Overview
Burner is an application that, for a small fee, allows you to create a temporary “burner” number that lasts anywhere from 14 days to 30 days. Burner provides a unique service in that it allows you to have a second, temporary number, without having to buy a new device and purchase a carrier plan.
Developer: Ad Hoc Labs, Inc
Cost: Free (Supported by In-app purchases, Free Trial Available)
Highlights
- Fantastic user interface
- Affordable pricing
- Easy to setup and use
- Multiple service packages available
Setup
Burner is incredibly easy to setup. Once you install the app from the Google Play Store, open the app, read through the introduction, register your phone number and then create your burner number. When creating your burner number, you have the option to choose your own area code or you can have the app choose one for you. A word of caution: if you enter an invalid area code too many times, the app will disable the ability to create a burner number for approximately 1-2 minutes.
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Impressions
I have to start by saying that Burner is single-handedly one of the most unique mobile applications I have ever used. It is also the best.
Never have I used an application that is so unique and so well designed. What I thought would be difficult to set up and cumbersome to use actually turned out to be quite the opposite. I found Burner incredibly easy to setup and a sheer delight to use.
Burner’s greatest feature is its ability to provide you with a second number without the need of purchasing a new device and a new carrier service plan. Burner accomplishes this through providing its own unique, built-in dialer and built-in text application. Any call or text you send from Burner will be attached to your burner number and handled natively by the application. Any incoming calls or texts to your burner number will also be handled by the application. Burner’s ability to segregate itself from your device’s default call and text applications is superb and eliminates a lot of potential confusion.
Burner also offers you the ability to link your burner number to several applications including:
- Slack
- Dropbox
- Evernote
- Sound Cloud
During my time with Burner, I linked my burner number to the AndroidGuys team’s slack account and it worked quite well.
Field Testing
In order to give Burner a proper review, I had to find a way to use it. My solution? Craigslist. I’ve had a bunch of stuff sitting around that I’ve wanted to put on Craigslist but I’ve just never gotten around to doing it. I also just plain don’t like doing business on Craigslist. It’s dangerous and unreliable.
I really appreciated the sense of security Burner provided me when leaving a phone number for potential buyers to contact me at. Years ago, I made the mistake of leaving my personal number on a craigslist ad. For several weeks after publishing that ad, I received prank calls. Needless to say, I’ve never left my personal number on Craigslist, since.
Burner gave me the convenience of being able to provide a phone number for potential buyers to contact me at while also eliminating the risk of having my personal phone number compromised. If some ne’er do wells decided to prank call me, no problem. I’ll just burn the number. Problem solved.
Burner passed my field testing with flying colors.
Pricing
Burner is priced very reasonably. Burner numbers are purchased using credits which you can buy from within the app. Credit packages range from $7.99 to $11.99. This may seem a bit steep, but compare Burner’s cost to the cost of buying a new phone and purchasing 1 month of prepaid service. You can’t compare the two. The most you’ll spend for one month of Burner is $11.99!
Burner’s pricing structure is as follows
Packages
- Mini Burner – 3 credits
- 60 texts, 20 minutes call time, auto-burns in 14 days
- Standard Burner – 5 credits
- 150 texts, 50 minutes call time, auto-burns in 30 days
- Picture Burner – 8 credits
- 100 texts (includes multimedia messaging), 50 minutes call time, auto-burns in 30 days
- Unlimited Burner – 8 credits
- Unlimited texts, unlimited call minutes, auto-burns in 30 days
- Text-only Burner – 5 credits
- 250 texts, 0 call minutes, auto-burns in 30 days
- Premium Line – $3.99 /monthly
- Unlimited Calls and texts, burner number auto-renews, can change burner number once per month
Credit Packages:
- 3 Burner Credits – $1.99
- 8 Burner Credits – $4.99
- 15 Burner Credits – $7.99
- 25 Burner Credits – $11.99
User Interface
I love Burner’s user interface. It’s aesthetically pleasing and very easy to navigate. By default, Burner uses a red color scheme, which I found quite appealing. If red doesn’t suit your style, Burner has you covered. There is an option in settings that allows you to change Burner’s color scheme to whatever color you like.
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Burner has many options and tweaks available and they were all very logically nested and organized in appropriate menus. Even with its breadth of options, Burner never felt overwhelming or confusing. Its design is impeccable.
That being said, I do have one humorous anecdote.
One night while playing around with Burner, I accidentally blocked my wife’s number. According to the app, I should have been able to unblock her number in settings. Despite my best efforts, I could not find a way to unblock my wife.
She doesn’t know this happened. Sorry honey.
Conclusion
Burner is wonderful. Plain and simple. For what it offers, you cannot beat Burner’s cost to value ratio. If you’re looking for a secondary number, why spend $75+ on a cheap phone and a month of prepaid service when you can spend, at the most, $11.99 for a month of burner? Protect your personal number and your wallet and give Burner a try.
