Texting Android customers: US carrier registration
Customers on iPhone get your texts through iMessage from day one. Android customers get SMS, and US carriers require every business that sends SMS to register first. It takes about 5 minutes, we file it for you, and there’s no fee.
Register now, or set up later
At the Texting step you choose:
- Register now: fill in your business details and submit.
- Set up later: start with iMessage only.
If you set it up later, your dashboard shows Android customers aren’t getting texts yet. Click Finish registration to open the form. Remind me later hides the reminder for 7 days. Owners can also open the form any time from Settings › Store: the Android texting (SMS) row shows where your registration is, with Register (or Fix registration). Until you’re approved, texts to Android customers wait while iMessage keeps running.
What you need
- Legal business name, exactly as it appears on your IRS EIN letter
- EIN
- Business type
- Website
- Business address
- Contact name, phone and email
- Customer support email
We fill in the rest for you: how customers opt in (the SMS consent checkbox at Shopify checkout), your SMS terms page and a sample message.
Registration status
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Needed | Fill in your business details. |
| Submitted | In carrier review. Approval usually takes 3 to 7 business days. |
| Approved | Android customers now get SMS from a registered US number. |
| Needs fixes | Carriers asked for one change. Fix it and resubmit. There’s no new fee. |
Fixing a rejected registration
The most common reason is a business name that doesn’t match the EIN letter exactly, down to “LLC” or “Inc.” and the punctuation. The address is the next most common.
- Click Fix registration on the dashboard reminder, or in Settings › Store.
- Correct the field. Your saved EIN is kept if you leave it blank.
- Click Resubmit registration.
If it comes back a second time, send us a message with the carrier’s note and we’ll go through it with you.