Guide
A messenger that works without a SIM card
Most messaging apps cannot be set up without a working phone number, and that usually means a SIM card. Morse does not use phone numbers at all, so it needs no SIM card and no mobile plan. An internet connection is enough, and Wi-Fi counts. This guide explains why most messengers need a SIM card, when that gets in the way, and how Morse works without one.
Get Morse MessengerWhy most messengers need a SIM card
Most messengers identify you by your phone number.
To prove the number is yours, the app sends a code by SMS or calls you. To receive it you need a phone number that works, and for most people that means an active SIM card.
After that first step, the app itself runs over the internet. Messages travel over Wi-Fi or mobile data, not over the phone network.
So the SIM card is not needed to send messages. It is needed because the account is built on a phone number.
Take away the phone number, and the SIM card is no longer part of it.
When a SIM card gets in the way
There are more situations without a working SIM card than you might expect.
You are abroad and your SIM card has no roaming, or roaming is too expensive to switch on.
You have a second phone at home that only ever connects to Wi-Fi.
Your number has changed, expired or been cancelled, and the app that depended on it stops working for you.
Or you simply do not want a messaging account to depend on a contract with a phone company.
How Morse works without a SIM card
Morse does not ask for a phone number, so there is nothing to verify by SMS.
You create an account with a PIN and receive a Morse ID.
You share that ID, a QR code or an invitation with the people you want to talk to.
From there, everything runs over the internet connection you have: Wi-Fi at home, at work or in a hotel, or mobile data if your phone has it.
Messages, photos, videos and voice messages, group chats and voice and video calls all work the same way on Wi-Fi.
Your account does not change when your SIM card does.
Start messaging without a SIM card
Wi-Fi is enough. No phone number, no SMS code, no mobile plan.
Requirements
What you still need
No SIM card does not mean no requirements.
You need a phone that runs the app, and an internet connection.
You also need the people you talk to on Morse, because a Morse ID is how you reach each other.
What you do not need is a phone number, a mobile plan or an email address.
Wi-Fi only, and still private
Using a messenger on Wi-Fi does not make it less private, as long as the messages are end-to-end encrypted.
With end-to-end encryption, the network you are connected to carries the messages but cannot read them. That includes public Wi-Fi in a café or a hotel.
In Morse, messages, media and calls are end-to-end encrypted, whichever connection you use. Read how Morse protects your conversations.
What about other messengers?
It depends on whether the app is built on phone numbers.
WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram all require a phone number to create an account, so you need a number that can receive a verification code.
Morse does not, so it can be set up on a phone that has no SIM card at all.
Summary
The internet is enough
A messenger needs a way to reach you. That way does not have to be a phone number.
Morse works with an internet connection and a Morse ID. No SIM card, no phone number, no mobile plan.
Download Morse Messenger and set it up on Wi-Fi in a minute.
FAQ
Common questions about messaging without a SIM card
Related
Related guides
These pages go deeper into the topics above.
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