How to call from your own number on someone else's phone
Your phone is lost, dead or broken, and you need to make a call. If you borrow a phone and just dial, the person sees a number they don't know, and they may not pick up. Here is how to make the call show your number instead, and the one thing you have to do first.
Get the app on your own phone
Download MobileyMe from the App Store or Google Play. It's free to download. Create an account, and write your email and password down somewhere that isn't this phone. US and Canada only.
Verify your number with one short call
The app calls your number. Answer it and type the 6-digit code on the phone's keypad. This has to happen while you still have the phone, because the call goes to your number. The call comes from a number you won't recognize, so turn off Silence Unknown Callers on iPhone, or Do Not Disturb on Android, first.
Back up your contacts
On your own phone, backup happens automatically once you grant Contacts access. Say yes when the app asks.
When you need it, sign in on the other phone
Install MobileyMe on a spare phone or one you borrow, and sign in with your email and password. Your backed-up contacts are there.
Place the call from the app
Use the keypad in MobileyMe to place the call. Calls you place from the app show your number. Carriers decide how each call is labeled.
Sign out when you're done
When you sign out of MobileyMe on a phone, the app removes your MobileyMe data from that phone. Your contacts and messages stay in your MobileyMe cloud account.
What it doesn't do
- It's for calls, not texts. Messages you send from the app arrive from a MobileyMe line, not from your number.
- Calls to your number don't ring the other phone unless you set up forwarding first. On iPhone, with call forwarding on through a US carrier, calls to your number can ring the iPhone you signed in on. Forwarding has to be turned on from your own phone before it's lost.
- If you never set it up, you can't verify later unless you can answer a call on your number, for example once a new SIM with your number is active.
Call as yourself from another phone.
Set it up on the phone you have now. Later, sign in on another phone, and calls you place from the app show your number, on the carriers we have tested.
MobileyMe is free to download on the App Store and Google Play. US and Canada only.
Phone already gone? Set this up when your replacement arrives, so you're ready next time.
Get the app →On a computer? Scan this with your phone's camera to get the app.
Questions people ask
Can I call from my own number on someone else's phone?
Yes, with MobileyMe, if you set it up on your own phone first. Sign in on the other phone, and calls you place from the app show your number, on the carriers we have tested.
Can I text from my own number on another phone?
Not with MobileyMe. Messages you send from the app arrive from a MobileyMe line, not from your number. Our texting guide covers Apple's and Google's options for texting from a computer.
What if I never set it up and my phone is already gone?
Setup includes one call to your number to confirm it is yours, so you need to be able to answer it. Once a new SIM with your number is active, you can set it up then, and you will be ready next time.
What happens to my data on the other phone?
When you sign out of MobileyMe on a phone, the app removes your MobileyMe data from that phone. Your contacts and messages stay in your MobileyMe cloud account.
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