Android SMS gateway: turn a phone you own into a gateway for your verification codes

What you need

• An Android phone running Android 8.0 or later, with the SIM whose codes you want. Single- and dual-SIM phones both work, and root is not needed.
• A real phone. Emulators are not supported as gateways: the point is a real SIM on a real mobile network.
• The BusySMS app from Google Play (package net.busysms.app).
• A BusySMS account. You sign in with a one-time code sent to your email; there is no password to create.

Set up the gateway in five steps

1. 1

   Install the app

   Install BusySMS from Google Play on the phone that holds the SIM. Google Play is the only install path, so updates arrive the usual way.

2. 2

   Sign in with your email address

   Enter your email address and type the code we send you. Once your phone number is on the account, it can sign you in too. The same account works on the website, in MCP clients and in the Chrome extension.

3. 3

   Enroll the phone and verify the SIM

   Pick the SIM. BusySMS texts a code to that number and the app captures it, which proves the SIM really holds the number. Until a number is verified, nothing it receives is stored, readable or billed.

4. 4

   Allow SMS access and turn the gateway on

   Allow SMS access when the app asks. Notification access is recommended too, because some phone makers' Messages apps deliver codes as notifications. Turn the gateway on: Android shows a persistent notification for as long as capture runs, and you can stop it from there at any time.

5. 5

   Read your first code

   Open Received SMS in the dashboard, or create an API key under REST API and call GET /api/v1/codes. Any code that reaches the phone from now on shows up in both.

Read a code over the REST API

Every request carries your API key, which starts with bsk_live_, in the Authorization: Bearer header. The key belongs to your account, so it only ever sees your own phones, plus numbers someone has shared with you.

export BUSYSMS_API_KEY=bsk_live_xxxxxxxx

# Wait up to 60 s for the next code on any of your numbers
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $BUSYSMS_API_KEY" \
  "https://busysms.net/api/v1/codes?timeoutMs=60000"

// Node 18+ (built-in fetch)
const res = await fetch("https://busysms.net/api/v1/codes?timeoutMs=60000", {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.BUSYSMS_API_KEY}` },
});
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`BusySMS ${res.status}: ${await res.text()}`);

const { code, message } = await res.json();
console.log(code ?? "No new code within 60 s", message?.sender);

import os
import requests

r = requests.get(
    "https://busysms.net/api/v1/codes",
    params={"timeoutMs": 60000},
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['BUSYSMS_API_KEY']}"},
    timeout=75,  # longer than the long-poll itself
)
r.raise_for_status()
print(r.json()["code"] or "No new code within 60 s")

With timeoutMs above zero the call long-polls for up to 90 seconds and only returns a code that arrives after the request started, never an older one, because submitting a spent code wastes a login attempt. Endpoints, filters and error codes are in the SMS gateway API guide.

Four ways to read the codes

Limits worth knowing before you start

• On a SIM set to codes only, just the messages that look like a verification code are captured; its other texts stay on the phone. Nothing is captured while the gateway is off.
• If a code lands while the gateway is off, start it again: BusySMS picks up verification texts from the last 15 minutes.
• Battery savers can stop background apps. If codes stop arriving, exclude BusySMS from battery optimisation and leave its notification in place.
• Captured messages are deleted after up to 7 days. Keep anything you need for longer yourself.
• Reading codes needs an active trial or subscription. If it lapses, the phone keeps capturing, but API and MCP reads return 402 payment_required until billing is fixed.
• Switching the gateway off does not stop billing a verified number. Remove the number in the dashboard to stop paying for it.

Pricing

$5 per verified phone number per month, with one free week (a 7-day trial) on every account. One subscription covers the whole account and is billed by card through Stripe on the web dashboard: add a number and the bill goes up by $5, remove one and it goes down. The Android app shows your plan but does not sell it.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions