Czech phone number and mobile apps

When spending so much time in Czechia, it is helpful to have a Czech phone number and to be able to access apps available only in Czechia (or at least for non-US Google accounts).

I didn’t want a landline, of course, but I needed a solution for my mobile phone. For many of the running races I sign up for, they ask for a Czech phone number, without an option to enter a number from any other country, even if they will never actually call. More importantly, just like in the US, a text message (SMS) is often used for two-factor authentication (2FA) for accessing online accounts. At first I signed up for a voice over IP (VoIP) phone number, which I successfully have working at all times through a third-party app (ZoiPer) on my phone. The service is through a Czech entity called Odorik – it doesn’t stink, though! It’s a neat service where you can customize almost everything about the calling and voicemail experience. Even better, there is no subscription cost, and one only pays a small minute-based rate for voice calls. And I can use this VoIP service anywhere in the world where I have a data connection. So anyone calling my +420 Czech VoIP number can reach me.

However, the limitation is that text messages are not supported – it’s more like a mobile landline VoIP phone, if that makes sense. Therefore, I also needed to obtain a mobile number so I can at least receive texts. Odorik offers that solution too, through a physical SIM (for T-Mobile) to be inserted into the mobile phone. The service by default only works in Czechia, but one can turn on roaming, albeit with the caveat that charges while roaming in another country can be quite high and unpredictable (there’s a Europe-only option as well, which offers more clarity). There is a daily charge for having the SIM account active, but it’s only 3.4 cents. So it’s about $1/month for the service! That said, nothing is free, in theory. I don’t plan to use it for calls, just receiving text messages, which cost about 5 cents per message. But in practice I see that most texts received so far have a “status unknown”, for which Odorik doesn’t charge anything. Pretty good deal. Much better than paying for a full mobile plan from a traditional provider! The trick though is that my Android device only offers having two SIMs active at any time (whether physical SIM or virtual eSIM). I have an eSIM that I buy once per year for about $40 which gives 40GB of mobile data in Europe and the US, well enough for my needs. And then I use Google Fi for calls and texts (fortunately this is an eSIM, not a physical SIM), and this service works in every country I’ll ever visit. So I need to disable Google Fi and activate my Odorik SIM wherever I need to receive a text to my Czech number — this is somewhat inconvenient, but not too bad. I did this in real-time when sitting with a bank employee while setting up my Czech bank account, so it’s pretty quick. However, I’m not sure yet what I’ll do if I’m back in the US and need to use the Czech bank account app if it requires 2FA. TBD… I’ll either have to disable 2FA via text for the bank, or I’ll have to enable roaming in the US. If I want to save those 3.4 cents per day for the Czech SIM, I can temporarily suspend the account, like while I’m in the US, and then I can reactivate it for when in Czechia.

So that resolves having a Czech mobile phone number. But speaking of using my mobile phone, there are several mobile apps for Android which are specific to Czechia and/or other countries in Europe, and which are not offered in the Google Play store for US-based accounts. “Your Google Play country or region determines what content you find in the store and in apps. The apps, games, and other content in the store and in apps can vary by country or region.” (source) So when I searched for apps like for the grocery store chain I frequent and for a popular sandwich shop, I normally get no results in Google Play. These types of apps offer special discounts and frequent buyer bonuses, so I did want to be able to get them. Additionally, I signed up for a Czech bank account (a separate story, enough alone for a future post), and it almost seemed required to use their mobile app. First I investigated changing the country or region associated with my Google account, but that wasn’t a realistic option given that such a change is limited to once per year: “You can only change your Google Play country or region annually. After you initially set up or change your Google Play country or region, you must wait 12 months before you can make another change.” That wasn’t a realistic solution given that I’m spending 2-3 months at a time between each of Czechia and the US. I pondered this a bit, and then realized that perhaps I could use one of my many other Google accounts instead (like the one I use for this blog). So in Google Play I switched over to another account I had never used for the store before, and I was then required to agree to terms, and because I was in Czechia at the time, the terms were for Czechia! I’m in! I could then download and use any apps from the Czech store. No Czech-based payment method was required (I didn’t have any at that time). A cool aspect of Android is that one can download apps via any Google account, and once they’re downloaded on the phone, they continue to work, irrespective of what country or region one is currently located. I’m not sure how it works for Apple iOS devices, but I imagine that it’s similar.

While having these types of solutions really facilitates the ability to spend extended time in multiple countries, it’s clear that it’s still not easy, probably because it’s not common. I note that some of these considerations weren’t a thing when Colleen and I lived in Sweden because I didn’t even have a mobile phone, despite working for a mobile communications company! So I didn’t need a Swedish SIM, and mobile apps weren’t a thing yet anyway, haha. We had a landline phone in our Stockholm apartment! Even back then we managed to find a solution to save money on long-distance calls: We set up a service whereby when we wanted to call a US phone number from Sweden, we dialed an assigned phone number in the US which was always busy, and then we’d hang up, so we didn’t pay for that outgoing call. But having called that number triggered a callback from the US, which we then answered. Once connected, we would then be prompted to dial the actual US phone number we wanted to reach, and the connection would be made from there. The rationale of this was that international calling rates were much lower from the US than from Sweden!

I must admit that on occasion I ask myself whether I truly want to deal with all these extra logistics (and costs) to enable my split time between the US and Europe. And there are many more to come. However, for the most part these are one-time upfront hits, and once I have them set up they won’t require much, if any, ongoing maintenance. And I do enjoy solving these challenging puzzles and learning new things. Perhaps I would be too bored otherwise? Time will tell, Will Tell. For now it works. If the costs eventually start outweighing the benefits, I can call it quits, having grown, learned, and experienced much along the journey! 😜

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Today’s dad joke:

What is a prediction of the future condition of Czechia’s main city?

A “Praguenostication”!

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Today’s quote:

I can relate — This is me, learning Czech:

“What labour I spent upon this task, what difficulties I went through, how often I despaired, how often I gave over and then in my eagerness to learn commenced again.” Saint Jerome (writing about learning Hebrew)

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Today’s music video:

Okay, it’s Epica again! But this time also with my favorite metal singer, Charlotte Wessels (also Dutch, of course, and someone I met once in Atlanta). I hadn’t previously heard Myrkur (not Dutch, but Danish), but she’s got an awesome voice too! This is a Little Mermaid-inspired song, but it’s based on the original version from Hans Christian Andersen, which is much darker and more tragic than the happily-ever-after Disney reinterpretation. Epica and Charlotte are going on tour together next year, and they’ll be in Prague March 21!

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Today’s Epictetus:

An ignorant person is inclined to blame others for his own misfortune. To blame oneself is proof of progress. But the wise man never has to blame another or himself.