imo SMS VERIFICATION Receive the imo code on a rented number.

imo is a free calling and messaging app used heavily for keeping in touch with family across countries, especially between South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the people abroad who call home. Registration uses a phone number and a code by SMS or automated call, and each number holds one imo account. A rented number lets someone create a second imo account, or one kept apart from the number they use for everything else.

imo works like WhatsApp in one respect. The phone number is the account's identity, and contacts find you by it. Registering imo on a separate number keeps the number you give to relatives distinct from one you use with wider groups or with people you have just met.

How imo registration works

You choose the country, enter the number, and imo sends a code. If the SMS is slow, the app offers a call that reads out the code instead. Enter the number without the leading zero used for domestic calls, because imo adds the country code from the picker. After entering it, you set a name and photo, and imo reads your contacts to show who else uses it, which you can decline.

Like most messaging apps, imo refuses many VoIP ranges and numbers from free SMS sites. The numbers rented here come from real mobile carrier ranges and serve one activation.

Why people want a second imo account

Family calling apps collect a wide contact list over the years. Some people want a separate account for a business that sells to customers in their home country, a community group, or a period of travel. Others share a phone with a relative and each wants their own account.

A number from the country you live in keeps the account consistent with where you use it. The number's country does not change what calls cost, since imo calls and messages run over mobile data or Wi-Fi. Numbers for dozens of countries are listed on the pricing page, with the current price for imo in each.

Keeping the account

imo stays signed in on the phone after registration and does not ask for the number again during normal use. It asks again when you reinstall the app or move to a new phone. If the rented number has returned to the pool by then, you would need to register again, so plan the device move before the window ends or accept starting fresh.

imo's rules forbid spam, impersonation and harassment, and accounts that break them are removed whatever number registered them. Our acceptable use policy draws the same line.