Add friends without email address or phone number
I know that it might be a user acquisition choice, but it is very annoying to not be able to add someone with just their name (i.e. with no email address or phone, so that they don't receive an invite).
I find that the user experience is affected a lot by this and I am switch back to another app because of this despite how good splitwise is overall.
There are indeed several use cases where I would like to add people without contact details:
- At a specific event, for example a party where I need to enter the names of a lot of people without knowing their email adress
- To track my own personal debts with other people without them knowing or them receiving an invitation.
I did read this article by the way, but I wanted to share the way I think:
http://feedback.splitwise.com/knowledgebase/articles/206028-why-do-i-have-to-add-friends-in-order-to-use-split

Thanks for the detailed feedback – it’s always useful to hear, and I’ll pass it on :)
One small feature you may not be aware of: on our website, Splitwise does allow you to add group members without email addresses, which hopefully helps for the “large party” scenario. My apologies that the same feature isn’t available on our mobile apps!
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Koen commented
It would be handy if we can add non splitwise entities to a certain cost so that a part of the cost can be assigned to these without them needing to have an actual account.
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shaun parker commented
I got a virtual phone number for Los Angeles at 6$ is this a good deal?
https://callhippo.com/signup/los-angeles-virtual-phone-number/661-area-code -
DaRkWiNG commented
@admin: It's been 3 years since you replied to this question but the Splitwise mobile app on iOS still does not support adding people with contact info (email/contact#). While I commend the app itself, which has been designed next to perfect, on the other hand, I would also seek the developers to capture such feedback and roll out these features as enhancements.
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Anonymous commented
anything done since 2016?
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Joven L commented
I just downloaded e app, and it's simple and functional. But I uninstalled it after I couldn't create new records without having to invite a contact to e app. Hope that someday this issue can be resolved. Thanks!
P.S. if anyone else has a good and similar app to recommend, pls let me know! =) Thanks!
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madison commented
Hello my name is Madison I'm 14 years old
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Shivam Tiwari commented
kindly connect it with contacts
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Sarah Churgin commented
Came here to post this request as well. Why is this not a feature already? Everyone has friends who refuse to download the app or are just not tech savvy enough to deal with it. Especially for family trips or large trips where you just need to track but don’t need everyone to be involved. Please add this feature before many of us leave what is otherwise a great platform.
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Bruce Cameron commented
Yeah, not having this function kinda breaks what could be a very useful app.
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Luu Ngoc commented
Or app strore hello frieng
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Zkra Ehab commented
Good
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Mayank Agarwal commented
A lot of people are not tech-savvy and might not have/want a Splitwise account. Allow a Splitwise user to keep a list of friends without sending invite option. So that the user can track those expenses.
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Swadha Gupta commented
It will be very helpful if this feature gets added in mobile as well.
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Sarah Skapik commented
Yes, this is a huge pain and forces me to use other group cost-splitting services instead of Splitwise. I understand this feature is available on the web - odd that it's missing on mobile. The mobile app should be just as robust as the web app, if not more so.
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Fábio Cantu commented
Having to add all the info is trully a pain! It would be nice for it to change to a simpler way!!
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Anonymous commented
You can juse use fake email addresses. Like john.doe@fakeemail.com
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Slimnslender commented
Or, I just want to add a debt owed to me for my own personal information. Being able to simply add the individual name and the amount they owe me without inviting them to Splitwise.
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Ben V commented
Bang on! It’s hugely frustrating with large groups. It should be possible to essentially run an”offline” group where you can add custom names and manage the group on behalf of everyone, as I have found some people really don’t get splitwise and it ends up being more of a hindrance than a help when user error get involved.
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Nate commented
100% agree. This is a dealbreaker for large group trips
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Marek Dominik Pavelec commented
I know that I can add new members without their addresses on web app. But normally I have only my smartphone with me. And on Android it is not possible.