BYOP: Republic Wireless now lets you bring your own phone — as long as it’s approved

By Christian de Looper Published August 12, 2016

republic wireless bring your own phone head — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Republic Wireless has long been an awesome concept, and while there are plenty of great phones now available from the company, to date you’ve had to buy a new phone to use Republic Wireless. As of today, however, you’ll be able to bring your own phone — as long as it’s on the list of approved devices.

The news comes shortly after Republic Wireless announced a slew of new compatible phones, including a number of flagships. The Samsung Galaxy S7, the Nexus 6P, and the Moto X Pure Edition were all included in the lineup.

Recommended Videos

There was a time when Republic Wireless’ service required deep integration with software, and as such only a few phones were offered through the service. That’s because of how Wi-Fi calling worked with the service. Now, however, the company operates much more like a traditional mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), which means that there are more handsets that can work with the company’s offerings.

Here’s a full lost of compatible phones you can bring to Republic Wireless:

Moto G4
Moto G4 Plus
Moto X Pure Edition
Nexus 5X by LG
Nexus 6P by Huawei
Samsung Galaxy J3
Samsung Galaxy S6
Samsung Galaxy S7
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

If you have an unlocked version of one of these phones and are interested in joining Republic Wireless, you can install the Republic Wireless app from the Google Play Store and order a SIM card from the app. Actually, the app is required and is used to verify that you do indeed own a handset approved to work on the network. Not only that, but if you order the SIM card before 9 p.m. ET tomorrow, you’ll get it for free, although you will still have to pay shipping and taxes. Even if you miss out on the free SIM card, after tomorrow a Republic Wireless SIM only costs $5.

Topics

Christian de Looper

Contributor

Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…

Mobile

It’s finally happening — your iPhone is getting RCS in 2024

iMessage on an iPhone 14 Pro Max, plus iMessage on an Android phone using the Beeper app.

Today is a day I truly didn't expect would ever happen. On November 16, 2023, Apple officially confirmed that RCS texting is finally coming to the iPhone in 2024.

Yes, you read that correctly. Starting "later next year," Apple will add RCS support to the iPhone. In other words, if you have an Android phone and are texting someone with an iPhone, you'll be able to text each other over RCS instead of SMS. That means you'll get many iMessage-like features such as typing indicators, read receipts, higher-resolution photo/video sharing, etc.

Mobile

One of our favorite Android phones just got its own iMessage app

Nothing Chats app on a. phone.

Nothing is trying to bridge the great blue/green bubble divide for Android users of iMessage. This is not a personal crusade to shatter walls and open windows, as much as Nothing CEO Carl Pei would want you to believe that. Instead, Nothing is piggybacking on tech created by New York-based startup Sunbird.
Technically, the Sunbird app can be installed on any Android phone and it features a blue bubble for all iMessage text exchanges involving an Android phone. No more green bubble shame that could get you kicked out of groups for disrupting the harmony or even slim your dating chances. That’s how bad it is!
Nothing is adopting the Sunbird tech and bundling it as its very own app under the name Nothing Chats. But here’s the fun part. The app only works on the Nothing Phone 2 and not the Nothing Phone 1. And this life-altering boon will only be bestowed upon users in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., or the EU bloc.

The app is currently in the beta phase, which means some iMessage features will be broken or absent. Once the app is downloaded on your Nothing Phone 2, you can create a new account or sign up with your Apple ID to get going with blue bubble texts.
Just in case you’re concerned, all messages will be end-to-end encrypted, and the app doesn’t collect any personal information, such as the users’ geographic location or the texts exchanged. Right now, Sunbird and Nothing have not detailed the iMessage features and those that are broken.
We made iMessage for Android...
The Washington Post tried an early version of the Nothing Chats app and notes that the blue bubble system works just fine. Texts between an Android device and an iPhone are neatly arranged in a thread, and multimedia exchange is also allowed at full quality.
However, message editing is apparently not available, and a double-tap gesture for responding with a quick emoji doesn’t work either. We don’t know when these features will be added. Nothing's Sunbird-based app will expand to other territories soon.
Sunbird, however, offers a handful of other tricks aside from serving the iMessage blue bubble on Android. It also brings all your other messaging apps, such as WhatsApp and Instagram, in one place. This isn’t an original formula, as Beeper offers the same convenience.

Mobile

Have the Android 14 beta on your Pixel? You need to download this update now

Google Pixel 7a held in hand showing home screen

Google revealed a bunch of new goodies during its opening keynote for Google I/O 2023, showing off its latest advancements in AI with Bard, as well as the brand new Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet. There was also a sneak peek at upcoming features in Android 14, including new lock screen clocks, shortcuts, and generative AI wallpapers.

If you have a Pixel phone, like the new Pixel 7a or the older Pixel 7 or Pixel 7 Pro, then -- surprise -- Google is rolling out the Android 14 Beta 2 starting right now.