Hobby Phone Recommendations

avatar for franktl
franktl
California
Hi,

I'm looking to get a new hobby phone and plan. I was wondering what everyone else used as a hobby phone and what plan you're using.

Thanks!

26 comments

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avatar for rh48hr
rh48hr
7 years ago
Use Google Voice. Then you don't have to get a new phone. It's free and you can connect it to Google hangouts for texting.
avatar for Subraman
Subraman
7 years ago
I use a second line on my main phone. I think it's crazy to have a 2nd phone around that can be found (read my recent thread about a stripper-turned-sugar-baby whose boyfriend almost found her hobby phone). I use Sideline's free plan, but used to use Line2 ($10/month). I know other guys that use either TextMe or google voice, both free I believe. If you're foolish enough to let your girlfriend or wife paw through your phone, then you can use an app that hides and password protects Sideline or whatever app you use.
avatar for franktl
franktl
7 years ago
Thanks for the great advice!!!
I'm hesitant to use any Google based solutions as I don't think it's discrete enough.

How would rate Sideline, Line2, TextMe and so on from a discretion perspective?
avatar for Subraman
Subraman
7 years ago
What type of discretion do you need, exactly?

I was happy with Line2, but eventually left it because it cost $10/month, and you couldn't get images, and I need to see pics from my girls

Switched to sideline, really like it, I can get pics, and its free. The catch is, if you don't use your sideline number to send or receive a text at least once a month, the "reap" your number and take it back, and you have to request a new one. Not a problem for me, as I use it constantly. You can also pay a small monthly fee to reserve your number permanently. The other catch is, since Sideline works through your main carrier, someone calling on your sideline number does get forwarded onto your main voicemail. If that's not an issue for you (that is, you don't say your real name on your voicemail), then no problem.

Haven't used TextMe
avatar for clubdude
clubdude
7 years ago
Tracfone!
avatar for joc13
joc13
7 years ago
Total Wireless thru Walmart. Buy a handful of the recharge cards with cash when you're in the store so you have one handy when month runs out. Make sure you pay cash for the phone. Now you have a phone that can't be traced to you.

When I go in a club or on a date, having a 2nd phone means my primary phone can stay home, or locked/hidden/powered down in my car so it can't be tracked or record/report my whereabouts. If a stripper asks to put her number in my phone, I can hand her the second one and not be worried. I can use the navigation on it to get places and not care if it's tracking me. I can keep pictures/videos/texts on it and not be worried.

We all know strippers (and SBs) can be the type of girls where trouble finds them. You may not be directly involved in the trouble, but why end up on a "person of interest" list when your number in her phone can be tracked back to you.
avatar for FTS
FTS
7 years ago
Tracfone (or similar) with prepaid minutes, paid for with cash, is the only way to guarantee anonymity.
avatar for jackslash
jackslash
7 years ago
I'm so glad I have no such concerns. You too can be free! Retire and get divorced! Then go where you want to go and do what you want to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzG-BP6R…
avatar for Subraman
Subraman
7 years ago
Agree that if you need close to complete anonymity, plus the ability not to be tracked down at all, a Tracfone (or similar) is the better answer, although best to not use it at your house,since there will be a record of where it's turned on, and your location can eventually be triangulated. For me, that's not what I"m going for, I'm just going for the stripper or SB or massage girl not being able to map my phone number to my real name; that is, I only need anonymity from sex providers, I don't need complete and total anonymity otherwise.

Still, it's worth doing a double-check on the risks here. Which is the greater risk and more likely to happen:
1. Your SO finds your whore phone.
2. You end up on a "person of interest" list because your 2nd line phone number was in the contact list of a stripper who got herself in some type of trouble

In all the years I've been doing this, the number of times I've heard of case #2 happening is exactly zero (although I have a friend who is a very senior LEO and he assures me that it DOES happen, so I don't blame joc or FTS for considering it), it's a super rare thing. Whereas #1 happens all the time, and even if the whore phone is locked and the wife can't get in, it invariably sets up a poisonous environment of distrust; assuming you don't actually leave it on and it RINGS. The mere fact you have a whore phone is a serious risk in and of itself.

In short, do consider what your real risks are, there's no universally right answer. If you have incredibly good phone discipline to keep your whore phone hidden and turned off, AND your pattern is that your wife has access to your main phone, go with a whore phone. Otherwise, a 2nd line (possibly hidden and locked by another app) on your main phone may well be the best option, even if there's a one-in-a-zillion chance LEO could find you through it.

avatar for joc13
joc13
7 years ago
Good points, and yes the sudden and unexplained appearance of a 2nd phone would raise suspicion.

Luckily, since I'm in tech, I've carried more than 1 phone for lots of years, for a variety of reasons. Someone else made the comment about using a chat app (e.g. Kik) instead of texting, which is also good cause I can use a tablet or other device with those.

I have often worked for organizations with high security requirements, so not allowing other family members (or people in general) to have access to my devices is something everyone is used to ("don't get on Dad's computer, cause then he'll have to shoot you" ;-)

Something else that might help. Buy same model phone and case for both phones.
avatar for Subraman
Subraman
7 years ago
Yeah, agree with both of those, and that's what I did in the old days, before smartphones, when I did have both a whore phone and a wife, I did both of those things: a general environment of "respect each others' phones", and a clear reasonable explanation as to why I might have a 2nd phone.

avatar for franktl
franktl
7 years ago
Thanks everyone for the great advice.

I know some cam girls who use Kik but I wonder if any of the strippers do.

I have some research to do now.
avatar for Subraman
Subraman
7 years ago
Many young people use either Kik or especially WhatsApp. WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption so a pretty nice app in general. You can hide specific chats in WhatsApp, so even someone casually looking through your WhatsApp won't see chats from strippers, or as I said above, you can use an applocker app to lock WhatsApp entirely
avatar for rane1234
rane1234
7 years ago
Text app or att minute phone
avatar for Subraman
Subraman
7 years ago
^^^Ah! Well that kills it for this use... can everyone see your actual #? I haven't used it in soooo long I don't know how it works anymore
avatar for joc13
joc13
7 years ago
@ldk both, actually, although one is better at it than the other
avatar for sharkhunter
sharkhunter
7 years ago
I might want a hot girl with some government agency tracking me if she wants to hook up. I just don't know why anyone would want to track me unless they are already tracking everyone. Since they are already recording all phone calls, all data is likely recorded as well. Probably deep in some trillion trillion data file vault at the nsa in case they want to access it for any reason. Not getting shared with other agencies because our government doesn't like to share data with other agencies and risk secrets getting exposed.
avatar for san_jose_guy
san_jose_guy
7 years ago
How about also for Mexico, and their is some other web application which they say the girls use to keep in touch?

SJG
avatar for san_jose_guy
san_jose_guy
7 years ago
https://www.whatsapp.com/

I think this is it, but I don't really know what it does or why they use it.

Google Voice is somthing I will look at. There was also burnerapp, I think still running.

https://www.burnerapp.com/

I suspect that some of this is to get around the new federal regs about cell phones and real identity.

SJG

Rare Earth - I Know I'm Losing You (full version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F28X8--2…
avatar for Subraman
Subraman
7 years ago
I, too, am not worried about being tracked. That said, if you were a VERY careful husband with a very careful wife, among the things you might worry about is a pop-up notification about somewhere you've been... right now, on my android phone, whenever I go to a restaurant, I get a pop-up on my phone asking me to rate it (that is, my phone knows where I am). I know where this comes from and how to turn it off, but a good number of the apps on your phone may be keeping track of where you are, and in some you can go into the app and see the points where you've been, in others you get those notifications that might ask you about Arco gas station in Poughkeepsie (and when your wife sees that, she wonders why you were there when you were supposed to be working in Bridgeport that day. In any case, I still think most people are way over-paranoid about this, but there are interesting implications.
avatar for franktl
franktl
7 years ago
Yeah Whatsapp uses your real telephone number and the other person can see it. They can see your real name too if you set it up that way.

I agree there are many apps on the phone tracking. I like the suggestion of turning off the hobby phone when not in use. Especially when at home.
avatar for san_jose_guy
san_jose_guy
7 years ago
So why do girls in TJ use Whatsapp? Is it because the phone services won't allow cross border texting, or they charge money for it?

SJG
avatar for franktl
franktl
7 years ago
WhatsApp is the new Skype. It's free and available to most.
It's just like HK and mainland China girls use WeChat.
avatar for Subraman
Subraman
7 years ago
Worth noting that WhatsApp, if I recall correctly, uses end-to-end encryption. As the Trump administration loosens up or cancels regulations designed to protect privacy against your mobile provider, the time may be right to more and more strongly favor end-to-end encrypted apps over anything that sends cleartext through your mobile provider
avatar for Call.Me.Ishmael
Call.Me.Ishmael
7 years ago
I used to have a separate, cash-paid burner phone. I've been using Sideline on my main phone for the last several months. If you're going with a burner app, then Sideline is a good option.

That said, I'm thinking about switching back to a completely separate phone. I prefer to have this hobby air-gapped away from my other devices. I also don't like the possibility of thumbing the wrong icon and undoing all of my precautions.

Also, all of these apps living on one device can share and track information with each other. Maybe you install an update and don't read the TOS, etc.

Everyone has different needs and comfort levels when it comes to this stuff. Do what makes you feel safe.
avatar for san_jose_guy
san_jose_guy
7 years ago
Thanks for that info about Whatsapp.

https://www.whatsapp.com/

SJG
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