“Parents who want to keep track of their children but aren’t ready to invest in a kid-friendly Firefly phone can give their offspring an old device stocked with apps like TextNow that keep lines of communication open without a phone plan. And unlike WhatsApp, TextNow doesn’t require a Wi-Fi connection to work.”

“By July, TextNow was growing again. It lifted the hiring freeze and recruited a chief growth officer to beef up marketing and help win customers. TextNow is on track to meet or exceed its new revenue targets.”