Want to try out a new fitness app but don't like over-sharing your data online? This is a completely fair concern to have - dozens of online data breaches have already happened in 2025 alone.
But if you want to take advantage of a trial and the only way to do so is by sharing your phone number, you're facing a dilemma. How can you trial the app without sacrificing your personal data? We're discussing one of the best solutions in this article.
Why Fitness Apps Want Your Number, and Why You Shouldn't Share It
Have you ever wondered why apps offer free trials to customers? What are they getting out of it? Usually, they want (and get) one thing: your data.
Once companies have your email address and phone number, they can enter you into their marketing lists, hoping (as is often the case) that you'll forget, or just not bother, to opt out. That fleeting week- or month-long trial signs you up for years of unwanted emails and texts, all in an attempt to sell you the company's paid offerings. And it obviously works, but at what cost?
For you, every time your number enters a company's database, your risk of exposing your number due to a data breach doubles. That means, as well as receiving unwanted marketing, your number might be sold to scammers and cold callers, and you may even find yourself on the receiving end of a phishing attack.
How to Get Around Sharing Your Own Number
When you're just trialling a fitness app, you absolutely don't need to be handing over your real number. Instead, if the app asks you to enter a number to verify your account, consider using a non-voIP number in place of your own.
Sites like https://www.smspool.net/ sell these numbers for a few dollars, intended for temporary use (usually 20 to 60 minutes). They're tied to a real SIM. exactly like your own number, saving you the need to share your own data for signups.
The idea is that you enter the temporary number you've bought when you create an account, then receive the SMS verification code to this number (which you can access online). Enter the code into the required field and complete the sign-up - no personal number required.
The Benefits and Setbacks of Temporary Numbers
What are the biggest advantages of using a temporary number for trialing fitness apps, and what are their potential setbacks? We've covered the main pros and cons of these numbers below.
Pros
● Affordable, single-payment solution
● An easy way to protect your own data
● Trusted by websites and apps as they're tied to a SIM
Cons
● Only for short-term use
● Can't be used for repeated two-factor authentication
● While affordable, not free
Takeaway
The next time you go to create an account for a fitness app, remember Non-voIP numbers. A few dollars for a temporary number is well worth it to keep your data from being unnecessarily shared online.
