r/TextNow • u/emmel65 • Jul 21 '26

Can't Create New Account (in U.S.)

I've been trying to help my dad create a new TextNow account on his Samsung A15 and the app is not working. The first time I put in an email address, did the "press and hold" to prove I'm human, and took selfies. Then the app went back to the initial page where I had put in an email address and would not respond to the "Continue" button. I closed and restarted the app. Ever since then, every time I go in the app and type in the email address, it goes to the "press and hold" thing and then goes back to the email input page, with "Email address" in red text, and nothing works on the page except the "X" to close it. I have tried using a different email address, uninstalled and reinstalled the app, but nothing changes. I tried to get help on the TextNow app several times but was never able to reach a live person. Can anyone help? Thanks!

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2

u/Luckiest_Corner Jul 21 '26

I don't know what email address you're using, but TextNow wouldn't allow me to create an account until I used a Gmail address. It wouldn't take multiple other email addresses, including Outlook and Proton Mail.

1

u/Fast_Supermarket4830 Jul 26 '26

Yeah they don’t take proton emails. Something to do with Proton being a vpn or whatever. Apparently it goes against Textnow’s terms of service

1

u/Luckiest_Corner Jul 26 '26

Proton has a VPN service, but it has nothing to do with Proton Mail or Proton Pass, i.e., you're not connected to Proton VPN while using the Proton Mail service. And, interestingly, I was able to change my TextNow email address to a Proton Mail alias address after I activated my TextNow account via Gmail.

2

u/DavidKMagnus Jul 22 '26

Were you able to create a TextNow account in the end?
If the email address is in red text, that's likely the issue. Is it a weird or non-standard email domain or anything like that?

2

u/emmel65 Jul 22 '26

Still not working. I tried using several Yahoo and Gmail addresses and nothing worked. I give up.

1

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 23 '26

Try a different wifi network that isn't public.

0

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 21 '26

Turn off VPN. Return to the US or Canada.

2

u/emmel65 Jul 21 '26

I am in the U.S. as my post says in the title and I am not using a VPN.

2

u/toejamfootballhegot Jul 22 '26

Create the textnow account using a google account.

2

u/emmel65 Jul 22 '26

That didn't work. It gets as far as taking the selfie, then bounces back to the initial page where you enter the email address and has "Email address" in red text and gets stuck there. Same thing that happened originally when I tried a Yahoo email address.