
Updates to our Google Voice apps - scommab
https://blog.google/products/google-voice/ringing-2017-updates-our-google-voice-apps/
======
jitl
I used to use my Google Voice number as my primary contact number, but when
development of the product seemingly died for three years without addressing
outstanding issues with group MMS or picture messages, I migrated back to my
regular cell number. I've already told all my friends to forget my Google
Voice number. I've changed my preferences in every service I use to contact my
regular cell number.

Now Google is soft re-launching this service after 5 years, and wants me to
come back? No way. They squandered more than 5 years of first-mover advantage
in the "free SMS" space, and have lost to WhatsApp, Facebook, and Apple
Messages.

I'm happy than when I need to send test SMSs on my computer, the web app I use
will be slightly better. That's my only use-case for Google Voice anymore.

~~~
wlesieutre
That's about where I am with this. I got started with GV back when carriers
were charging $0.25/each to send or receive texts, and eventually paid Google
$20 to port my old AT&T number into their system.

Then Google stopped developing the GV app and I switched from iOS to Android
to get the Hangouts Dialer integration. With the Hangouts integration instead
of a real GV app, they apparently threw away the spam reporting/filtering (on
voice and text) that had been one of its greatest features.

Eventually I got fed up with the poor service. Third parties would refuse to
accept my phone number, or would accept it but couldn't actually send me
messages. Group MMS didn't work properly. As of late 2013, they "integrated"
MMS support with T-Mobile and Sprint. When one of them tried to send you a
picture, you'd receive it as an email attachment on your gmail account. MMS
from AT&T and Verizon users, as far as I can tell, continue to disappear into
the ether.

I have no idea how many missed social calls I had from people in college
organizing social lives via group texts that I never got, and they never knew
I didn't get because there was zero indication on either end that it wasn't
delivered.

As far as I'm concerned, Google Voice is dead. Maybe this reincarnation lasts
two years before management decides to refocus on Duo/Allo, or maybe it's six
months. Maybe they throw it out and go all-in on a new Project-Fi based
VOIP/messaging system. Either way, I'm staying out of it.

My number's been ported to T-Mobile on the $30 prepaid unlimited plan, and I
switched back to an iPhone. Voicemail transcriptions work just as well as GV's
did, and my text messages don't just vanish anymore. Everything's great.

~~~
baggachipz
I was a die-hard Google user/fanboy until about a year and a half ago. I was a
Fi user, Voice user (before Fi), Hangouts, Nexus buyer, you name it (I even
had a Google TV and almost bought an OnHub). I bailed on it all when I
realized that Google has absolutely no long-term vision or desire to support
what they produce. I went to an iPhone and despite Apple's warts, it's a
night-and-day experience. I'll never again trust Google products.

~~~
nextos
Frankly, I can't understand how Google is so chaotic. Perhaps it's the
organization, which looks more like a conglomerate than a cohesive corporation
with a clear vision.

They release products, only to abandon many of them without a clear reason
(like Google Talk). Or they release two products that should be one instead
(Android & ChromeOS, or Allo & Duo).

The Google Talk fiasco got me particularly disenchanted. A beautiful, open,
standards-compliant product (they even helped extending XMPP with Jingle!)
gets replaced by a proprietary mess like Hangouts.

~~~
blakesterz
>> Frankly, I can't understand how Google is so chaotic.

I'd love an open and honest answer from someone up high in the org chart at
Google on that. Better yet, just an acknowledgement of it and how they're
going to stop doing this in the future. If they were a startup with 200
employees under the age of 30 I'd understand it, but they're obviously waaaaay
beyond that stage.

~~~
saurik
Hell, at this point I would settle for some closure on "what the hell did you
mean by 'more wood behind fewer arrows' in 2011 when you began the process of
mass project shutdown?!... that's not really how arrows work :/".

~~~
yborg
The real problem seems to be inability to aim. Google fired a ballista at
Facebook with G+ and missed completely.

~~~
thewhitetulip
I read an essay on HN few weeks ago which said that the problem with G+ was
that the higher mgmt at Google thought FB is famous because of a nicely
designed product (rather than network effect), so they released a good product
G+, it is somewhat a good product but it missed the train. Plus it has
circles, it isn't intuitive.

~~~
soylentcola
I actually like G+ in principle. They already had the option to create a basic
profile for your Google account which was good for those of us who already
used Gmail, Docs, Calendar, Maps, etc. from them. I think they figured they
had all of the pieces to make a "better Facebook" and compete in that space,
but as you say, network effects are strong.

I know a ton of people who set up a G+ profile and I found both the web
version and mobile app to be superior to Facebook's offering. Plus they had
better image hosting and they had good text/video chat before FB updated
theirs.

But in the end it comes down to critical mass of users (and particularly, non-
early-adopters) on Facebook. You might get your other peers to try out a new
service if you're into trying out new sites/services but unless you get
_everyone_ to make (and use) a profile the way most people seem to at least
have a Facebook account, you're stuck maintaining two profiles on two sites
and switching between them depending on who you want to share that update or
photo or link with.

In the end it didn't matter if they had a modestly better site or mobile app
because nobody wanted to post to two sites. And since, unlike email, these
things don't operate on any sort of standard protocol, you can't just switch
your client and let grandma keep using her old one so it fizzled as a FB
competitor.

(I still use it for several niche interest groups though. Also I think circles
are vastly superior to whatever Facebook has for granular control of who you
share something with.)

~~~
thewhitetulip
Even I love G+ on principle, but that's the point, in principle. The problem
with G+ goes deep, first of all, they just assumed that a network gets
traction because of beautiful UI, it is not the case, if you look at
facebook's growth, it started as a way to talk and later as a dev platform,
because of farmville and games like that they get a lot of traffic, so
essentially facebook means different things to different people.

When fb came into existence there wasn't much of a competitor to it, so they
focused on making it easy to use and stuff, later, when g+ was being created
they misread the entire picture. At that point fb had become a platform or was
becoming a platform. Currently, FB has different users, some use it as a buy
sell group, some for messenger, some for playing games (APIs) etc

g+ didn't focus on good things, just beautiful UI doesn't mean you win, you
have to differentiate yourself, they should have gone this way, start a
private beta, build a terrific API for developers, so devs will flock to your
platform and build apps on it, plus the circles stuff, it is great for geeks
like us, but not so much for my grandma, who doesn't even know what google
means. Plus, g+ takes an awfully large amount of time to load on slow network.
Overall. Plus they don't have an end vision.

------
throwthisawayt
As an xoogler, this tells me that the voice team is now staffed again. It also
tells me that the executive team is thinking about reducing headcount and
focus on hangouts, but still are uncertain.

Finally, it tells me that google still has no idea how to crack the messaging
space, and has so no team internally that is taking charge but a bunch of
teams with different approaches, all jockeying for executive support.

Google will lose this space because it lacks focus while Facebook is owning it
through focus on the messenger platform and the acquisition of whatsapp.

~~~
tw04
The answer to this is easy: copy imessage. If Apple had even a little bit of
common sense they'd support imessage on windows and android and just charge a
small fee of some sort to make money off of it. They're blackberry right now,
they could own the market if they were willing to eat their own market share.

As for google: I have no idea what is up with the stupidity. What people want
is simple: an app that works on the PC and the phone, that can do messaging
that falls back to SMS if the other-end isn't capable of "data" based
communications, and ideally has encryption as an option and video chat as an
option. Hangouts was like 90% of the way there, and then for some reason they
went _insert offensive analogy here_ and decided to release allo and duo with
half the functionality. And oh by the way, after the release of those two
apps, Hangouts started acting goofy for a month (which I struggle to believe
is coincidence as much as I hate conspiracy BS).

~~~
fooey
Opening iMessage to other platforms would cannibalize iOS sales. I hear soo
many people say they'd try Android, but they can't lose iMessage

~~~
komali2
I don't think "desperately force our users to stay in our ecosystem" is a very
successful business model.

~~~
rconti
Steve Jobs famously believed in cannibalizing their own sales. (Or, to be less
charitably, he believed in that when it was convenient to believe that).

Whether the culture has carried over, who knows.

Even as an iPhone user, I never would have thought iMessage was even in the
top 5 or 10 reasons to keep using the platform. But I'm old, don't text all
that much, and have unlimited SMS anyway.

I imagine all the cool kids these days are using alternative data-based
services anyway. Snapchat, the like. For us old folks, WhatsApp, GroupMe, etc.

~~~
Dibes
It's not necessarily the experience on the phone that is lacking in other SMS
based apps on competing platforms -- I see it as the ability to leverage being
able to message anyone from most platforms be it conputer, iPad, or phone and
have it all in sync. That to me is the massive draw to it.

~~~
tedmiston
I kind of wonder if there isn't more to this. Perhaps it's why Continuity [1]
never fulfilled its full vision of moving seamlessly between iOS and macOS.
Lack of support for third party apps, especially messaging apps, felt
intentional.

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS_X_Yosemite#Continuity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS_X_Yosemite#Continuity)

------
nemesisj
I've been a Google Voice user for 6-7 years. It became more important to me 5
years ago when I moved to the UK and ported my mobile number to GV.

It's not been very pretty. We were thrown a lifeline with the Google Hangouts
app taking over for the absolutely-awful Google Voice app.

One of the most frustrating things about GV is that for certain SMS providers,
it fails the "is this a USA number test" or "can we SMS to it" test (it's
unclear which), thus making it not work with my USA bank accounts, and I can't
register for Lyft, for example.

I wish they'd fix this, but what I really wish is that they'd make it a real
product, make it cost a few bucks a month, and have a team working on it.

I was actually quite annoyed by the cheeky little "tee hee it's been 5 years +
plus emoji" talking about their total lack of updates (both software, and
well, actual communication around the service). It just comes across as
contempt for the customer. Doubly so when they then throw everything into
confusion at the end of the post by hinting that Hangouts may or may not be
the future, and perhaps we should switch back?

Are there any good alternatives? What I need is to be able to receive texts
from within the USA, be able to access via mobile app and the web, and have
voicemail service.

~~~
xur17
I just ran into the "this isn't a phone number" issue with Telegram this
morning. It claims my Google Voice (well really Project Fi now) number is a
VOIP number, so I can't use it :(.

~~~
LinkDJ
But... it is a VOIP number.

~~~
GauntletWizard
So is literally every phone number in the US for the past ten years. SIP
replaced traditional trunking completely a decade ago. Cellphones have been
using digital backend since 3G (though the voice transmission was still
analog, for some value of analog)

~~~
goatsi
There is a difference between a number managed by a traditional carrier using
VOIP and a number from a free/low cost VOIP provider, especially when you are
using text verification as a anti-spam measure.

>We find that miscreants rampantly abuse free VOIP services to circumvent the
intended cost of acquiring phone numbers, in effect undermining phone
verification. Combined with short lived phone numbers from India and Indonesia
that we suspect are tied to human verification farms, this confluence of
factors correlates with a market-wide price drop of 30-40% for Google PVA
until Google penalized verification from frequently abused carriers

[https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/research.google.c...](https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/research.google.com/en/us/pubs/archive/43134.pdf)

------
27182818284
I like how this story has shot up immediately to the top of Hacker News.
Google Voice is beloved by its users, but Google hasn't shown love for it for
(as they point out) five years. I'm glad to see the update!

So that's lovely, though overall the PMs and VPs need to reconcile all the
apps with each other. A friend recently bought a Pixel Phone and was lost as
to what to use. I mean, I can't blame him...

* Phone's generic looking SMS app

* Hangouts

* Voice

* Allo

* Duo

~~~
izacus
I don't understand what's there to be lost about? Those are separate chat
services? Or is 2017 the year when understanding that e.g. Facebook Messenger,
Duo (video chat), SMS and Hangouts are different services?

~~~
hamandcheese
Suppose we're using Facebook.

How do I send a text? Messenger.

How do I make a call? Messenger.

How do I make a video call? Messenger.

Try answering the same question using Google's services.

~~~
knz
Doesn't Hangouts do all of the above? The icons in Gmail are video chat, add
user, voice chat, and send SMS.

Hangouts on my Nexus 6 has the same options.

Imgur link to screenshot ->
[http://imgur.com/a/vTlqO](http://imgur.com/a/vTlqO)

~~~
losvedir
Hangouts does, but it's impossible to know if we're "supposed" to be using
Hangouts. A year or so ago I received a pop-up in my Hangouts app that Google
recommended I check out Messenger [0]. It also seems to be the currently
recommended option [1] although I don't know why since, as you say, Hangouts
can handle all those scenarios.

This has understandably led to no end of confusion among Fi/Voice users,
including myself. [2][3][4][5]

[0] [http://www.techtimes.com/articles/128591/20160129/google-
ret...](http://www.techtimes.com/articles/128591/20160129/google-retiring-
hangouts-from-sms-latest-update-urges-users-to-download-google-messenger-for-
texts.htm)

[1]
[https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6062495?p=fi_tips&rd=1&...](https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6062495?p=fi_tips&rd=1&vid=0-954754602908-1485206449517)

[2] [https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/project-
fi/eg...](https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/project-
fi/egGFUnQqIYI)

[3] [https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/project-
fi/04...](https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/project-
fi/04N2LWOGE9I)

[4]
[https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/hangouts/AcKr...](https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/hangouts/AcKrfMWLHcs)

[5] [https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/project-
fi/cB...](https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/project-
fi/cBOm3fvhIZI)

~~~
rspeer
Hangouts can't receive MMS without special support from your mobile operator.
Operators such as T-Mobile and... Google Voice... have been known to
insufficiently provide that support.

~~~
shaklee3
All operators have worked fine for over two years. They announced this back
then.

~~~
rspeer
Okay, you can announce that everything is fine, but it just ain't so. I missed
MMS messages on T-Mobile in 2016.

Google's suggested solution, besides twiddling cellular network settings and
asking your friends to keep texting you until it works, is to stop using
Hangouts [1].

[1]
[https://support.google.com/hangouts/answer/6318464?hl=en](https://support.google.com/hangouts/answer/6318464?hl=en)

~~~
shaklee3
I believe you, but it's something that isn't quite as easy to compare anymore.
I have a friend with an iPhone on verizon that has missed MMS or found it
delayed by days. GV is easier to blame usually since it's different than other
services.

------
mevile
Google's never ending iteration of messaging products comes across as
schizophrenic. They have no focus, no discipline, no willingness to stick with
an existing solution. I actually want them to just leave GV alone since it
just works for me and now that they've turned this into a messaging product I
know its days are numbered.

It's like maybe I'm thinking I should now move away from GV because their
executive team has shined their spotlight on it, unearthed a working service
and will now exploit it for their own professional benefit, sucking the value
out of it to achieve personal career advancements leaving users in the dust
once it all falls apart and the next iteration begins.

My phone number isn't a product that's ripe for Google-style innovation. I
value stability and want to depend on it. I'm really unhappy about all this.

~~~
komali2
I don't understand why they did this. I have used Voice as my primary number
for maybe 5 years now. Hangouts was working fine with it. Now I need to decide
between using hangouts or google voice? Honestly google, what the fuck.

~~~
xales
Hangouts is now being marketed as a business product, they'll probably take it
away from non-org accounts soon enough; perhaps this is the alternative.

~~~
rconti
I have literally no idea what products Google has in this space. I think I've
used all or most of them, but they keep changing names, apps browser
integration, etc.

Google still insists on using their terrible app-in-a-browser UI for
everything (what do you think I have a window manager for??), the various
extensions and plugins are inevitably crap, and the feature set is lacking. I
can't mute a conversation on a specific device, I can't schedule when I'm on
hangouts.. it's just a pain, so I leave my phone signed out even though we use
hangouts at work.

------
tgb
Just to add a counterpoint, I've been using Google Voice for, I think, 7
years. I've never had any issues with it and the lack of updates always felt
like "don't fix what isn't broken." It's gotten slowly better and better with
the Hangouts app. I never really needed anything more complicated than texts
and voice, but the transcribed voicemail is a godsend.

~~~
rch
I had the same positive experience until I got a Nexus 6P and decided to try
Fi (living in a remote area w/ only wi-fi). The new phone and services were
outright hostile to Voice, so I created a new number and left voice alone.
Really glad I did, but it will probably be a year before I start handing out
the voice number again.

~~~
sjs382
I've been using it for at least 6 years and have had a very positive
experience. It's been a set-it-and-never-think-about-it experience for the
most part.

I think I avoided the issues that you have just do to a nice (accidental)
little quirk, though.

I have my Google Voice account associated with my (grandfathered-in) G-Suite
address, and Project Fi only allows you to sign up wiht a Gmail address.
Therefore, I was able to port my old Verizon number to my @gmail address
(which rarely gets used) that's associated with Project Fi and keep my GVoice
number where it was, at my G-Suite address.

So I'm currently using my Nexus 5X on Project Fi with both my carrier number
(which I've had for probably 15 years now) and with my GVoice number (which
I've had for 6+).

------
Animats
Google didn't "introduce Google Voice" years ago. They bought Grand Central
and rebranded the service.

If H.R. 460 passes (unlikely), Google may have to become a real telephony
provider, with service standards.[1]

[1] [https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-
bill/460/...](https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-
bill/460/text?r=460)

------
accountface
First they pushed me to Hangouts from Voice and now they're telling me Voice
will be updated more often and I should switch from Hangouts? Also that one
time you tried to get me to switch to Allo?

Get your shit together Google.

~~~
pixie_
Same here. They pushed me from voice to hangouts for all the group SMS and MMS
support. So now I have some chat history in voice and some in hangouts which
is impossible to search through unlike with voice. Now they want me to go back
to voice.

What the hell is going on at Google? Is there anyone with an actual strategy
for anything? I thought about getting Google Fi, but right on their page they
said if you move from Voice to Fi you can't go back.

I would easily pay $5 a month or more for a company that could give me a
single number and not be terrible. I think if Google actually charged for a
lot of their free stuff it wouldn't be so shit/never updated/abandoned/etc.. -
like an Amazon Prime type thing.

~~~
saurik
There are tons of companies in this space; have you considered actually doing
the "pay for the service" plan and evaluate these options? What did they not
do that you wanted?

~~~
frankydp
I search for a replacement every year. I have never found a near competitor.
Vonage used to have a desktop app that was at least in the ballpark, but they
dropped support years ago.

Feature set: _Voicemail integration with carrier

_ Voicemail to Text with notifications

Voicemail specific to groups

Desktop app/Browser plugin

Web message interface

Mobile App

Long distance

International voice and text

MMS

Group

Forwarding

------
stormbeta
I wish Google would make up their minds.

They kept pushing Hangouts, and right when it was actually somewhat usable and
represented a unified interface to messaging, they started abandoning it and
trying to fragment the functionality off into separate apps again.

I'll continue to use GV, but Google's track record of confusing moves in this
space guarantees I will always keep it as a separate number. It's still very
useful like that, since it allows me to text and call from any device or
service.

------
hackcrafter
The killer feature I still keep Google Voice around for is transcription of
voicemail sent to your inbox, even for direct calls to your cell (non GV #).

I stopped giving out my GV number, but you can set up your Verizon cell phone
to use Google Voice as your voice mail service, and I love getting
transcriptions to my email inbox of missed phone calls!

The app update is welcome, as you still have to use the app to listen to the
voice message on the rare occasion when the transcription didn't pick it up.

~~~
nol13
Same, don't want any of the other functionality but sure hope they don't mess
this up.

------
mynameisvlad
So, is this the death of Hangouts and rebirth of Google Voice then? They had
previously been transitioning the UX off of GV and onto Hangouts.

~~~
jfoster
It's absurd that consumers are left guessing which of Google's services are
around for the long-haul and which are doomed.

There was a time when success was the default outcome for a new Google
product/service. Now it's the opposite, and the crazy thing is that Google did
it to themselves.

~~~
jitl
Exactly. Where does this leave Allo? Is GVoice + Allo the intended product
combination?

~~~
jjawssd
Nothing is certain. There is competition among internal Google teams to get
the attention of the top execs but there is zero clear vision.

Google is a mess. I can't trust it.

~~~
remir
The question is: what are these top execs thinking?

------
lutorm
"One number for life" ... unless of course you want to use our other service,
Google Fi, in which case you will be forced to relinquish it. No improvements
on that small problem, it seems.

~~~
colechristensen
You can port your number from Voice to Fi, you just can't use both on the same
account.

~~~
lutorm
Exactly. But, as I understand it, you can't port your Fi number back to Voice
if you decide you don't want Fi.

~~~
Ajedi32
You can. It's incredibly easy, too:
[https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6079398?hl=en](https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6079398?hl=en)

~~~
drewg123
From the page you reference, it says that it may not be possible to port a
number back to GV. Eg:

"Can't transfer Google Voice number If you don’t see the option to transfer
your number to Google Voice, it’s likely because Google Voice no longer
supports this number or numbers in this area.

Google Voice’s number availability changes regularly, so even if your number
was previously on Google Voice, it can’t always be transferred back. If you’d
like to keep this number, we recommend transferring it to another carrier that
supports it."

This is what keeps my from signing up.

------
morgante
I'm really happy they're showing Google Voice some love.

It's certainly been neglected over the years, but despite that I've stuck with
it (all the way since the GrandCentral days) because the alternative is so
much worse. I've changed phone providers numerous times and also travel
internationally: the fact that each of these moves would've otherwise required
either complex number porting or letting people know about my new number is
enough to make me put up with Google Voice's inadequacies. Plus, I love being
able to manage SMS from my computer, just like it's another inbox.

I hope they're serious about maintaining and updating GV going forward. It's
conceptually essential.

~~~
panda88888
Hi, sounds like you have experience with Google voice and international
numbers. I haven't tried in a long time, but does google voice support
forwarding to international number?

~~~
morgante
I've never tried, since when I'm traveling internationally I always have data
and just use the Hangouts app. The important part is it's totally seamless:
contacts don't need to know I'm traveling and I avoid any huge roaming fees.

~~~
panda88888
Got it. Thanks.

------
joecool1029
Oh great, announce the fucking update that may or may not come this week. They
already leaked a banner some weeks ago by accident that linked nowhere.
Meanwhile I'm pulling in the 6th update in two months on T-Mobile DIGITS,
which will hopefully be the service to replace Google Voice. Oh, and when
DIGITS has bugs I can pick up the phone and speak to a person, get it assigned
and fixed.

It's been around 3 years since Google started to scare all its users into
thinking Voice would be shut down or merged with another service.

I need a working commercial solution and I don't mind paying for it. I'm sick
of Google halfassing every product they work on that isn't Search or AdWords.

------
mmanfrin
Voice, Hangouts, Messenger, Allo, Duo.

Which one should I use, Google, for fuck's sake.

~~~
remir
I'd say Messenger, because of SMS which is everywhere but also its
compatibility with RCS. Of course, your carrier must support RCS, but most of
them will eventually.

~~~
Andrex
Voice is also confirmed to support RCS in a near-term update. Will be exciting
when the happens.

------
xd1936
My main number is in Google Voice, and has been since 2010. I've lived every
day in fear that they would 'spring clean' the product, like they did for
Google Reader.

I'm just happy to see a commitment to the product, and to future updates.
There really isn't anything else like it out there. I love it.

~~~
tomcam
This week, anyway!

------
CodeSheikh
Long time coming! I use Google voice very often to make international calls (I
was a Grand Central subscriber before Google acquired them). Their iOS app was
just a design nightmare (ios 6 UI aesthetics). Functionality of the app was
also limited. Setting section of the app was just passive, you can't change
much and you have to login ona desktop version.

I am not going to lie but as a Google Voice customer for a long time, I am
very disappointed with this update. It is just a design change and I hope they
will roll out several new features slowly.

For example I still would like them to add a feature where I can add credit to
my Google Voice account through the phone app.

Among the top three features they have listed as new in the blog post, I feel
like that those functionalities already exist on the current iOs app. Lets
see.

1: Easily check messages, calls and voicemail(s)

Already there. Using the same top left corner main menu.

2: Keep in touch with group messages

This already exists as well. You can start message threads with multiple
people. Except the media support I guess.

3: Save time with transcribed voicemail

This feature is already available. In current version, go to Menu -> Voicemail
and you will see transcribed messages in your inbox.

I am honestly very confused if this just a teaser in to what is about to
become a major project within Google or just a marketing team being busy.

------
philip1209
As a current Fi user and former Voice user, I'm still unclear on the
relationship between the two. Hangouts for Mac still rings when I get a phone
call, but I can't answer the call.

~~~
beambot
Not sure if this is still the case... but Google Voice cannot forward calls to
any Fi numbers. So if (for example) your business uses Google Voice to route
calls for customer service, you will not be able to receive them. This was an
unpleasant little "feature" when we made the switch to Fi.

~~~
philip1209
Uber Eats thinks that my former Voice number (now Fi number) is not a real
cell number, so it does not let me order. After repeated support tickets, they
still assert that it's a virtual number and will not let me order.

~~~
beambot
Voice & Fi numbers are considered "call forwarders." Call forwarders are not
allowed (legally?) to forward numbers to other call forwarders. Hence the
issues between Voice & Fi. This might be the same issue with Uber Eats.

~~~
prodigal_erik
Makes me wonder whether they launched Fi to get their pool of phone numbers
un-blacklisted because now some people have only that number and no others.

------
frankydp
I am glad that I am not the only person that saw this headline and thought "OH
NO" they remembered GV is still running. Updates on older services seem to be
the kiss of death at Google. Lets spend a little money on an update, if it
doesn't grow like (insert cool new thing) kill it.

Internal investment in any established Google service seems to be a liability
not a benefit, when all of a sudden the balance sheet is worse.

------
MrMetlHed
Why didn't they just improve Hangouts? I don't know anyone that uses Allo and
as far as I know there's no desktop client. I linked Voice to Hangouts so I
could get all of my messages in one app on both my phone and within gmail. Now
it seems like they want me to split everything up between 3 apps (Voice for
SMS, Allo for chat on mobile, and Hangouts for chat on my computer) that fewer
and fewer people are using.

Why on earth didn't they just improve Hangouts?

~~~
brianjking
I'm a Voice and Hangouts user that would love to use Allo. Well, actually, let
me rephrase - I'd love to have Hangouts have Allo's features such as the
Google Assistant integration and emoji. Allo just added to the segmentation
mess that is Google Messaging, who knows what is going on anymore.

------
altometer
Can we just get them to stop screwing with all the different services? I have
tried for years to use Google apps as my main communication routes, but their
reliability is a joke.

My wife just texted me, "Hey, I got two calls today that went straight to
voicemail?" I switched her to google voice a month ago, and it generally
works. Stuff like this, the syncing issues with their messenger platforms,
delayed or randomly missed messages, are just not acceptable.

------
abrodersen
There has always been a lot of uncertainty over the future of Google Voice,
given the lack of updates. While this does give reassurance that the project
is still alive, it puts another nail in the Hangouts coffin. It was widely
assumed Hangouts would subsume Google Voice, but now that looks very unlikely.

~~~
scrollaway
But really? I live in Europe and I'm still not able to order a Google Voice
number... and god damn, I tried. I move between countries very regularly,
having a single international number would be fantastic.

I've essentially stopped using hangouts anyway. Everybody I talked to on there
is on Discord now ([https://discordapp.com/](https://discordapp.com/)).
Screenshare and video calls coming soon to it too, at which point I'll
permanently log off Hangouts. If I'm going to use a proprietary system, it
might as well not suck.

------
akhilcacharya
> If you currently use Hangouts for your Google Voice communication, there’s
> no need to change to the new apps, but you might want to try them out as we
> continue to bring new improvements.

Oh dear. And here I thought that Voice was just abandoned.

~~~
komali2
I wish. Now Google is aware of it again, it'll be gone within a year.

------
SwellJoe
Google has kinda proven themselves untrustworthy when it comes to relying on
their services; sometimes, they just kill products off. That'd really suck for
a phone number.

Nonetheless, I find Google Voice so valuable that I overlooked the potential
hassle of it going away. It's just amazingly convenient to get my texts on my
computer, tablet, and phone. It's so nice to get voicemails transcribed and in
my inbox...I hate making phone calls and I hate listening to voicemail.

So, for all of Google's long neglect of the product, I don't know of anything
as good, even among products that cost money. So, I'm not gonna trash talk
them now, after they've finally done an update and exhibited some evidence
that the product has a future. I'm just glad they seem to plan to keep it
alive.

And, for all of Google's neglect of the product, it is still the Google
product I recommend more than any other (I think). I may use GMail/Inbox more
often, and I may interact with more people via Docs/Drive, but so few people
know about Google Voice that I end up recommending it a lot more than anything
else.

------
tapsboy
So in the brand new blog post, they link to this page:
[https://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html](https://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html)

When you click around, you get to see icons and screenshots from a bygone era

~~~
rconti
That's fantastic.

[https://www.google.com/googlevoice/images/sms-to-
email.gif](https://www.google.com/googlevoice/images/sms-to-email.gif)

------
Analemma_
Somebody stop Mr. Google's-Communication-Strategy Wild Ride, I want to get
off.

------
jdeibele
Google Voice is GREAT for non-profits. For my son's Cub Scout Pack and my
kids' soccer club I paid the money to get permanent numbers for them both.

Now they each have a permanent number that goes just to voicemail. The
messages are transcribed, sent to a gmail account set up for just that number
and then forwarded to the people that need to receive it.

Personally, I have a lot less trust in any organization that won't put a phone
number on their website. But I also understand why people aren't anxious to
give out their own cell or home phones.

PS: It was $20 for one (because I transferred a number) and $30 for the other
(because I requested a second number). The gmail accounts are free. It takes
some knowledge to make this happen but it's a much better deal than
$9.95/month to a voicemail provider.

------
joshmn
Google Voice has been a life saver to me in more ways than one.

I have Sprint, which integrates with Google Voice so I can use my Sprint
number on Google Voice, with all my texts and all my calls sitting nicely in
Google Voice. I have the Google Voice Chrome extension installed, which allows
me to tell my girlfriend I'm still at work whenever she texts me, allowing me
to maintain some sort of focus for the next 9 minutes until she texts me
again.

------
bsharitt
I guess I can unlink from hangouts and go back to Google Voice? I've basically
stopped using my Google Voice number(but keep it around because people still
had that number) because the future seemed so uncertain.

------
CPLX
It doesn't appear to actually have changed in the iOS app store as of this
writing.

~~~
hobarrera
The web app is also still the same.

------
bearcobra
Anyone know of a decent self-hosted alternative? I ported my number to Voice
after I moved from the states, but have been frustrated by the lack of support
up until now. I tried running something similar with Twilio and openvbx, but
that project seems to have been pretty much abandoned.

------
xur17
I'm very curious to see if Project Fi gets some of these upgrades as well
since it currently uses parts of the Google Voice integration, especially the
integration into Hangouts.

~~~
pspeter3
Yeah, I'm really unclear what the relationship with Fi is since I use Hangouts
for everything. I wish there was more clarity.

------
codebook
As a Fi user (and the number was used from Google Voice), still Fi/Google
Voice has problem that the phone doesn't ring even the call goes to Voicemail.
Phone has no 'missed call' and suddenly voicemail is received.

This issue has been addressed a few years ago but still they never give any
option to extend ringing time. What a poor service.

~~~
stuckagain
I think this is an Android problem and not specific to Fi. On Android when the
phone rings every process on the device absolutely freaks out.

THE PHONE IS RINGING OMG OMG INTERPROCESS MESSAGE BUS TRAFFIC!!!!!!1111111ONE

The process that plays the sound that rings your phone is just another process
fighting it out with all the other ones for CPU time. Sometimes it loses.

~~~
codebook
Even Android shows slow responses, the problem of Fi is that the ringing time
is just TOO short. really short. maybe 15 seconds in total? So if my phone
tries to connect wireless between TMO and SPRINT, it has really high chance to
drop the call without any notice.

And Fi doesn't give any option to change ringing time. :(

------
justabystander
I still use GV, but it's been frustrating. I stuck with the actual voice app
as long as I could manage, but Google was making it _really_ difficult to
avoid using Hangouts. As in, there were features you wouldn't get if you
didn't switch. Post-switch, MMS and group texts mostly work (although it still
fails whenever someone tries to send me a phone contact). Prior to the switch,
MMS showed up as emails and it was annoying. They worked really hard to make
it inconvenient outside of Hangouts.

But, of course, the web and phone versions of hangouts have serious UX
problems because it's a chat app first and a SMS/MMS app second. Instead of
directly searching for people in the messaging, which will give me 2nd-degree
contacts I've never spoken with instead of my actual google contacts with
phone numbers, I search through the phone call interface and click the SMS
button. On the phone, it tries its hardest to hide the SMS functionality
behind Hangouts. And of course, Hangouts is less popular since they gutted
that product. They need to stop their forced upgrade attempts. And incoming GV
phone calls only show up in the Phone app's history, while outgoing only show
in Hangouts. Not to mention how utterly difficult it is to search just GV
SMS/voicemail history now. It's like they rounded up every stoned-useless
intern they could and told them to break the product.

Also, I'd much rather they build their feature set around an API than around
apps. They've already proven they have no idea on how to manage apps. I'd
rather just have an API we can build against and use. Or even just treat GV as
a SIP number that we connect to. I could build myself a pretty sweet
SMS/VoiceXML gateway app for routing my calls. But depending on Google to not
ruin things is kind of a lost cause at this point.

Free, carrier-agnostic web SMS should be an international thing, as long as
it's not abused. And that ideal is probably one of the main reasons I stick
with it.

------
niftich
A timeline of Google's messaging rivalry with Facebook. Original inspiration
from source [23], enhanced and corrected from [33]:

\- 2006-02-07: Google Talk integration inside Gmail goes live [35]

\- 2006-09-26: Facebook opens up to everyone (not just colleges) [36]

\- 2007-02-14: (corrected date) Gmail opens up to everyone (not just invite-
only) [37]

\- 2008-04-06: Facebook chat goes live [34]

\- 2008-07-11: iOS App Store launches [38]

\- 2008-08-26: Facebook hits 100 million active users [24]

\- 2008-09-23: Android 1.0 launches [39]

\- 2008-11-11: Google Talk introduces voice and video calling [40]

\- 2009-03-11: Google buys GrandCentral, launches Google Voice [1]

\- 2009-04-08: Facebook hits 200 million active users [25]

\- 2009-06: iOS gets push notifications [42]

\- 2009-06-25: Google Voice invitations being serviced [2]

\- 2009-09-15: Facebook hits 300 million active users [26]

\- 2010-02-04: Facebook hits 400 million active users [27]

\- 2010-05-20: Android gets push notifications [41]

\- 2010-06-21: FaceTime released with iOS 4 [43]

\- 2010-06-22: Google Voice opens up invite-free to everyone in the US [3]

\- 2010-07-21: Facebook hits 500 million active users [28]

\- 2011-01-05: Facebook hits 600 million active users [29]

\- 2011-05-30: Facebook probably hits around 700 million active users [30]

\- 2011-06-28: Google+ launches, with text chat "+Messenger" and video chat
"+Hangouts" [4]

\- 2011-07-06: Facebook introduces video calling powered by Skype behind-the-
scenes, needs installation [5]

\- 2011-08-09: Facebook introduces Messenger app [6]

\- 2011-09-22: Facebook hits 800 million active users [31]

\- 2011-10-12: iMessage released with iOS 5

\- 2012-04-23: Facebook hits 900 million active users [32]

\- 2012-09-20: Facebook tries SMS sending from Messenger [7]

\- 2013-04-17: Wired editorial on "Will Google Hang Up on Voice?" [8]

\- 2013-05-15: Google launches 'Google Hangouts', which subsumes Google Talk,
Google+ Messenger, Google+ Hangouts [9]

\- 2013-10-29: Facebook discontinues send-SMS support in Messenger, sends
Messenger message instead [10]

\- 2013-10-29: Google Hangouts Android App gets SMS handler support [11]

\- 2014-02-19: Facebook announces it will acquire WhatsApp [12]

\- 2014-04-09: Facebook removes chat from its main app, forces people to use
Messenger [13]

\- 2014-09-11: Google Hangouts gets Google Voice integration [14]

\- 2015-03-25: Facebook announces Messenger Platform for business, bot, and ad
integration [15]

\- 2015-04-27: Facebook Messenger gets native video calling [16]

\- 2016-01-27: Hangouts 7.0 asks users to use Google Messenger for SMS instead
[17]

\- 2016-06-14: Facebook Messenger gets Android SMS handler support [18]

\- 2016-07-13: Hangouts 11.0 removes support for merged conversations [19]

\- 2016-08-16: Google releases Duo [20]

\- 2016-09-21: Google releases Allo [21]

\- 2016-10-07: Duo is replacing Hangouts in the base Android install [22]

\- 2017-01-23: Google launches rebooted Google Voice app, with Hangouts-like
UI

[1] [https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/here-comes-google-
vo...](https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/here-comes-google-voice.html)
[2] [https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/google-voice-
invites...](https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/google-voice-invites-on-
their-way.html) [3] [http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/google-voice-
for...](http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/google-voice-for-
everyone.html) [4] [https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/introducing-
google-p...](https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/introducing-google-
project-real-life.html) [5] [https://www.facebook.com/notes/philip-
su/building-video-call...](https://www.facebook.com/notes/philip-su/building-
video-calling/10150229123673920) [6]
[https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2011/08/a-faster-way-to-
message...](https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2011/08/a-faster-way-to-message-on-
mobile/) [7] [https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/20/facebook-android-update-
yo...](https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/20/facebook-android-update-you-can-now-
text-using-facebook-messenger-messages-section-redesigned/) [8]
[https://www.wired.com/2013/04/google-voice-future-
uncertain/](https://www.wired.com/2013/04/google-voice-future-uncertain/) [9]
[http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/15/4318830/inside-hangouts-
go...](http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/15/4318830/inside-hangouts-googles-big-
fix-for-its-messaging-mess) [10] [https://techcrunch.com/2013/10/29/facebook-
messenger-phone-n...](https://techcrunch.com/2013/10/29/facebook-messenger-
phone-number/) [11] [http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/09/google-hangouts-
gets-...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/09/google-hangouts-gets-a-huge-
update-including-google-voice-integration/) [12]
[http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/02/facebook-to-acquire-
what...](http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/02/facebook-to-acquire-whatsapp/)
[13] [https://techcrunch.com/2014/04/09/facebook-messenger-or-
the-...](https://techcrunch.com/2014/04/09/facebook-messenger-or-the-highway/)
[14] [http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/09/google-hangouts-
gets-...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/09/google-hangouts-gets-a-huge-
update-including-google-voice-integration/) [15]
[https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2015/03/25/introdu...](https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2015/03/25/introducing-
messenger-platform-and-businesses-on-messenger/) [16]
[http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/04/introducing-video-
callin...](http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/04/introducing-video-calling-in-
messenger/) [17] [http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/01/google-
hangouts-7-0-f...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/01/google-
hangouts-7-0-for-android-asks-users-to-stop-using-it-for-sms/) [18]
[https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/14/facebook-messenger-
texting...](https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/14/facebook-messenger-texting/)
[19] [http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/07/google-hangouts-
for-a...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/07/google-hangouts-for-android-
removes-merged-sms-conversations-adds-video/) [20]
[https://blog.google/products/duo/meet-google-duo-
simple-1-to...](https://blog.google/products/duo/meet-google-duo-
simple-1-to-1-video/) [21] [https://blog.google/products/allo/google-allo-
smarter-messag...](https://blog.google/products/allo/google-allo-smarter-
messaging-app/) [22] [http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/7/13202866/google-
hangouts-a...](http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/7/13202866/google-hangouts-
allo-duo-core-android-apps) [23]
[http://www.whoishostingthis.com/blog/2014/10/22/instant-
mess...](http://www.whoishostingthis.com/blog/2014/10/22/instant-messengers/)
[24] [https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/our-
first-100-millio...](https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/our-
first-100-million/28111272130/) [25]
[https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/200-million-
strong/7...](https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/200-million-
strong/72353897130/) [26]
[https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/300-million-and-
on/1...](https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/300-million-and-
on/136782277130/) [27]
[http://web.archive.org/web/20100212075226/http://blog.facebo...](http://web.archive.org/web/20100212075226/http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=287542162130)
[28]
[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/jul/21/facebook-...](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/jul/21/facebook-500-million-
users) [29] [http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-has-more-
than-600-mi...](http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-has-more-
than-600-million-users-goldman-tells-clients-2011-1) [30]
[http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/facebook-
nears-700-mil...](http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/facebook-
nears-700-million-users-132116) [31]
[http://mashable.com/2011/09/22/facebook-800-million-
users/](http://mashable.com/2011/09/22/facebook-800-million-users/) [32]
[http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/23/technology/facebook-q1/](http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/23/technology/facebook-q1/)
[33]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11114518](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11114518)
[34] [https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/facebook-chat-now-
we...](https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/facebook-chat-now-were-
talking/12811122130/) [35] [https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/chat-
email-crazy-del...](https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/chat-email-crazy-
delicious.html) [36] [https://techcrunch.com/2006/09/26/facebook-just-
launched-ope...](https://techcrunch.com/2006/09/26/facebook-just-launched-
open-registrations/) [37] [https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/from-gmail-
with-3.ht...](https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/from-gmail-with-3.html)
[38] [http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/06/09Apple-
Introduces-t...](http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/06/09Apple-Introduces-
the-New-iPhone-3G.html) [39] [https://android-
developers.googleblog.com/2008/09/announcing...](https://android-
developers.googleblog.com/2008/09/announcing-android-10-sdk-release-1.html)
[40] [https://gmail.googleblog.com/2008/11/say-hello-to-gmail-
voic...](https://gmail.googleblog.com/2008/11/say-hello-to-gmail-voice-and-
video-chat.html) [41] [https://blog.serverdensity.com/android-push-
notifications-tu...](https://blog.serverdensity.com/android-push-
notifications-tutorial/) [42] [https://www.urbanairship.com/push-
notifications-explained](https://www.urbanairship.com/push-notifications-
explained) [43]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20100609163523/http://www.engadg...](https://web.archive.org/web/20100609163523/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/facetime-
video-calling-added-to-iphone-4)

~~~
arkitaip
Your search is hella impressive. Sure you're not working on the next Google
Search competitor...?

------
alecsmart1
Am very confused. Only after reading the comments I've realised that you can
link Google Voice to Hangouts and answer calls there. Till now I had no idea
how to answer calls on iOS as the Google Voice iOS app is of no use. I wish
there was a clear strategy and use case for each messaging app available from
Google.

------
divbit
Nice - google voice is the one google service I use consistently. One thing
that I think could improve it would be a usable / documented API or something
like federation with other messenger services - could probably get by with a
rate-limited outbound endpoint which starts one of the e-mail conversations
you get when using the 'forward to e-mail' option. I wrote myself a google
voice app at one point and wasn't able to get something non-hacky working- it
feels a little bit like the current service locks one to android / ios,
whereas some of their competing messenger services (e.g. messenger / skype /
whatsapp) also work on windows platforms- not everyone uses that, but I think
it's good to have freedom of choice of hardware.

------
rw2
Google voice could have replaced twilio if they just got an api up. Years
later, still no api.

------
jrowley
This is very confusing.

------
julbaxter
Still no support for Canada?

~~~
michaelmior
I believe this is due to regulatory issues with the CRTC. Skype also has this
problem when it comes to offering Skype Numbers for Canada.

------
vnchr
In the past 4 years, there have been 7 updates to the iOS Google Voice app. As
a long-time user (since the Grand Central acquisition), this is very
encouraging news.

------
protomyth
Did they ever stop blocking certain phone numbers[1]?

Since they block a tribal community college, they are on my "not happy" list.
I surely hope no recruiter uses Google Voice if this is still true.

1) [http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/10/google-voice-
were...](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/10/google-voice-were-not-
serving-high-cost-destinations/)

------
arrowgunz
I've been a Google Voice user since 2009, when it was initially launched. I
absolutely love the product. It is perhaps the only Google product, beside
Gmail, that I have been using on a daily basis since the past ~8 years.
Initially I only used it for its voicemail functionality and later started
using it as my secondary phone number and for international calling (Google
Voice's international calling pricing is decent).

All these years, even though the product has had an outdated UI, I didn't mind
using it, since, it has been functional and served it's purpose. Now that
Google is starting to invest more resources into Google Voice, my only hope is
that they don't kill any of the existing wonderful features. I love the
product and it would be awesome if they don't add any kind of "social" aspect
to a very functional and useful product.

I haven't received the iOS update yet, but, I'm really looking forward to it.

------
withdavidli
They really blew it. Like many, I used GV cause I didn't want to pay for text
messaging back in the day. I also was able to get a good number that spelled
out a phrase relating to the profession I'm in.

But after all 5 years, no group messaging... seriously. No MMS, went to email
in an attachment. Remember back in 2011 there was a month where all my texts
received were delayed by hours. When I heard they were concentrating on
Hangouts instead I didn't understand why they kept GV around. It should have
belonged in their graveyard. Now they're reviving it? Got the unlimited
T-Mobile plan, and so many people have free texting now bundled into their
plans. I've been using FB Messenger now as my main text program for years.

Google blew this, but granted I would have never guessed text messaging would
have gotten this big. My bet would have been on Video Calls.

------
reitanqild
The writing os more like the old google, frlm the top of my mind from the
google desktop search click through ten years ago: "read carefully, this is
not the normal yadda yadda".

I hope hope hope that we can get old google back. I used to be a fanboy back
in tje day but they have made a decent effort to get rid of us over the last
ten years. For me it has been the breaking of blogger (bad js + redirect to
country specific domain), tasteless heavy pushing of Chrome, making Android
closed, killing gds, still pretending Europeans are less worth than Americans
(actually we never got access to google voice).

Theres a lot of stuff that could need old google like social networks (google+
is wonderful but few uses it), communication (I was a walking billboard for
Whatsapp, but they sold out to Facebook and Facebook went ahead to confirm all
our scepticism as valid) etc etc.

------
spilk
I've been using Google Voice since before it was Google Voice (it was called
GrandCentral before Google acquired it). I've been fearing that Google was
going to silently kill it constantly because of the lack of attention. Guess
this means it's going to stick around for a while longer.

------
saycheese
Anyone able to confirm the iOS Google Voice app was updated in 2017?

[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-
voice/id318698524?&ct...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-
voice/id318698524?&ct=keyword_voice&mt=8)

~~~
xd1936
> We’re starting to roll out these updates today, and they’ll be available to
> everyone in the coming weeks.

------
awiesen
If you'd like to better understand the background behind the new Google Voice
apps, check out my G+ post here.

[https://plus.google.com/+AlexWiesen/posts/EEVjRbbKz65](https://plus.google.com/+AlexWiesen/posts/EEVjRbbKz65)

~~~
stickfigure
Note to HN readers: This is a Google Voice team member providing some
background information on how the new apps came about.

------
tlow
You know what this is? This is an attempt to cover their asses for forcing G+
that nobody wanted. I refused to ever signup for Google Plus and was excluded
from Hangouts for a longtime and thus even though hangouts supported Google
Voice MMS sending and receiving, that could only be done in hangouts which
could only be accessed via a G+ account. That restriction was lifted and now
they're bringing features they were witholding for G+ signups to GVoice b/c
nobody likes G+.

Edit update: This is similar to forcing sign in on maps (via dark ux) and
search (for cross device attribution, ie squeezing more $ out of you, not
providing a better service).

------
memco
Great and timely news for me. I have been very disappointed with the iOS apps
since upgrading to new high-res devices. The UI, the inability to search
message history and the discontinuity of conversations were all pain points
that had me in the past week considering whether I would pursue something like
twilio + a self-hosted app or just give up on the niceties of web access to
all my messages. That, and the fact that Apple now has messaging and call
support (albeit only to other Apple devices seems to work for me) means that
GV has been losing value and appreciation steadily. Looks like I'll be keeping
it around a little longer.

------
dannyrosen
There's someone very high up at Google who believes that Google can disrupt
telephony. Fi and the lifeline of Voice are proof of this.

The fact that this project got refunded is also a tell that Google finds value
in Voice (maybe). The question I'd ask is what value is it that they see? A
couple of thoughts:

* Move voice users out of Hangouts to reduce users of the monolith.

* Test the current user bases' interest in updates - maybe there's something bigger brewing and this update is an experiment to learn about user habits.

* Create a pipeline program to covert users to Fi.

* Release work done over the holiday vacation that was cheap enough / good enough to release.

~~~
usaphp
I wanted to switch to Fi many times, but I have an iPhone and when you use Fi
on iPhone, only t-mobile network is accessible and they don't have an app for
iOS like they do for android.

------
jdeibele
Google Voice has been awesome for us with a little Obihai box. I use it every
day to check on my mom (who has medical issues) and we have glitches
occasionally but they are almost always cleared up by re-dialing.

It let us replace our $40/month CenturyLink landline (including taxes and
caller ID) with a one-time purchase of the Obihai box ($40 on special) and the
$20 porting fee to make the number permanent with Google Voice.

Our school district uses automated phone calls. Having Google Voice answer
them, transcribe them, and send them to both me and my wife has been awesome.

------
daveloyall
Over the years, I have sent the GV team various strongly worded reminders of
the promises they made me.

Personally, I choose to interpret these updates as a their response to me.
Finally!

Thanks for making good, big G. Keep it up.

------
quantumpotato_
Bug: (where do I report this?) Number A, Number B. A receives text. "B" is set
as my default but I see A's message in my inbox. I reply. The reply is sent
from "B".

------
peterwwillis
Am I the only person here who is happy with Google Voice?

The whole point of GV has always been to be a free PSTN<->VOIP gateway. That's
a very valuable feature by itself. AFAIK, only FreedomPop offer mostly the
same functionality for free (though not unlimited). Aside from carrier issues,
I haven't had any problems with GV.

It just works, it's very useful and it's free. I'm happy with it, and I hope
they improve the existing functionality before they add features.

------
ikeboy
Someone remind me again why Google Voice and Google Hangouts co-exist? I'm
sure there was an amazing answer that got lost in the margin of my brain,
anyone remember?

------
hobarrera
Looks like the iOS app is only available inf you're in the US - even if you've
already enabled and used google voice on the web (or on a different device).

------
hendersoon
Oh thank GOD. I live in terror that Google will kill Voice. I _live_ in Voice.
I dread that day.

Instead, they release updated apps... this is about killing _Hangouts_, which
I don't particularly care about. Whew!!

Honestly, I would be _ecstatic_ if Google started charging for Voice.
$1/month, $12/year seems about right. I want confidence the service is going
to be around for years to come.

Also, ios10 call integration would be very sweet. Hopefully this new update
has it.

------
apeace
Wow, what a shocker! I used GV for _years_ as my primary number, but had to
stop recently because the apps were so terrible.

Something else I hope they've fixed: many web sites could not send SMS to GV
numbers. For example my Chase bank account. I could never get a text code to
login with a new device, so had to use email to verify instead. I experienced
probably a dozen services that could not send to GV.

Refresh looks great! Can't wait to try it out.

------
nagarjun
Has anyone been migrated to the new web version? I still see the old interface
and it looks like the Indian Play Store hasn't received the new app either.

------
midnitewarrior
Fool me once Google Voice...

------
nialv7
The fear that Google Voice would be cancelled soon has always been in me.
(There apps hadn't been updated for a long time).

This news is a relief.

------
altendo
I'm actually surprised at the dearth of updates. The cleaner interface is nice
for sure, and transcription in Spanish is great (yay internationalization!),
but the post is underwhelming overall. There's just vague messaging about
future updates. Was hoping for more of a splash (and better app store
availability, based on some comments here).

------
vowelless
Are there alternatives to Google Voice? I am looking for a phone number, web
based interface for sms, vm, etc.

------
JustSomeNobody
If anyone has received the update on their iPhone, can you say whether or not
it now supports CallKit?

~~~
cva
The Google Voice app is not a VOIP app (it just makes and receives regular
phone calls), so I'm not sure how it would integrate with CallKit

~~~
hendersoon
It could, as Google allows VOIP calls with the Hangouts app and gmail website.
I hope they add this functionality too.

------
cft
If someone from Google is reading this: there's a need for a business version,
that has paid features: multiple lines with a single number ( "press 1 to talk
to billing, press 2 to talk to support"), multiple numbers tied to one
account, etc.

~~~
nickyman
[http://www.dialpad.com](http://www.dialpad.com)

------
Xunxi
I have the old google voice app as well as a google voice number, granted MMS
didnt work but other features such as spam filtering is the reason I adopted
for official use. I routed 2 numbers to each (landline) account and havent
looked back

------
vit05
Facebook has recently added audio options. Google will invest more in voice
and audio. It is clearly, for me, that we will see something great happen in
audio as we saw before in video and photo

------
nkkollaw
Is it still not supported in Europe?

It doesn't even show up in Google Play...

------
dirkg
What does this mean for Fi users? I guess someone inside Google must have a
soft spot for Voice, neglecting an app for 5 years and then resurrecting it is
very unGoogly.

------
plorg
Maybe now they'll address the Takeout format to return a sane, digestible form
of GV data, rather than the frequently-broken HTML form that it currently
returns.

------
ashurbanipal
It looks like Hangouts can make free calls, but GV cannot. At least according
to their respective descriptions in the Play store. That seems like a major
downgrade.

~~~
senorerik
GV could never make calls. It is primarily a call forwarding service (with
tacked on free SMS and now MMS) which allows you to make calls to numbers in
other states with no additional cost and make international calls for a low
rate. You still need to go through your phone service; as far as your service
is aware, these calls are going to a local number (the area code of your
google voice number).

~~~
hendersoon
That's true, but deceptive. Google Voice itself can't make calls in the app or
website, but Gmail (web only) and Hangouts (web and app) can. They're offered
this service for a very long time.

------
CharlesW
As part of this they're touting much-improved transcription. Does anyone know
if the the transcription system used for this is available for developers?

~~~
skoocda
[https://cloud.google.com/speech/](https://cloud.google.com/speech/)

------
dcow
I just ported my voice number over to fi because as far as anyone could tell
that was the direction Google was headed. Now this.

------
ksk
Q: Does GV have 'access numbers' that you can make calls via so that it looks
like the call came from your GV number?

~~~
callalex
Not exactly, there are a few ways to establish a call and have your GV number
be the "from" number

1) Use the app on your phone which will transparently create a temporary
number that your device calls that then connects you to the other party. 2)
Use the website/apps/apis to do a "Callback" where your GV number calls you,
and once you answer, calls the other party 3) Call your own gv number, hit a
key, enter your pin, then enter the number you want to dial (no internet
required)

------
balls187
International SMS support plz.

------
BugsJustFindMe
[edit] I guess it's not updated in the play store yet?

~~~
Mindless2112
When Google does these rollouts, you can usually find the new APK on APKMirror
[1]. (If you sideload the APK and it ask you if you want to upgrade the app
then you can be sure that the signature matches the one used to sign the
previous version.)

[1] [http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/google-
voice/google-...](http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/google-voice/google-
voice-5-0-144897884-release/google-voice-5-0-144897884-android-apk-download/)

------
mherrmann
I didn't know there was a .google TLD. Scary.

------
aditya
Where in gods name are these new apps anyway

------
wnevets
voice and gmail are really the only two google products I can't live with out.
Just dont fuck voice up.

------
matthberg
An extremely relevant (and timely) XKCD about having too many phone numbers:
[https://xkcd.com/1789/](https://xkcd.com/1789/)

------
swagv1
Awesome

------
pokemongoaway
The guy on this page is, "Jan Jedrzejowicz." I'm going to hit him up on
LinkedIn and ask him if he can ask his superiors about their focus or lack
thereof on GV's future. And if they're not willing to give a detailed answer,
then whether they believe their GV customers are entitled to one...

------
dcdevito
It's nice to see GV isn't dead (yet), but unless I can make it my default SMS
app it's pointless - so I am keeping my GV number integrated into hangouts.

------
draw_down
Cool. I use the app from time to time and it was really decrepit.

------
tn_mobile
Google voice for iOS is garbage. I would never want to hire the engineer(s)
who made the front-end for that app.

