# Staying in touch across countries without swapping phone numbers

> Change your SIM, your phone and your country, and your Naven account is still exactly where you left it.

- Page: https://navenapp.com/for/international-friends
- Last updated: 2026-09-30
- Published by: Naven, a free messaging app that runs in a web browser (https://navenapp.com/about)

## Who this is for

People whose friends and family are in different countries, on different networks, changing SIMs.

## The problem

Every messenger is keyed to a phone number, and a number changes the moment somebody travels, moves, or gets a local SIM. Half the group is unreachable for a week each time.

## How Naven handles it

- Your account is an email address or a Google sign-in, so it survives a SIM change, a new phone, and a new country.
- Voice and video calls run over the internet in the browser — no international rates and no separate calling app.
- Inline translation on any message, so a group does not have to settle on one language.
- The relative who will not sign up for anything signs in with the email address they already use — a code arrives, they type it, and they are in. No new password to forget.

## What it costs

Nothing. Naven is free, with no advertising, no paid tier and no data sale. There is no card, no trial and no phone number.

**Other use cases:** [Family group chat](https://navenapp.com/for/families) · [Teen messaging parents can live with](https://navenapp.com/for/teens) · [Schools and libraries](https://navenapp.com/for/schools) · [Clubs and small communities](https://navenapp.com/for/clubs) · [Messaging without a phone number](https://navenapp.com/for/no-phone-number) · [Messaging with nothing to install](https://navenapp.com/for/no-app-install) · [Communities without an algorithmic feed](https://navenapp.com/for/feed-free) · [A private mode for your organisation](https://navenapp.com/for/custom-modes) · [Organising without a phone number](https://navenapp.com/for/activists) · [A team chat parents can join](https://navenapp.com/for/sports-coaches) · [Client chat without your personal number](https://navenapp.com/for/freelancers) · [Practising a language with someone abroad](https://navenapp.com/for/language-exchange) · [Coordinating care for a relative](https://navenapp.com/for/care-coordination) · [A study group that works on school devices](https://navenapp.com/for/remote-study-group) · [A volunteer rota that people read](https://navenapp.com/for/volunteer-shifts) · [A group for new parents](https://navenapp.com/for/new-parents) · [A house chat that survives people moving out](https://navenapp.com/for/housemates) · [A chat for a one-off event](https://navenapp.com/for/event-coordination) · [Messaging for a small charity](https://navenapp.com/for/small-charity) · [Tutor and student messaging](https://navenapp.com/for/tutoring)

## Naven, in brief

- **Price:** Free. No ads, no paid tier
- **Phone number:** Never asked for
- **To install:** Nothing. It runs in a browser
- **End-to-end encrypted:** No. Messages are screened before they send
- **Works on:** Phones, tablets, laptops, Chromebooks

### Limits, stated plainly

- Calls are not screened; messages, pictures and voice notes are
- The screen is automated. It misses things, and is weaker outside English
- No guarantees: Naven describes what it does, and its terms promise no outcome

**Naven is a free messenger that runs in your browser.** No phone number, nothing to install, and no new password.