Two countries, two phone numbers

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8 points

Two countries, two phone numbers

I live in Europe part of the year so I have two phones. I've just switched to a prepaid USA plan because my European phone is cheaper to use. I have 2 iPads, 2 iPhones and my computer, all Apple. The goal is to be able to minimize texts/calls via my USA number.

1. How do I help people get my European number?

2. It looks all scary and expensive with the +351, so they're afraid to use it. Any advice?

3. Is there a way to redirect texts and calls from my USA number to the European number without getting charged for them twice?

4. Can I use the European number in iTunes and still belong to the US store (credit card is US)?

Thanks!

iPhone 6, iOS 10.3.3

Posted on Aug 29, 2017 5:26 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 29, 2017 6:18 PM in response to Yummmmmyme

2. People are afraid to use it for good reason; it can be very expensive to call Europe unless you have an International calling plan.

3. You need to get a VoIP number in the US that can forward to your number in Europe. There are many VoIP services that can do this. Most of them can forward to multiple numbers at the same time; I use Google Voice, which can do this. So can Skype if you get a Skype inbound number. But there are many others. The idea is you give out your VoIP number as your primary number, and set it to forward to wherever you are. This way the caller doesn't need to know whether you are in the US or Europe (a minor problem is time zones; you may get calls in the middle of the night when in Europe; but Do Not Disturb on the phone can deal with this).

4. No. The phone number, card billing address, and your Apple address must all be in the country associated with the iTunes store.

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