It definitely might be better at the moment without registering your number as then you won't have messages disappear into nothingness if the service goes down

It definitely might be better at the moment without registering your number as then you won't have messages disappear into nothingness if the service goes down again. I missed a few messages when I switched from iPhone to Android because I hadn't deregistered my number from Apple. I don't think I'd use my existing Apple ID for this -- probably easy enough to create a new one with a new email.