Borrowing a cell phone

Why does she need a SIM? Suggestion:

• Use free local wifis (in Germany called WLAN)
• Let her use a map tool for directions with a map stored on SD-card or in memory, e.g. Sygic but also other apps available.
• She can do messaging but these will be send earliest at next connection to the Internet

She can buy an inexpensive cell phone and buy a SIM for it. Look online.

The reason a simple burner phone will not work, or just using free internet sources will not work, is that she will want access to a directions app. She wants to be able to wander around different areas and check out places that aren't always on the beaten path. She can't just plot out a route when she doesn't know each place she'd like to check out during down time. But with this freedom to check out other areas increases the risk of getting lost. Many physical maps will still only be so detailed unless you're talking full poster size map that she wont want to walk around with. Plus, she doesn't like maps much, so just downloading a detailed copy isn't going to get around anything either. She wants to have a step by step path guide if she needs to get back to the hotel and has walked a few miles away going here and there. Does that make sense?

I'm not looking for a burner phone option response. I need to know if she can use my phone, which is set up under my name, if she has to have it registered when she arrives in Germany. I don't know because the last time I was in Germany was the year before this policy went into place. Can she use a phone and register it under her name for travel purposes and it not be an issue, or will that be a problem?

I don't know what country you are in - the profile gives no hints, and there can be biologists anywhere - so I don't know any specific laws which might apply to you or your mother in law which don't apply to me, but I don't know about this registration you speak about.

I live in the UK, with a UK phone (or three) and when I go over to France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Germany or many others, my phone just recognises that I am in a different country and sends me a notification to that effect and I just go on about my business.

I am a frequent visitor to Germany and have never known of any problems using my phone there except that one of my hotels in the Black Forest has pretty poor WLan and I have to sit in the stairwell to use it.

The phone doesn't care if I hand it to my wife to use. I can't see why yours would care if it is listening to your voice or that of your mother in law. Or whose set of eyes is viewing the screen.

Better make sure she has all your passwords and has registered her fingerprint with the phone.

Is there an issue unique to where you are from?

Do you mean she intends to take your phone to Germany, take out the existing SIM, buy a German SIM? In which case she needs to register the German SIM with her name and address.

Or do you mean she will take your phone and use the current SIM in Germany? In which case she doesn’t need to do anything.

It’s the German SIM that is registered not the phone. Registration is simply providing ID when you buy a SIM so if you get up to no good the police can track you down.

For what she wants to do she does not necessarily need a SIM.

Even with a SIM card she might not always have connection because of white spots and also due to network quality issues.

In case you want to do that: be aware that you will need a cell phone without SIM lock.

The SIM activation process will not ask for the phone, it will ask vor a Vorgangsnummer (ticket number), private data such as an address and also for the passport (maybe plus ID).

The registration I'm referring to is an anti-terrorism bill that Gremany passed in 2017 in which travelers apparently register a SIM card along with their passport. She was reading about it on one of the newer links on this (Rick Steves) website, but we weren't sure what the details were. I do know my phone works over there, I just dont know what is entailed with this registration. She's coming from USA, since it was asked.

As I understand it the registration requirement is required for establishing new service in Germany. If your MIL is going to be using your service’s international plan then no registration is required. Likewise I had a U.K. SIM in my phone and it worked fine in Germany.

If your MIL is not a regular smartphone user it may be useful for you to give her a tutorial. Have her use the mapping app at home until she’s comfortable using it.

Ok, that makes a lot of sense. Thank you to everyone who replied!

If you have a "good international plan option", why can't your MIL use that rather than buying a SIM in Germany or anywhere else? Would you have another phone to use while she's away on the trip?

I guess OP wants still to be reachable and use her own mobile number and tariff.

If you have an old phone sitting around the house that has WiFi, download google maps for offline use to it. That way, she will have maps, GPS, and can also access the Internet if she needs. Essentially, use the phone like an iPod.

I just took a Google/Fi phone to Germany and Austria in May. If this is even a remote possibility for you (an unlocked GSM phone, preferably an e-SIM phone laying around), I would recommend this for someone who doesn't want to mess with purchasing pay-as-you-go SIM cards. While the voice air time is a little more than a local SIM (~20 cents US a minute), international texts are free and data is a flat $10US/GB (free after 6GB).

My Google/Fi phone was flawless in Germany and Austria (riding on the Deutsche Telecom network?) and I used just 2/3rds of a GB over a two week trip (but I'm pretty diligent about using WIFI). I landed in Munich and within 1 minute of turning my phone on I had a "welcome to Germany, you airtime rate is..." text. This was the easiest travel phone experience I've ever had! And, there's no need to register it with the local authorities...

However, we just learned about a SIM card registration policy in
Germany and weren't sure if she can register a phone that is borrowed
from someone else.

You need to think separately: phone vs. SIM card.

There's no registering of phones in Germany, so you can lend or borrow and use any phone you like. Just make sure that it has the multi-band capacity required for German bandwidth. All modern devices will have that nowadays; only some very cheap phones might not.

If your mother-in-law wants to get a German SIM card she can simply buy one but she will have to register for the contract. Make sure she understands the conditions of the contract. Once she has that SIM card she can simply put it into whatever phone she chooses. If she is going to use an American phone, make sure it is unlocked. Phone calls within Germany will be less expensive for her with a German SIM card, but calling home will be an international phone call.

Since you say you have a good international plan, I understand that you are considering for her to use your home country SIM card. In that case, just leave the SIM card in your phone, and she'll be fine. I don't see what there would be to register about that. She would of course have your phone number, and any phone calls to or from Germany would be international phone calls even if she actually physically is in Germany.