landline numbers were not allowed. So, go ahead and try signing up using your landline number, although there’s no guarantee that this will work for everyone. Still, it’s worth a shot if you really want to use the app. If you want to try this method out, here’s what you need to do:
- Install the app on your device for the first time. Again, it needs to be a fresh installation.
- Once the app asks for your number, type in your landline number.
- Obviously, you won’t be able to receive text messages with your landline number, so the OTP via SMS method will fail several times.
- WhatsApp will then provide you another option, which is to call you instead. Choose this method so that you’ll receive the OTP via call on your landline.
Use a Fake Number
Another loophole is the fact that WhatsApp made no mention that you need to type in an original number. So, why not use a fake phone number to create your account? For this to work, you must put your phone on Airplane mode. This part is super important because you don’t want WhatsApp to actually send an authentication code to you. So, register an account like you normally would but ensure that the authentication process fails.
Once you’ve passed that step, you can use one of the many websites that allow you to receive text messages using fake or temporary phone numbers. Here are some samples of such sites:
- https://sms-online.co/receive-free-sms
- https://receive-smss.com/
- https://www.receivesms.org/
- https://freephonenum.com/
Use the Textnow App
Lastly, you can try and use the Textnow App, which is available on most, if not all, mobile devices. It’s an app that’s basically used for sending fake messages, which means it’s using a fake number. There’s also another similar app called TextPlus, which essentially functions in the same way as Textnow.
That being said, here’s how to use Textnow to bypass WhatsApp’s OTP:
- You must first download the Textnow App apart from the WhatsApp app. Then, generate a fake number for yourself via the app. Make sure you remember this number—you can note it down on your phone or on a piece of paper.
- Launch WhatsApp and create an account. Enter the fake number once the app requests one.
- Like the landline method, the authentication process will also fail because this isn’t a real number.
- Choose the option wherein WhatsApp will call you instead.
- Once they have done so, take note of the OTP or security code given to you and type it into WhatsApp.
Conclusion
As they say, every rule has an exception, and the same goes for WhatsApp and its requirements. If, for some reason, you don’t have a SIM card or an authentic phone number you can use to create a WhatsApp account, try any one of the methods we’ve listed above. You should be able to create a WhatsApp account in no time.
