Cell phones have been a part of our lives for a while now, it has an impact on how we as a society communicate and overall just make our lives easier. Instant messaging apps are used all over the world to help connect people with others through the internet by using their phone numbers. This service has also been improved through the years; now we’re able to communicate internationally, make group calls, and send attachments and video calls. All of this with great graphics and audio, only using a phone Number and a stable internet connection.

There are a lot of these apps that have been developed for a while now and are improved every day, but definitely the most known of the bunch is WhatsApp, although it has a few strong competitors like Telegram, Discord, Signal, and Skype, one great competitor that, unfortunately, is not talked about as much, is Viber.

Rakuten Viber, also known as Viber, is an app that has become quite popular during the pandemic due to its features. It’s a VoIP and instant messaging software app that allows users to make international and local voice and video calls as well as sent messages with attachments and features like stickers. It’s quite popular in different parts of the world, like Russia and eastern Europe, with a billion registered users only by 2018.

It has some great features and pros, like not having to provide usernames and passwords, which makes it very convenient in the registration process. It also offers free and unlimited voice and video calls, as well as free messages to other Viber users, offering stickers both free and for a price, with a sticker shop available on the app. Viber has great group call capabilities, on par with Zoom, Google Meet or Skype.

Another great tool that can come in handy is the Viber Out feature, in which users have the option to call numbers, both mobile and landline, via VoIP without needing to have the app. It also has a news feed, which can be very helpful and entertaining in various situations, allowing users to stay updated on what’s going on in the world at any time.

Viber is a great app when it comes to privacy, having improved a lot over the years. Recently, they implemented end-to-end encryption for all communications. There are also self-destructing messages and chats available. Viber also claims that it deletes your messages from its servers as soon as the message has been delivered.

Although Viber looks great, using it certainly has some downsides. There are a lot of features in Viber, but it’s likely that you won’t be using all of them, making the app cumbersome to have around. The sheer amount of things you can do can be a bit overwhelming; using Viber is also hard because of the number of people using it. While the app is very popular in East Europe, there is a much smaller user base in the rest of the world than other apps like WhatsApp, Telegram or even Signal.

Like any good tech company, Rakuten and Viber have had their share of problems regarding user data privacy. The app makes most of its revenue from ads. While you won’t see many ads on the platform itself, Viber collects data from its users to allegedly improve its services, but it’s likely that they sell this data to make targeted ads. Data like location, gender, age, phone number and contacts are all collected. Even if you delete your account later, there is no way to be sure that the data has been erased. Viber states that they keep some non-identifiable data, but even that is not one-hundred percent verifiable.

If you sign in with a third-party account like Facebook or VK, all of the personal information associated with your profiles are going over to Rakuten, allowing them to create ads targeted towards you. One dealbreaker for most people is that you can’t hide your number in the app, and you need to have a phone number to create an account. If you join a group chat, everyone in there can see your number.

This can cause some concerns for users that care about their privacy, and don’t wish to have their phone number displayed on the app. So, what can you do if this is your case? Get a virtual number, that way you won’t have to use your real number to create an account on this app.

In this guide, we’ll teach you how to use a US Non VoIP number to create a Viber account.

Step 1: get Viber

Go to your app store and search for “Viber”.

Click on “Install”.

Once you’ve downloaded it, open it and click on “Start now”.

After that, you must enter your phone number. To do this you’ll need a virtual one.

Step 2: getting your number

First, go to our website and sign in or sign up if you don’t have an account on our website, these options are available at the top right corner of the page.

Now, make sure the top tab says “United States”, and go to “Services” and then to “Short-term numbers”.

Search for “Viber”, and click on the blue “Purchase” button to get your number.

Confirm your purchase and agree to discount the given amount from your balance. Then hit “Next”.

Now, you should be seeing your number displayed on the screen, type it on Viber and hit “Continue”.

Step 3: get the verification code

On Viber, confirm your number by tapping “Yes”.

Hit “Next” on our website to get your code.

Enter it on Viber where they ask for the code.

Type the code on Viber, and that’s it!

Step 4: set up your account

All left to do is to enter your name, birthday, and email. Click on the little check icon on the bottom right corner.

And you’re done!

You’ve just bypassed SMS verification for Viber using only a US virtual number provided by us, Major Phones, without risking any of your personal data. How cool is that?