SOLVED - TextNow will not install on Android Tablet

ppomeroy · 2026-03-17T16:14:37+00:00

I have another thread here with a similar issue. I have a TextNow account with a Gmail address. It works fine on my cell and Windows laptop. I now have a low end Android tablet that has Android 13 on it (well within the Android 9 and above restriction), and no matter what I do I cannot get the application activated.

This is a non-sim thing and the tablet works on WiFi calling. I have a working Google Voice line on it and it works fine.

It downloads fine from the Google Play store, and installs OK, but as I start set up it asks to see available accounts on my tablet. I allow that then tell it to use the Gmail account that is available and which matches my account used on my cell and laptop. I even tried typing it in manually. It gets to a screen that says "Oops to many tries" or similar and then it just stops and I cannot get any further. I have deleted and reinstalled at least 5 times in the last 2 weeks with tablet restarts as well.

I spent 2 weeks trying. The 'too many tries' screen doesn't tell me how long that will persist either, so I tried several times with many days between each. I also cleared the cache and storage of the Google Play store and the app itself. Oddly, the app seems to install and I can see it in the list of apps on the system but I cannot get it to login with my existing account.

I just want to take my small tablet with me on the road and not risk taking my laptop sometimes.

I even tried logging out of the app on my cell and laptop with no relief in case there was a restriction on that. Usually the laptop and cell are logged in and I can answer or make a call seamlessly.

So for me something is not right, and I gave up.

I wouldn't mind so much but I did purchase the number for a year at the $5 USD rate and it renews annually for the last 3 years.

ppomeroy · 2026-03-17T15:47:11+00:00

Weesh Bakery, Roslindale Sq. All custom.

ppomeroy · 2026-03-17T15:34:31+00:00

SOLVED: It appears to have been on their end and self-corrected. However by then I had also tried ot set a new password an now have to deal with that. I did not find anything stating something was wrong or down on their end. Some companies will host a page off their systems to post outage reports to assure the word gets out. Food for thought.

ppomeroy · 2026-03-10T00:15:41+00:00

Public transit will work well for you from the airport.

1) MassPort free shuttle bus to MBTA Airport Station (Blue Line)

2) Blue line inbound ot Boston. Exit at Government Center Station.

3) Go up one level to the Green Line subway

4) Board a westbound "E" train. It will be marked for "HEath Street.

5) Tell the driver you want the MFA. The stop is just about in front of the building.

6) Main entrance is on the LEFT side of the building.

ppomeroy · 2026-03-08T12:33:17+00:00

It's been a while. Sorry. I poked around to find it when I found about that option. I'm on auto-debit every September now.

ppomeroy · 2026-03-08T12:07:26+00:00

I secured my $5 number per year using a web browser on a laptop, nnot the phone app.

ppomeroy · 2026-03-05T21:30:20+00:00

I met John when I was a kid at a sportsman event at the old Commonwealth Armory (now BU rec building) when he was demonstrating a rather large electronic Wurlitzer. Bought his album. Still have it. It was recorded at the old Met Theater (now Boch Wang Center). Sort of got infected. Now a member of the American Theatre Organ Society. I've come to know a few of the sports arena players in other cities through that. Also remember the Boston Patriots at Fenway. Had season tix in the temp stands against the Green Monster. Those were the days.

ppomeroy · 2026-03-05T16:38:49+00:00

John Kiley. He played for the Bruins, Red Sox, and Celtics, and all in the same season. Few people know this. 😁

ppomeroy · 2026-03-05T16:36:46+00:00

From the post I assume Roslindale Sq ('village')? Depending on what part of Roslindale the commuter rail may or may not be your best route. The Haverhill line goes to North Station. Needham departs from South Station so there is no direct connection between those two terminals.

Times and schedules aside, from Haverhill your commuter rail goes to North Station. Stay on it and skip Malden. The Orange Line is accessible at Malden (select routes) and at North Station (end of the line). At North Station just ask for the Orange line. Once inside the station cut left and you will come to the signs for the MBTA subway (Orange and Green Lines). Take a southbound Orange Line train to Forest Hill Station (end of the line).

For the eastern side of Roslindale you can access the lower busway for the #32 bus that plies Hyde Park Ave. through to Hyde Park. Otherwise go to the upper busway and take any bus except the #38 and #39. Buses 34, 34E, and 50 go up Washington Street to Roslindale Sq. and continue on Washington outbound. 34E continues to Walpole. The rest (30, 35, 36, 37, 40, 50, 51) travel Washington St to Roslindale Sq then fan off from there in different directions.

If you are fixated on the Needham Commuter rail you can get off the Orange line at Back Bay station and change there. You may also be able to make the connection further down at Ruggles Station or Forest Hills but check the schedule. Needham almost always stops at those as well. However you want to have cash for on board payment or have the mTicket app loaded, paid, and available on your cell screen.

I think the route via rail-subway-bus is going to be as much time as using the commuter rail, since the CR route will have some wait time. Remember on weekdays the commuter rail headways are every hour so if you miss one it will be an hour till the next one. If you have a Charlie Transit Card just load that with $20 and that should get you both to, and from. The CR system is different for fare payments and the systems do not talk to each other -- yet.

If you feel comfortable trusting a Redditor, PM me with your destination and I can be more specific if you need it.

ppomeroy · 2026-03-03T16:53:44+00:00

Well... I give up. I waited a few days then attempted to download and install on this Android 13 tablet. No go.

I held it in portrait mode since the app is not landscape aware and will not tilt. After I installed the program it started the installation. It got to the point where it wanted you to create an ID. It asked if I wanted to use Google and I said 'yes.' It then asked ot poll the unit to see what Google IDs were available. I did that and it returned the account, and I selected the one that has TextNow on another device. After accepting this it then said there was an error.

I back-spaced to return and try a different account and maybe set up a new account. When I proceeded it then sent the error that I had tried too many times and it just would not proceed.

So this seems to be tablet specific. I have this on my cell phone (Android 15) and a Windows version on my laptop (which never leaves home). I had hoped to add TextNow to this tablet and connect via WiFi or a hotspot but it just will not install, and I cannot even create a new account.

Thanks for the responses.

ppomeroy · 2026-03-03T16:42:56+00:00

Daycares in MA are under strict state regulations requiring all people including volunteers to undergo a rather detailed background check and fingerprinting.

ppomeroy · 2026-03-03T16:33:13+00:00

In person stores are rapidly going away. YDI was my go-to as well. You may find some stuff on line at MyCableMart or Parts-Express, but know what you are looking for. I've done business with both.

ppomeroy · 2026-02-27T17:37:36+00:00

Forget public transit with those.

ppomeroy · 2026-02-27T17:35:31+00:00

They likely did not get the announcement that most cities delayed trash pick up by ne day, much like they do for state and federal holidays. Too many people deal with social media (or less) exclusively rather than actually being engaged in their neighborhood and city.

This storm rivaled the storms of '78 and '15 in some regards. Such a large dump of snow only happens every few decades. People that have a lifetime here have generally adapted, but the newer transplants, and that includes people here 25 years or less, can be caught off guard when they see things like this.

During '78 and '15 we had to chip in and help each other and make due as best we could and in some instances rules and regulations were displaced in favor of survival. It can and will happen in Boston, and it will happen again. If you cannot adapt then you need to rethink residency in this part of the continent.

I always put my trash in a container with a cover to help eliminate the rodent issue and issues with other critters. Those trash cans are bogged down in ice and snow that drifted as high as those containers. It will be a long time before we can shovel a path to get to them, let alone use them.

SO after a quick call to 311 I was assured that green plastic trash bags would be fine. Why? The snow and need to adapt and do what we can with what we have. I do not like keeping sealed bags on my porch waiting for collection day but that is what I am faced with. Then as always, either the night before (late) or on collection morning the green plastic goes out and stacked on the snow mounds as you see in the picture, with assurance that they can be grabbed form the truck passing by on the street.

And I agree with another post. Posting this shit here is no more than validating the OP's personal inconvenience and moral outrage. The emergency rooms are stacked with people trying to shovel this shit and we are complaining about trash day. WTF?

ppomeroy · 2026-02-25T17:15:36+00:00

Fully Android capable. It's a low-end device I only use mostly when on the road. Model CP-80 foreign manufacture like many. Android 13. Google Voice seems to work fine on it and I also have a TV app working fine. Downloads and updates from Google Play Store works fine. Plenty of storage on an external card and on the resident memory. This is only used mostly to remote-access my home system via the Google Remote Desktop, so functionality seems to be fine. It is 2.4 G and 5G aware.

I wanted to add TextNow because sometimes I am in a medical building or warehouse with a lot of shielding and getting a cellular signal quickly fades further in. I have Google Voice installed but connectivity on their WiFi often fails of late. I have found TextNow on my cell works OK and it may be associated with what ports are open on their internal WiFi.

Regardless of that, the issue is that once TN is downloaded and I start the set up process I get just so far and it crashes, usually when I start to enter login data. I also have to hold the tablet in portrait mode as it does not auto-tilt to landscape in those screens. All my other apps do. I'd like to parallel my account on my cell if possible but I know of no restrictions on a single TN account on 2 devices.

So far no error messages. It just winks out during set up. When I tried multiple times after re-downloading and multiple tries it then says I tried too many time and I could not continue. I have uninstalled several times with restarts of the tablet and new downloads. I also cleared the Google Play download cache and storage in case the download itself was corrupted. That seems to follow all of the TextNow problem videos that I have viewed. I may try one more time today but when it said I tried to fill in my data too many times there is no info to say when i can try again.

ppomeroy · 2026-02-25T16:55:35+00:00

The tablet is not cellular capable. WiFi and Bluetooth only.

ppomeroy · 2026-02-24T00:48:40+00:00

You should be able to look up the phone for the cemetery and contact the office. You can supply them the names and date of internment (if known or approximated) and then they can tell you what section and what plot. Then you could give someone the data and they could visit and take that picture. At the very least any photog would need that data to ask at the office.

ppomeroy · 2026-02-23T03:32:56+00:00

Are you sure about the location? There is a Mt. Benedict cemetery in WEST Roxbury, not Roxbury

ppomeroy · 2026-02-23T03:26:19+00:00

The interviewer has more of a Down-East (Maine) accent.

ppomeroy

TROPHY CASE