Share One QA iPhone’s SMS Codes With Your Team
By Fwrd ·
To share one QA iPhone’s SMS codes with your team, keep the SIM that gets your sign-up and login codes in that iPhone and let Fwrd post each code text to a private Slack or Microsoft Teams channel. Whoever is working through a build reads the code in the channel on their own computer, and the phone stays on its charger instead of moving from desk to desk.
What you need: the team’s iPhone on iOS 26 or later, with the SIM whose number your staging and production accounts use; a private Slack channel where you can add an app, or a Teams channel where you can create a Workflow; a computer for the Slack or Teams part; and Fwrd.
How do you share one phone’s SMS codes with a QA team?
Forward the code texts to a channel everyone already has open. A Shortcuts Message automation on the shared iPhone runs whenever a code text arrives, and Fwrd’s action posts it to the channel straight from the iPhone.
This is for people going through an app by hand: QA staff signing up new accounts, support agents reproducing a customer’s login, a designer walking through onboarding. When a script needs the code instead of a person, SMS codes in CI and QA automation covers the webhook setup.
Which way of sharing the codes fits?
Forwarding fits when several people need codes from one number during the day. The other ways work for a person or two, or for your own app only.
| Approach | What it’s like day to day |
|---|---|
| Passing the phone around | Codes wait for whoever has it, and the phone wanders off |
| Screenshots in chat | Whoever holds the phone stops to send each code |
| A fictional number in your sign-in service | No text at all, but only for your own app, where the service offers it |
| Forwarding to a private channel | Each code posts on its own, and anyone in the channel can use it |
If your app signs people in with Firebase, its docs let you set up fictional phone numbers for development in the Firebase console, up to 10, without an actual SMS being sent (Firebase, read October 25, 2026). That suits your own staging builds. It doesn’t cover third-party services, production accounts, or any flow where the text itself has to arrive, which is where the shared iPhone comes in.
How to post the shared iPhone’s codes to Slack or Teams
Make the channel’s address.
- Slack: on a computer, go to api.slack.com/apps, choose Create New App, then From scratch. Open Incoming Webhooks, switch it on, choose Add New Webhook to Workspace, and pick the private channel. Copy the URL that contains hooks.slack.com/services/.
- Microsoft Teams: in the channel, choose More options (•••), then Workflows, then the template “Send webhook alerts to a channel”, not the lookalikes that make people sign in. Choose Save and copy the webhook URL; it contains powerplatform.com.
Add the channel in Fwrd on the shared iPhone. Open Fwrd, tap +, choose Slack or Microsoft Teams, and paste the URL into the Configuration field. Tap Send Test Message, then save with the tick.
Keep only codes. In the same destination, choose Only Some Texts under Which Texts and turn on Looks Like a Code, which keeps texts with a 4 to 8 digit code. That’s one condition, so it works on the free plan.
Create a Message automation. On iOS 27, open Shortcuts, tap Library, then Automation, then +. If you see Describe a shortcut, tap Edit. Tap Automation, then Message, change Sender to Message, and type a single space, so codes worded any way reach Fwrd’s filter. On iOS 26, open the Automation tab, tap +, choose Message, and type a single space under Message Contains.
Let it run without asking. On iOS 27, tap the arrow beside the trigger and check Confirm Before Run is off, then under ⓘ, then Privacy, check Allow Running When Locked is on. On iOS 26, choose Run Immediately, then tap Next and Create New Shortcut.
Add Fwrd’s action. Search for Forward, add Forward Message to All Destinations, and set its Message field to Shortcut Input (on iOS 26, Shortcut Input, then Message). Tap back to save (Done on iOS 26).
That’s it. New code texts now post to the channel on their own, with the shared iPhone unlocked or locked.
The Slack guide and Teams guide show each screen, and the automation guide covers the Shortcuts side.
Make the channel easy to read
- Turn on Include Who Sent It. It’s off by default. Switch it on in Fwrd’s Settings, then choose Sender on Fwrd’s action, and each code starts with a From: line, handy when several apps text the same number.
- One channel per app or environment. Add a Slack or Teams destination for each channel and give it a word filter, such as the app’s name, when its texts include it.
- Mind the free plan. A team signing up a few accounts a day passes 15 free forwards a month quickly, and the alert saying so appears on the shared iPhone. As of October 2026, Fwrd Pro removes the limit for $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year. It’s bought once, on the shared iPhone; the people reading the channel don’t need it.
What the shared phone can’t do
- It can’t tell two people’s codes apart. If two people ask for a code on the same number at once, both codes post to the channel. Use the time and the app named in the text, or take turns.
- It can’t work while it’s off or offline. Keep it charged and on Wi-Fi. After a restart, forwarding waits until someone unlocks it once, and an iPhone that isn’t unlocked for three days restarts itself.
- It doesn’t hear calls. A service that reads the code out by voice won’t reach the channel. Pick text where the app asks.
- It only goes one way. Nobody can reply from the channel, only new texts are posted, and pictures aren’t.
Keep the channel to the people who need it. Anyone in it can use a code, so remove people when they leave the team, and forward only codes for accounts your company owns.
Questions about a shared QA phone
Does everyone on the team need Fwrd?
No. Only the shared iPhone needs Fwrd and the automation. Everyone else reads the Slack or Teams channel on whatever device they already use.
Can the same codes go to two channels?
Yes. Add a destination for each channel and Fwrd’s action posts to all of them. A text counts once against the free plan however many places it goes.
Do the codes pass through Fwrd’s servers?
No. Fwrd has no account and no server of its own. Each code goes from the iPhone straight to Slack or Teams, and Fwrd’s history stays on the iPhone.
Does it work with codes from short numbers?
Yes. The automation and the filter look at what the text says, not who sent it, so codes from short numbers and lettered senders post like any other.
Stop passing the QA phone around
Fwrd posts each new code text from the team’s iPhone to a private Slack or Microsoft Teams channel, with no account and no Fwrd server. Start with 15 free forwards each month.
Free for 15 forwards a month. Pro removes the limits on forwards and filters and adds a Never Forward list, for $4.99/month or $29.99/year, with a 7-day free trial on the yearly plan for eligible customers.
iPhone · iOS 26 or later