You've listed your old laptop on Craigslist and found an interested buyer. They want your phone number to coordinate a meetup, but you're not too keen on giving out your private number to complete strangers. Luckily, now there's an app for that.
Burner, a $1.99 app by Ad Hoc Labs, allows users to purchase temporary phone numbers, which can then be used for both voice calls and text message chats. This phone number can then be destroyed, or burned, with the click of a button, maintaining the user's privacy and safety without dealing with mobile carriers or the headache of switching numbers.
A temporary phone number can have a number of uses -- both innocuous and nefarious -- including dating, short-term projects or drug deals. But this app doesn't discriminate. It pairs the benefits of using a payphone with the convenience and portability of the modern-day smartphone.
Burner is currently only available for iOS, and there is no official time frame for future support of other platforms. When asked about an Android version, Greg Cohn, co-founder and CEO of Ad Hoc Labs, said there's "nothing to announce yet, but [they're] looking at this."
Burner is available now in the Apple App Store and costs $1.99, which includes enough credits to create one short-duration Burner line. Additional credits can be acquired through in-app purchases.
