How it works

How text-me stickers work

HeyTextMe has two halves: a physical QR sticker and a private message relay. The sticker gets you discovered. The relay lets strangers message you while your phone number stays completely private.

The ninety seconds that matter

What a relay actually means

When someone messages you, their words travel to HeyTextMe's server, and our server delivers them to you. The two phones never touch. That's the entire trick, and it's what a phone number taped to a windshield can never do:

• Your number is never in the loop. Not shown, not shared, not embedded in the QR code. It exists only to send you notifications.
• You can close the door. Block one person silently, or pause the whole sticker. A written-down number is forever; a relay has an off switch.
• They need nothing. The scanner sends a message from their browser, with a name they choose, or anonymously as a guest.

What the scanner sees, exactly

Your public card: display name, the bio you wrote, when you joined, and a scan count. If you can't say it out loud to a stranger at a bus stop, don't put it in the bio. That's the only editorial rule.

What you see

An inbox. Each conversation shows the name the stranger chose (or their guest tag), with typing indicators, read states, and push notifications. Reply speed is the whole game: the person who scanned is usually still within ten feet of your sticker.

Worried about the stranger side of this? Read how safety works. It's the most honest page on this site. Or see the places people put stickers.