Bait & Switch
This app and its developer are an absolute scam. For years, I used this app for free because it relied entirely on my T-Mobile cell service, which I already pay for. The app provides no network, no Wi-Fi, and no added value—just a secondary number tied to my own cellular network. Without my service, the app is completely useless.
Then, out of nowhere, they imposed a subscription fee of $129 a year or $15 a month, without any warning or notice. What am I being charged for? The app doesn’t provide me with anything—it piggybacks off the service I’m already paying for! This is nothing but a blatant bait-and-switch tactic. They hooked users by offering a free service, and once we became reliant on it—once we had numbers tied to the app—they slapped us with outrageous fees, knowing it would be a hassle to switch to another provider.
Now I’m stuck because my phone number is tied to this app. Transferring it to another app would be a frustrating and time-consuming process. It’s infuriating to see a company take advantage of their users like this. This is unethical, predatory, and an outright abuse of consumer trust.
I fully intend to report this fraud to the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau, and every consumer protection agency I can. To anyone considering downloading this app: don’t fall for their lies. They’re nothing but greedy opportunists exploiting their users.
Then, out of nowhere, they imposed a subscription fee of $129 a year or $15 a month, without any warning or notice. What am I being charged for? The app doesn’t provide me with anything—it piggybacks off the service I’m already paying for! This is nothing but a blatant bait-and-switch tactic. They hooked users by offering a free service, and once we became reliant on it—once we had numbers tied to the app—they slapped us with outrageous fees, knowing it would be a hassle to switch to another provider.
Now I’m stuck because my phone number is tied to this app. Transferring it to another app would be a frustrating and time-consuming process. It’s infuriating to see a company take advantage of their users like this. This is unethical, predatory, and an outright abuse of consumer trust.
I fully intend to report this fraud to the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau, and every consumer protection agency I can. To anyone considering downloading this app: don’t fall for their lies. They’re nothing but greedy opportunists exploiting their users.
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Was great until it wasn’t
I’ve been using this app for about three years to text my clients. All of a sudden this month it stopped sending text from the phone number that I reserved. It kept asking me to use a different phone number because the one that I selected was “inactive” and so it forced me to select a new number. But when I did it, it still didn’t work. I have from August 2024 to February 2025 paid already. But since I can’t use it anymore and it’s useless to contact clients with, I guess I’m just out the money for the next several months. If they would flick fix this glitch, the app would still be great. But it’s been two weeks now and I can’t use it so I guess it’s not worth the time to download it. I’m writing this review on August 28, 2024 I don’t expect the developers to contact me
UPDATE: 9/6/24 Changed from 1 star to 4
This App magically started working yesterday. Today I got a message when I opened the app that said there was a New Critical Update available and that I should update the app. I did and I even got my original number back! The developers also reached out to me! I’m very satisfied now. Thank you Pinger!
4 stars because I had to download another app that cost me $10 during the time Sideline was down.
UPDATE: 9/6/24 Changed from 1 star to 4
This App magically started working yesterday. Today I got a message when I opened the app that said there was a New Critical Update available and that I should update the app. I did and I even got my original number back! The developers also reached out to me! I’m very satisfied now. Thank you Pinger!
4 stars because I had to download another app that cost me $10 during the time Sideline was down.
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Response from developer
Hey there, we're really glad to hear that this issue was dealt with and that you're now able to properly use Sideline. If you have any other trouble or any questions regarding our service, please feel free to email us at reviews@sideline.com.
Good but not great
I have used sideline for a few months now and it’s so convenient to only have to carry one phone instead of two and to have a local number but I have a few complaints.
The quality of the call is not as good as my normal line. Particularly on speaker phone the call is muffled and if I make a noise when the other person is talking it cuts the audio from the other person making it very difficult to have a conversation.
Sometimes I will try to dial a number on sideline and I will get an error message saying the call cannot go through. Then I will try the same number on my regular phone and the call will go through and be fine.
I want sideline to be good but I rely on the phone to build relationships with my clients and That is tough to do if I can’t reach them or if I can’t hear them.
The quality of the call is not as good as my normal line. Particularly on speaker phone the call is muffled and if I make a noise when the other person is talking it cuts the audio from the other person making it very difficult to have a conversation.
Sometimes I will try to dial a number on sideline and I will get an error message saying the call cannot go through. Then I will try the same number on my regular phone and the call will go through and be fine.
I want sideline to be good but I rely on the phone to build relationships with my clients and That is tough to do if I can’t reach them or if I can’t hear them.
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Response from developer
Hi, we're so sorry to hear Sideline's calls have been giving you some trouble lately. We understand how frustrating that can be for you and your business. If you're experiencing calling difficulties on Sideline despite having a strong network connection, please email us the phone number and date/time of your last troublesome call at reviews@sideline.com. Our Support can have a look at what's going on and get back to you.
Very Happy with Service
Thankful that it has a different ringtone & especially that it “translates” voicemail to text. When I’m with clients, the ringer is off & I am not able to listen to voicemails, so this feature is very helpful. Also appreciate the auto-reply texting feature. So far, so good.
Do wish it *really* had its own Contacts List. Advertises its own Contacts List & that’s one main reason I went with Sideline, but it wants access to MY iPhone contacts - that’s a privacy “no” for me. So, I never know who is calling which is quite a disappointment.
Overall very happy with the service for almost four years now.
Do wish it *really* had its own Contacts List. Advertises its own Contacts List & that’s one main reason I went with Sideline, but it wants access to MY iPhone contacts - that’s a privacy “no” for me. So, I never know who is calling which is quite a disappointment.
Overall very happy with the service for almost four years now.
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Works Great for A Work Number
I’ve been using this app for a couple years to keep my personal and business separate. I haven’t had any issues. Call service has never been an issue. The only problem I’ve had is a couple platforms won’t recognize the number as security recovery, which isn’t to big of a deal. Reliability is Great!
The one thing I would like to see added is the ability to respond to a message from my Apple Watch. I can read messages, answer calls but I cannot respond to any messages. That would be awesome to be incorporated.
The one thing I would like to see added is the ability to respond to a message from my Apple Watch. I can read messages, answer calls but I cannot respond to any messages. That would be awesome to be incorporated.
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App crashes
I’ve had this app for almost 3+ years now. Started out as a great option for a second number. As phones and technology have progressed, I’ve had nothing but issues. The app crashes daily on my new iPhone 13 which I upgraded to because I was having so many issues with this app on my iPhone 11. I just figured the older phone couldn’t keep up. Well, $1000 later, now the app crashes every time I minimize it. When I open it back up the screen is frozen and I am forced to force quit. Other times when you force quit, as you swipe up the entire phone freezes. After about 30-40 seconds it unfreezes and you can close the app. I have also noticed lately I am missing more call from my sideline app. At times numbers do not show up that just called me in the call list. I am to the point I am going to pay to port my number over and run two numbers on my cell, as the newer phones support that.
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Response from developer
Hi there, we're so sorry to hear Sideline's been giving you many troubles as of late. We understand how frustrating this can be for you. If you could please email us at reviews@sideline.com about each of these issues separately, we'll be sure to address each with the right care and attention.
Getting away with fraud!
I bought this app back in September and have been paying for a phone number ever since. I added 2 of my employees to the service so that everyone can answer the phone whenever. This week one of my subordinates went in behind my back and changed all the account information (this should not be able to be done by ANYONE other than the person who’s banking information is there) and then kicked me off my account. I’ve tried to get the number back and they won’t confirm the banking information since whoever changed the registered phone number to themselves theyve successfully stolen my company and are falsely portraying as me to my clients. Support will not remove this phone number or do anything to prove the account was stolen. They don’t care ! This is an awful design flaw in your app and an awful flaw in your support system. Will not be renewing a new number with this app !!
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Not bad, not great
I pay for the premium subscription for sideline so that I have the ability to take notes and add contacts separately from my iPhone contacts. Unfortunately there are a few things that are very problematic with this app. One is that I frequently have incoming calls that go straight to voicemail. The other is that the app lags quite a bit. This is probably a result from the worst missing feature of this app, and that is the ability to delete multiple messages at once. I text about 30 different people a day and have thousands of messages I need to delete. Unfortunately the only way to erase messages is individually which is far too time-consuming to even attempt. I really hope they find a way to allow for deleting multiple messages so that this app is more usable.
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Response from developer
Hi there, we're sorry to hear Sideline's been laggy for you and that some calls are going straight to voicemail. We understand how frustrating this can be for you. For lag concerns, please try a simple uninstall/reinstall to fix the issue. For voicemail concerns, please double check that you have 'Forward Calls to Voicemail' turned off in your Sideline settings. Finally, regarding the ability to delete multiple messages at once, we understand this is a popular feature request. We're currently working on making this feature the best it can be before we roll it out to users. In the meantime, please email us at reviews@sideline.com if our proposed solutions don't fix your lag and calling concerns.
Significant business drawbacks
The app works reasonably well but there is actually a huge business drawback. There is no way to log in to the web and print out a verifiable call log. If you are ever called upon to prove a record of communications, you are out of luck. For example, if you are involved in a lawsuit, you can’t adequately prove you communicated with a client and when you did. I recently had to cancel a contract for cause when a client would not take my calls. The client insisted I never made any calls to them. This might not matter to most people, but if it ever does, you will be up the creek. Until this service provides web downloadable phone logs (and maintains them for a reasonable period of time) it can’t be relied on fully.
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Many Years With Sideline
As stated in the title, I’ve been using Sideline for many many years for my business. I do love the basic features of the app, but it needs a serious overhaul. My squabbles are: many of my texts (I’m guessing it’s length related) come out as random symbols to some recipients, the interface has become seriously laggy, there’s no dark mode, and some additional features would be nice. The core issues I have with the app are speed and interface issues. Both could be considered minor, but all these problems have been persistent for a very very long time with no improvement or changes. Would be great to see this awesome app developed more thoroughly.
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