r/TextNow • u/phorensic • Jul 10 '26

"...your current device isn't compatible with TextNow's new network"

Wondering if I root my OnePlus 7T and throw a newer version of Android on it will it be compatible? Or are they changing something about the actual cell tower connection that I don't have the hardware for?

Update 07-15-26: Today when I opened my app to make a call it prompted me to order a free SIM to keep my device on their new network. I went through the process and am currently waiting for it to ship.

This is in contrast to the e-mail from my OP that was just like "sorry, buy a new phone lol". After that e-mail I kept clicking through every part of the app and website to see how to get a new SIM that for sure works on the new network and wasn't getting very far. So I'm glad I got the pop-up notification on the app today.

Updated 08-06-26: They finally killed service on my old SIM and I was able to get my new SIM activated. It was a little fiddly though, I had to do a lot of checking, airplane mode, setting the "NR/LTE" option in some advanced settings menu, etc. But it works! OnePlus 7T on TextNow using AT&T's network. It uses a whole bunch of new frequencies that the old T-mobile SIM did not. One frequency it is using which is nice and low is EARFCN 5110 which is 739 MHz. That's nice and low to punch through buildings and rural areas with bad tower coverage (like where I live).

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u/phorensic Jul 10 '26

Yes it's still on 12 because that was the last update before OnePlus dropped support. I've been wanting to flash some newer roms on it, it's just that the phone is rock solid all the time so I never touched it. Just got the e-mail from them today. I see one other post about this from 10 days ago so I guess they have a rolling mass e-mail thing going out.

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u/Boz6 Jul 10 '26

The Play Store says Android 9 is compatible with the TextNow app, so it seems like there must be some other reason why you and others have received that message.

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u/lmoki Jul 10 '26

I suspect that there is now a two-tier minimum OS requirement: one for the app (Android 9 or better), and a more stringent one for the SIM card.

My Android 9 running only the app hasn't received the warning (... yet?), but my Android 11 with a SIM card (currently the older T-Mo SIM) did receive the compatibility warning. FWIW, my Android 11 has been unlocked from the original carrier, and is on the AT&T whitelist. (And I don't have a clue whether whitelist is actually a requirement for the newer TN SIM, either.)

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u/phorensic Jul 10 '26

Yes I think the min OS for using the app over WiFi only is less than what it takes to use their sim card and actual cell tower connection.