You can text a federal inmate from an Android, and you do it from your normal Messages app, not a special one. The catch is the order of events: your loved one has to start it from inside the facility, and your phone has to be set up to show that first message. Most first-week problems are one of those two things, not the service.
Here is the whole sequence on an Android, plus the phone settings that quietly swallow the first text.
What actually happens when a federal inmate texts you
Federal Bureau of Prisons inmates send electronic messages from TRULINCS terminals inside the facility. CorrLinks is the outside side of that same email system. With ParakeetInmate, powered by InmateDB, the inmate adds one InmateDB contact in TRULINCS, then sends messages by putting a phone number in the subject line and the message in the body. That message leaves the facility and lands on your Android as a text from a shared number.
So on your end, nothing looks unusual. No app to download, no portal to log into. It arrives like a text from a store or a doctor’s office: a number you do not recognize, with the message inside. The difference is that you cannot reply until they have texted you first on the shared-number plan. Once they have, your reply goes back the same way.
That first message is the one people miss. It does not announce itself, and if your phone is filtering unknown senders, it may sit somewhere you never look.
Step 1: Get set up on your side before they send anything
Do this part first, because it is what lets their message reach you at all.
- Find your loved one on Find your loved one by name or by their BOP register number, which looks like 12345-678. If you do not have it, the BOP inmate locator on bop.gov will give it to you.
- Start the 3-day free trial or pick a plan. Texting is $9.99/month and sends from a shared number, so people can reply once the inmate has texted them first. Texting + AI is $14.99/month and adds AI chat plus news, sports, weather and trivia. Full Access is $19.99/month and adds a personal phone number anyone can text first, email and more apps.
- Have your loved one add the InmateDB contact in TRULINCS on their next terminal visit. This is the step that takes the longest, because it depends on when they can get to a terminal.
If the contact step is where you are stuck, how to add an inmate contact on CorrLinks walks through it from the family side.
Step 2: Save the number before you need it
When their first text arrives, do not just read it and swipe away. Long-press the message, tap the number at the top, and add it as a contact. Name it something obvious, like their first name plus “federal” so you never confuse it with spam later.
On a shared-number plan, that number may be the same one other families see. That is normal. It is a relay, not your loved one’s personal line. If you are on Full Access, you get a personal number instead, and anyone can text it first without waiting for the inmate to start.
Saving the contact does two things on Android. It keeps the thread out of the unknown-sender pile, and it means future messages from that number notify you normally instead of arriving silently.
Step 3: The Android settings that hide their texts
This is the part that trips up almost everyone, and it has nothing to do with the prison. Android has several layers that can suppress a message from a number you have never texted.
Spam and unknown-sender filtering
Open your Messages app, tap your profile picture or the three-dot menu, then Spam and blocked. Check whether unknown senders are being filtered. If they are, your loved one’s first message may be sitting in that folder with no notification. Move it to your main inbox and reply from there.
Carrier-level spam blocking
Your carrier may also be filtering at the network level, before the message ever reaches your phone. This is common on prepaid lines and on accounts where you once turned on scam blocking. If messages from other short codes and businesses also go missing, this is likely the cause. Check your carrier account settings or call them and ask them to turn off spam filtering for that number.
Do Not Disturb and per-contact silence
If Do Not Disturb is on, or if you once silenced a conversation, the message arrives but you never hear it. Long-press the thread and check that notifications are on. On some Android versions, a silenced conversation still shows the text but skips the alert, which is exactly how people conclude “it never came.”
Battery saver and notification delays
Aggressive battery settings on some phones delay or batch notifications. If texts from your loved one show up hours late but texts from friends arrive instantly, that is usually the cause. Set the Messages app to unrestricted battery use.
What to do if nothing arrives
Work backward through the chain instead of guessing. First, confirm the setup is complete on both sides: you are active on a plan, and your loved one has added the InmateDB contact in TRULINCS. If the contact was added but no message has come, it usually means they have not gotten back to a terminal yet. How quickly an inmate sees a reply depends on when they can get to a TRULINCS terminal, and that varies by facility and by their schedule.
Second, check the three hiding places above in order: the spam folder in Messages, your carrier’s blocking settings, then notification and battery settings. One of those three is almost always the answer.
Third, remember that facility staff can monitor messages. That does not change how you text, but it does mean you should write the way you would write something a stranger might read.
If you are still deciding between options, comparing email, mail and phone for speed helps you see where texting fits, and inmate phone calls versus messaging apps is useful if calls are eating your budget.
Quick answers
Do I need to install an app on my Android?
No. ParakeetInmate, powered by InmateDB, works through your normal texting app. If you prefer, you can also use the InmateDB website, the InmateDB app, or Telegram. The text thread on your phone is the simplest option for most families.
Can I text first, or do they have to start it?
On the $9.99 Texting plan, messages come from a shared number, so you can reply once the inmate has texted you first. The $19.99 Full Access plan gives you a personal phone number that anyone can text first, which is the one to pick if you want to reach out without waiting.
Does this work at every federal prison?
InmateDB works with federal BOP facilities that use CorrLinks, about 93% of them. It does not work in state prisons or county jails, since those run separate systems. For anything about visiting rules, contact limits or mail policy at a specific facility, check bop.gov or ask the facility directly.
Start by finding your loved one and getting your side active, then save the number the moment their first text lands. Find your loved one and you can have this working before their next terminal visit.