Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Too good to be true? FreedomPop’s new SIM has free WhatsApp messages, data, and calls

Andy Boxall
By

FreedomPop’s CEO Stephen Stokols
Messaging apps that use data have replaced traditional SMS messages for many people, with WhatsApp being one of the most popular. Except it’s another (albeit very small) drain on your monthly data allowance, and if you’re roaming in another country, data can be very, very expensive to obtain. Mobile network FreedomPop has come up with an answer, and its one that’ll cost you absolutely no money at all.

Yes, free. FreedomPop’s WhatsApp SIM card slots into your phone and comes with unlimited WhatsApp messages. That’s right. Send as many as you like, within reason, and you won’t get charged. That’s great, but does it mean FreedomPop’s going to sting you if you dare check your email, take a look at a website, or quickly call your friend? Nope, because the SIM also as 200MB of data, and 100 minutes of calls included each month for free as well.

Recommended Videos

Finally, FreedomPop understands its new SIM will really benefit people when traveling abroad, so it’s partnered with more than 30 international networks — including those in the U.K., France, Germany, and Italy — to make sure no roaming charges are incurred, and the messaging, data, and call package still applies. You’re not even restricted by what phone you own, and FreedomPop’s WhatsApp SIM will slip into any unlocked Android or iPhone that currently operates with a GSM network, like AT&T or T-Mobile.

Related

Like all FreedomPop SIM cards, you’ll need to download a couple of apps for messaging and setting up data when you start, and there are other more costly plans available if you need extra data or calls each month. If not, then it really is free to use. If you have a phone that takes two SIM cards, then slipping a FreedomPop WhatsApp SIM alongside your regular card before you travel somewhere makes perfect sense.

You can order a WhatsApp SIM card through FreedomPop’s website from today.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Andy Boxall
Andy Boxall
Senior Mobile Writer
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Emoji reactions hit WhatsApp as Meta fights the competition
Person texting on a smartphone using WhatsApp.

WhatsApp is gaining a slew of new features some would consider overdue for a messaging app of its size. The company is adding support for message reactions, larger file shares, and bigger groups in an update that's slowly rolling out across iOS and Android. Many of these features are present in other apps, notably Telegram, so WhatsApp is under pressure to keep up.

Message reactions are the most noticeable feature for users on a day-to-day basis. They're already present on Facebook Messenger, iMessage, Google Messages, Instagram, and Snapchat, so WhatsApp is a pretty late addition. At the moment only a limited number of reactions are present, but the WhatsApp team notes that a broader range of expressions is coming.

Read more
WhatsApp Communities want to be your private social media
Whatsapp Communities on Samsung smart phones.

WhatsApp is adding a Communities feature to the eponymous instant messaging platform, adding a social media aspect to it that will have all group conversations protected by end-to-end encryption. Unlike the new community feature on Twitter that brings together like-minded users, the core idea of Communities on WhatsApp is that it allows multiple groups to be aggregated into one super-group.

But unlike social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, a WhatsApp Community won’t be openly discoverable. The phone numbers of users also won’t be publicly visible to all Community members. Only the admin and other members of a group can see them.

Read more
WhatsApp gets much-needed improvements for voice messages
WhatsApp messaging app icon.

WhatsApp is finally giving a much-needed overhaul to the voice messages system on its messaging platform, with a grab bag of new features that will start rolling out in the coming weeks. Let’s start with the trick that users have been demanding for years — fast playback for audio clips. WhatsApp will soon let users speed things up with controls for 1.5x and 2x voice message playback for both originally recorded and forwarded clips.

Another neat addition is background playback. WhatsApp users can leave a chat window and navigate other sections of the app or even jump into another chat while the voice message plays in the background. And if there are multiple audio clips lined up in succession, all of them will play in a queue while still in the background.

Read more