Recently a person (Sam) listed his Nokia Lumia phone for sale online. After making a plan to meet a buyer, he visited an AT&T store to wipe his phone clean of personal data. But unfortunately, the process killed his phone. He then let the buyer know what had happened who, apparently angered by the cancelled deal, began sending absurd messages to his personal number. What did he do to eliminate this problem? He used the Burner, an effective app that lets people create disposable numbers that they can give out in place of their actual number. Burner released an app for Android phones and a major update for the iPhone.
Burner offers similar secrecy without the need for another phone. Instead of tossing the phone, you delete the phone number the app has generated. In fact, anonymous numbers come in handy for a variety of actions, such as getting quotes on a service when you don’t want follow-up calls, or maybe first dates when you’re actually not sure if there will be a second one.
Burner numbers aren’t free, but they’re flexible. For instance, $1.99 will buy a Mini Burner, a number that will last for seven days, 20 talk minutes or 60 texts, whichever comes first. A burner can be extended by buying additional in-app credits before it expires. Those who need a number that lasts longer and handles more traffic can spend $4.99 for a 60-day number or a 30-day number that can be used for 90 minutes or 270 texts. You can “burn” a number at any time, which will delete it straight away and take it out of service. The Burner app includes voicemail and an inbox that works a lot like those in your regular service. You’ll see a list of recent calls and a list of all calls. You can favorite calls by tapping a star icon and you can record a voicemail messages that callers hear when they dial your Burner numbers. For more information visit http://on.mash.to/Zjkhxw
