Discreet mode
Your number stays yours
The people you talk to only see your second number. And discreet mode protects the app itself: a neutral icon, a lock, a decoy PIN and a panic wipe. Everything here works in the app today, and where iPhone and Android differ, we say so.
Home-screen animation: the ShadowNumber icon turns into a neutral icon called Notes.
Your number
Your real number isn't shown
Calls and texts go out from your second number. Your real number is only used to recognise your outgoing calls.
They see your second number
On a call via SIM, your phone dials one of our access numbers and we place the call with the line's number. SMS goes out from the second number too.
You can hide the second number too
Hide my number on outgoing calls: the other side sees 'No caller ID'. Works on calls via SIM, over Wi‑Fi and with call-back.
Contact names never leave your phone
The app reads your phone's contacts and shows their names only to you. Private contacts are kept only inside the app and never appear in your phone's Contacts.
The app
What's on your phone
Discreet mode changes what someone holding your phone can see.
A neutral icon
Instead of the ShadowNumber icon, choose Lines, Notes or Shapes. On Android the home-screen name changes too – to 'Notes', for example. On iPhone only the icon changes, and iPhone confirms each change on screen.
Differs on iPhoneApp lock and decoy PIN
Lock with fingerprint, Face ID or a 4-digit PIN, at once or after 1, 5 or 15 minutes. The decoy PIN opens an empty account: no calls, messages, voicemail or lines.
Kept out of recent apps
While the lock or a neutral icon is on, the app stays out of the recent-apps screen.
Android onlyInternet calls stay out of Recents
Calls over Wi‑Fi or mobile data never appear in your phone's call log. A call via SIM appears there as a call to the access number.
Discreet notifications
For each line, choose What notifications show: Full, Sender only, or Discreet – then a text shows only as 'New activity', without the sender or the text. On Android you can also hide the content on the lock screen.
Without the icon
A secret dialer code
On Android you can open the app from your phone's regular dialer: type the code, and the app opens.
A code you choose
The default is *#*#7464#*#*, and you can change it to another code of the same pattern. Works on most Android dialers.
Android onlyAnd on iPhone
iPhone gives apps no dialer codes. Instead, add a Shortcut or Back Tap (double-tap the back of the phone) to open the app.
iPhone only
Animation: the code *#*#7464#*#* is typed into the phone's own dialer, and ShadowNumber opens.
Your data
Delete it when you need to
What's kept on the phone can be deleted automatically, or all at once.
Delete history automatically
Calls, messages, voicemail and recordings older than 1 day, 7 days or 30 days are deleted. It runs when you open the app and whenever you change the setting.
Panic wipe
One button, with a confirmation: calls, messages, voicemail and private contacts are removed from this phone and you are signed out. Your numbers keep working.
Signing out clears it all
Signing out clears the lock, the PINs and the discreet-mode settings. The icon goes back to the default, the dialer code is forgotten, and the app shows in recent apps again.
Disguised notifications
A call that looks like an app update
Choose how ShadowNumber's notifications look for a particular number, and set a default for everyone else on the line. A disguised caller doesn't show up as a call screen, a number or a name – just a harmless notification.
Per caller
On a contact's page, Notification when they call: ten neutral texts such as 'App update available', 'Backup complete' or 'Calendar reminder', or your own words.
A default for everyone else
In the line's Alerts and sound, Notifications for other callers applies to every number without its own setting. A contact can always stay Normal.
No call screen
A disguised call over Wi‑Fi or mobile data arrives as an ordinary notification and keeps ringing for the usual time. Tap it and the app opens on the call, so you can answer. Not answered: it goes to voicemail as usual.
Texts too
Their SMS notifications show the same text. The number, the name and the message never appear in the notification; inside the app, your calls and messages show who it was.
Your colour
Pick the notification's accent colour from nine colours.
Android only
Animation: the phone shows a notification, 'App update available'. It is a call from a caller you disguised: tapped, the app opens on the incoming call and it can be answered.
Discreet mode
What discreet mode doesn't do
- We don't ask for an ID. We verify your real mobile number by SMS code, and it stays linked to your account. Callers never see it.
- A disguised notification changes the words, not the app: notifications always carry the app's name and its current icon. They can't look like another app's notifications.
- Panic wipe deletes what's on the phone. Call and message history on the server stays, and a neutral icon stays in place.
- An app can't remove its own icon. On Android 15 and later, you can move it to a locked Private space.
- A call that rings on your SIM is a normal phone call, with your phone's own call screen, and it shows in the phone's call log. Disguised notifications cover calls over Wi‑Fi and mobile data – every call only when the line rings in the app only.
- The notification colour can be chosen on Android only. iPhone doesn't let apps change it.
Want to see how to turn it on?
The discreet mode guide shows every screen, with a video from the app.