Travel
Get your home number’s texts while you travel
Leave an iPhone with your home SIM at home and forward its texts, like bank codes, to Telegram, WhatsApp or email on the phone you travel with. No roaming.
By Fwrd · Last reviewed
Who this is for
If your home line stays active on the iPhone you travel with, its texts already reach you there, and you don’t need this.
- You travel with a local SIM or eSIM and your home number is on a different phone.
- Your bank or other services still text codes to your home number.
- You don’t want to pay to roam just to receive a few texts.
Set up the phone you leave at home
- 1Pick a destination you can read abroadTelegram, email or Slack work over Wi-Fi or data anywhere. Add it in Fwrd on the home iPhone. WhatsApp and email go through your own Shortcuts action on the home phone, so set those up there too.
- 2Create a Message automationOn iOS 27, open Shortcuts, tap Library, then Automation, then +. If you see Describe a shortcut, tap Edit. Tap Automation, then Message. On iOS 26, open the Automation tab, tap +, and choose Message.
- 3Choose which texts to forwardType a word your important texts contain, such as code. To forward nearly everything, type a single space instead.
- 4Let it run on its ownMake it run without asking. On iOS 27, tap the arrow on the trigger and check Confirm Before Run is off. On iOS 26, choose Run Immediately and turn off Notify When Run.
- 5Add Fwrd’s actionSearch for Forward and add Fwrd’s Forward Message to All Destinations. Tap its Message field and choose Shortcut Input (on iOS 26, Shortcut Input, then Message).
- 6Test it before you leaveSend a text to your home number from another phone and check it reaches you. Lock the home iPhone and try again.
Keep it working while you’re away
- Keep the home iPhone plugged in and on Wi-Fi, with its SIM in.
- Turn off automatic iOS updates before you go. An update restarts the phone, and after a restart it has to be unlocked once before forwarding works again, which you can’t do from abroad.
- A power cut that drains the battery does the same, so a phone on a reliable socket matters more than a fast one.
- Check now and then that texts still arrive, for example with a reminder to text your home number from a friend’s phone.
What it can’t do
Fwrd forwards the message text exactly as it arrived. It doesn’t send the sender’s number, the time, or any pictures. You can’t reply from abroad through Fwrd; it only forwards.
Fwrd can’t receive texts for a line that isn’t active, or get round your carrier’s rules. The home phone still needs normal signal on its SIM to receive the texts in the first place.
We’ve tested Slack, Discord and Telegram end to end on a physical iPhone, unlocked and locked. The other destinations are offered in the app but not yet tested that way, so send yourself a harmless test text before you rely on them.
Free for 15 forwards a month
No account, no new number, and no Fwrd server in the middle. Pro removes the monthly limit for $3.99/month or $29.99/year, with a 7-day free trial on the annual plan for eligible customers. iPhone · iOS 26.2 or later.
iPhone · iOS 26.2 or later
Free plan: 15 forwards each month. No subscription required.
Questions about forwarding while you travel
Do I need roaming on to get my home texts abroad?
No. The home iPhone stays at home and receives the texts there, then forwards them over its Wi-Fi. You read them in Telegram, email or Slack on your travel phone over any internet connection, so your travel phone doesn’t need your home SIM at all.
Does the phone at home need mobile data?
It needs internet, and Wi-Fi is enough. It also needs its SIM and normal signal so the texts reach it in the first place.
What happens if the phone at home restarts?
Forwarding stops until someone unlocks it once. That’s how iPhone protects saved passwords after a restart, and Fwrd keeps your destinations behind the same protection. Turn off automatic updates before you travel, and keep the phone plugged in.
Which destination is best while traveling?
One that works on any connection and that you already check. Telegram is a good choice and one we’ve tested on a physical iPhone, unlocked and locked. Email works through your own Send Email step in Shortcuts on the home phone, which needs Mail set up there.
Can I reply to the forwarded texts?
Not through Fwrd. It forwards only, and it doesn’t send the sender’s number, so a reply has to come from the home phone or another way of contacting them.
How much does it cost?
Fwrd is free for up to 15 forwards per calendar month. Pro removes the limit for $3.99/month or $29.99/year, with a 7-day free trial on the annual plan for eligible customers. A trip with only a few bank codes fits in the free plan.