Show HN: I made an Android app that gives you an extra phone number to give out | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: I made an Android app that gives you an extra phone number to give out

market.android.com

67 pointsdustball25 comments

I built this using the Twilio API, which I really enjoy using.

The app is a little expensive; I can lower the price later if I move to a different solution, for example my own asterisk server.

Also looking to use in-app purchasing and/or new subscription model as appropriate for each platform (Android/IOS).

That's a very neat looking concept, and congratulations on getting it out there.

I don't see any link between a dollar price and the purchase of credits, however - could you add or address that?

(It seems you get 360 credits for 8.95 but doesn't indicate how much it costs to buy extra credits beyond the initial ones)

Ah, thank you. Yes, additional credits will be able to be purchased at the same rate. (I'm actually just waiting on Android 2.3, which includes in-app purchasing, which would be perfect for purchasing additional credits.)

...Or you could use Google Voice in the same way for free. In fact, you can selectively block from GV (send certain callers to "number is no longer in service"), which makes it better than a throw away, IMO.

Actually, I use Google Voice as my main phone number. I don't even want to give _that_ out -- so same exact problem for me. <shrug> Selective blocking is only a partial solution; your number is still "out there".

Well, that is why I built the app, anyway =)

Something neat about just being able to "buy" an extra number from the market.

As someone who also uses GV as a "real" number, I love the option to flush your number and get a new one. It's like the voice equivalent of "cleaning house" on social networking sites.

Tried to access android marketplace using chrome and this is what I got :)

http://i.imgur.com/ZpqWg.png

Chrome 11 on OSX gave me this: http://i.imgur.com/nUyaP.png

Fantastic. It's really hard to come up with a good pricing scheme. I've found that simple is better than cheap. If you can figure out a flat rate, or some other scheme that doesn't make me have to do math, I'm much likelier to join.

Cool idea. It also has other possible uses outside of giving it to potential stalkers. Adding basic analytics would make it useful for A/B testing offers on TV or in print media, for instance.

Price per credit?

Very nice idea, and the page is a great sell. Definitely need a more useful developer website landing page, though.

I like it. A reviewer says, "shouting numbers in a crowded bar isn't a particularly fun sport". Exactly (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m50xrDcj0fc).

I'm a big fan of the .tel TLD for this, and other reasons: publish contact information dynamically, it's fast, reliable, gives you fine grained privacy controls, etc. etc.

I don't understand why this hasn't really caught on yet. The implications for the telco market would be huge if more people used DNS to its full potential.

Hasn't caught on because it isn't simple. I hardly think dealing with registrars is an activity people relish. Startup Idea?

That's a very good point, although it's changing; specialist registrars/resellers, directory publishers, and VOIP companies are all showing interest now. But I was thinking more about early adopters - the type of people who hang out on HN and register domains in their sleep :)

Wouldn't I get phone calls from the disgruntled last person who had the phone number? I suppose even then at least it would be temporary ...

Numbers go out of service for 6 months before being reused, IIRC. The carrier may even lengthen the time if the number is actively getting calls during the hold time.

Brilliant idea, the image on your page describing it very well!

Do you have a QR code for this app?

Market search doesn't find it for me (from the phone) and all QR codes I find on the web give me a 404.

Tiny market, isn't it? How many geeky guy Android users are giving out their numbers at bars?

Are you in North Jersey? Recognize the 201 in the screenshot :)

Does it work in the UK perchance?

I dont know if this one does but what I did was get a SkypeOut number and used Skype to call out when I was in Barcelona to call my friends in the US. So at least you can call people in the US cheap =\ (http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/features/allfeatures/call-ph...)

Great idea.

Perfect for celebs. Know any?

I heard Michael Jackson used to change his number on a biweekly basis. Would be quite interesting to see a survey on this group. See my other comment for a neat solution ;)

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