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Google Voice Receives First Update in Five Years (zdnet.com) 89

Posted by msmash from the better-late-than-never dept.
Google Voice hasn't seen a lot of love or attention since it launched with some fanfare in 2009, but surprisingly Google wants people to know that it still cares about the communication app. In a new sprawling release -- the first of its kind in years -- Google has revamped all versions of its Voice app and site with a clean, modern look, new features, and, perhaps the best news of all, the promise of regular updates. From a report: Google is finally adding two features Google Voice users have long missed out on: MMS support for photo messaging and group chats. Previously workarounds were required to send and receive picture messages, and group chats were flat out not possible.
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Google Voice Receives First Update in Five Years More

Google Voice Receives First Update in Five Years

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  • Welcome to 2014 (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    They migrated it to hangouts. If you used hangouts MMS has worked since 2014, complete with group messaging and responses.

    • Except hangouts didn't allow you to use your google voice number for all that, I know, I spent a while trying to make it do so.

      • Yes it does, because I have used it for group messages. Unfortunately you had to use the phone app for it because there's no way to specify on the hangouts site that you want to use google voice without punching in everyone's bloody phone number. I am so glad that I can drop hangouts soon.

        • I tried literally that, and what happened with me is it sent out using my phones actual number, never my GV number with no option to allow me to use my GV number.

          I did just try sending an MMS with the new voice, outbound works but people can't respond to the crazy sending address it uses

          • Assuming you're on android, Try downloading google's "messenger" and set that as your phone's texting app, Then in hangouts when you select "new sms" it should send from your google voice number. Or you can fiddle with your hangouts settings to default or let you choose which number to send from.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by nazsco ( 695026 )

              the point is that you will never know which number you are sending as because the interface tells you nothing.

              on gvoice you kniow it will only ever send via your gvoice number

              • yes it does, it will say "sent from google voice" if it was sent that way. Also, if it's sent from google voice there will be a little blue "SMS" by the profile pic, and if it is sent from your cell phone number then there will be a gray "SMS" by the profile pic. If it is sent via hangouts, there's just the profile pic.
              • tbh, it's not that intuitive... Glad they are ditching hangouts

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by nyet ( 19118 )

              Messenger can't work with the gchat protocol, which some still use, only SMS/MMS

              Ever wonder why?

              Why not have a single, unified, customizable IM app that can do all of it?

              • because Google can't figure out what they want to do. gchat/xmpp has been abandoned by google for the hangout API, and now the hangout API has been shut down for 3rd party apps... so yeah, one app to do it all is kind of a pipe dream now. Hangouts technically can do sms, google voice, and hangouts, but I assume that will change soon.
      • I'm not a 13 year old girl so I don't intend to ever use anything called hangouts. Do use Google Voice though.

    • Re:Welcome to 2014 (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Anaerin ( 905998 ) on Monday January 23, 2017 @03:29PM (#53723211)
      Sure, except that Google is (slowly) killing Hangouts, thanks to Allo and Duo: http://betanews.com/2017/01/07... [betanews.com] - As goeth the API, so goeth the service.

  • Welcome to 2014 (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Paco103 ( 758133 ) on Monday January 23, 2017 @03:09PM (#53723007)

    They migrated it to hangouts. If you used hangouts MMS has worked since 2014, complete with group messaging and responses.

    • Haven't they also been trying to unbundle SMS/MMS and Hangouts for a year or two now as well? I mean, it was frustrating getting those two to work in concert but I wanted it to function in the end. I'd just like to know if all their posturing with regards to messaging is "Change for the sake of Change" or if it's really going to be useful. It'd be nice to know what the end of their road map is or if they're playing Sonic The Hedgehog and are stuck in the Casino Night Zone.

      Is Jibe still a thing?? I sorta

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Desler ( 1608317 )

      You gonna post this a third time to get a hat trick?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by MrJones ( 4691 )

      2009 + 5 = 2014

    • I think you're confusing Google Voice with an SMS handling app. It's more of a backend service that forwards messages to any number of anonymous phones allowing you to give out just one number. If someone sent an MMS to that number (provided by Google Voice) it didn't go through and you would get an email with the picture attachment. Group chat was/is impossible.

  • Yawn (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Call me back when they support places outside the US

    • Quite. The rest of the planet doesn't give a shit about Google Voice as Google don't give a shit about getting it to them.

  • Hell yes (Score:3)

    by execthis ( 537150 ) on Monday January 23, 2017 @03:12PM (#53723039)

    Love Google Voice. Lack of MMS was so frustrating too. I set my Mom up with GV on a tablet I gave her but the only way to send her pics was through e-mail. I can send from my MMS app to her mail, but the fact that every MMS message I sent was a separate e-mail for her was obviously not good.

    • if you migrated GV to hangouts then you could have done MMS just fine (except for videos).

      • Is there any negative side to Hangouts? I though Hangouts was more of a social-networking thing where you lose privacy, not something I want for either my Mom or myself.

        • Well, in my honest opinion, I would just wait until your google voice is upgraded. The main negative side of hangouts is the confusion if you're sending via google voice or hangouts, and if you use the web site, then you can't send a google voice text without punching in the individuals number. If you type in the person's name, then it won't really search through your contacts but through everyone on G+ that has that name (regardless if you have G+ or not).

          so yeay, best to give it a couple weeks for the

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by hawk ( 1151 )

          >Is there any negative side to Hangouts?

          Wait a minute, are you suggesting it has a positive side?

          Google voie was far more useful when it could be used on a gmail page without needing to launch another window and ask questions in that window . . .

          Failure to ring has become far more common since the hangouts hijacking, too--changing from "rare" to "frequent".

          hawk

    • I love Google Voice. Lack of MMS was a real blessing. When some idiot decided that I needed to see 15 photos that he sent to ALL of his friends, my copy would go to my email account but not forward to my cell phone and start driving up costs. And when other idiots did a "Reply ALL" to try to send him their photos of their precious brats, they didn't add more costs to my cell plan either. I hope that I can disable MMS in the new system but I have low expectations.

      Not too excited about the group chat either

      • When some idiot decided that I needed to see 15 photos that he sent to ALL of his friends...

        Get better friends.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rtb61 ( 674572 )

        I barely tolerate Google voice and that is only on the basis that it only listens when it actively allow it. Let me guess where the big upgrade in google voice has been focused, i spy with my, well, you get the drift. Real privacy laws are required as soon as possible.

  • A small consolation (Score:3)

    by J. T. MacLeod ( 111094 ) on Monday January 23, 2017 @03:19PM (#53723101)

    I fear that Google is giving their Voice app some attention because they are actively trying to kill Hangouts.

    With my instant messaging and SMS converged in one app and accessible via the web, I have been living in the future for a while. I am going to miss the future.

    • So I read a rumor (sorry, no link) that indicated they're not going to kill Hangouts, but they are trying to simplify their offerings. Right now, they have a few different applications that are doing text messages (SMS), IM, voice calling, etc. Supposedly they're going to expand Hangouts and try to turn it into a unified business communications platform similar to Skype for Business. Then they're going to have a few consumer-grade apps, e.g. Google Voice plus a messenger app similar to Facebook's.

      I hav

  • So, does that mean I will finally be able to send images to people who are listed as "Google Talk" users in iMessage on my Mac?
  • ... that they release this about two weeks after I'd given up and ported my GV # away. I had put up with years of MMS/SMS frustration. They must have changed their default SMS app three or four times. All my contacts had two #s for me despite me trying to do everything I possibly could to prevent that. Porting to T-mobile was such a nightmare experience (5 days, 3 hours on the phone, 2 visits to store (avoid the stores)) that I'm hesitant to port it back.

    Guess I'll just get a new GV # and see if it i

    • ... that they release this about two weeks after I'd given up and ported my GV # away. I had put up with years of MMS/SMS frustration. They must have changed their default SMS app three or four times. All my contacts had two #s for me despite me trying to do everything I possibly could to prevent that. Porting to T-mobile was such a nightmare experience (5 days, 3 hours on the phone, 2 visits to store (avoid the stores)) that I'm hesitant to port it back. Guess I'll just get a new GV # and see if it is really going to be worth it. Can't say I really trust Google not to fuck it up (or change it often enough to be irritating) again.

      mms works but not emojis...so good luck really telling what people are trying to say in 2017

  • I just love this service. I have a number similar enough to my day to day it's easy to remember, and I use that to give out to anyone and everyone that demands your phone number. The fact that MMS made no difference for what I use it for (mainly a way to screen unwanted calls). I'm glad to hear they're updating things, but from what I can tell, it looks exactly the same to me as it always has.

  • Google's blog post (Score:3, Informative)

    by 1080bogus ( 1015303 ) on Monday January 23, 2017 @04:06PM (#53723575)

    https://blog.google/products/g... [blog.google]

    Because I hate going to a site to go to a site to...you get the point.

  • Fi / GV / Obi (Score:3)

    by Tokolosh ( 1256448 ) on Monday January 23, 2017 @04:59PM (#53723985)

    Please let me know when I can use all these with the same number on a Google Apps account.

    GV, Hangouts, Allo, Google+, Messenger, Android - it's all a hot mess.

  • I was a hard core Google Voice user years ago. I did all the pain in the ass mapping for the special numbers and such on my work blackberry - contacts needed a special number to come up as the google voice number, but i still had to use the work phone, so the normal numbers.. yikes, all that work...

    I ported out my number years ago. It just wasn't worth it. The clunkiness and compromises aren't worth it. Messages/iMessage across idevices kind of sealed it for me. I can't imagine moving back.

  • Still missing.... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Monday January 23, 2017 @05:13PM (#53724113) Homepage

    Call filtering based on a search expression.

    I want ALL calls that start with 800* to go to voicemail without exception and never ring the phone. I can do this with Asterisk. Why the hell cant I do this with google Voice? I know it is absolutely capable of doing it.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      you can set it up so anyone not in your address book goes straight to voice mail, its how I have it setup.. whitelist.

    • No doubt!

      The closest I've seen is the Android and iOS Hiya app. It's a crowdsource spam call blocker. You can set it to automatically reject any call that has been marked as spam by other users. It misses one once in a while, but it's satisfying to "report" it.

  • Another thing everyone is waiting for.... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Monday January 23, 2017 @05:16PM (#53724133) Homepage

    Still cant point a SIP phone at it and have a desk phone as a GV number.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      True, but for the same cost of s SIP phone you could just buy a cheap tablet or smartphone and have your GV number ring on it. That's what I do.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by TodPunk ( 843271 )

      At some point I will be making this happen (obviously today is not that day). It is a thing I want myself. Just need to keep developing.

      Also having that with a SIP app on my cell so it just rings everywhere at once.

    • No, but you can get an Obihai OBI202 and have it ring a desk phone connected to that... http://www.obihai.com/tutorial... [obihai.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by WallyL ( 4154209 )

      I use an ObiTalk device for Google Voice. I give out my gv as my "home phone" for the people who might be interested in my home phone number.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by chihowa ( 366380 )

      You used to be able to do that when it was Gizmo5, before Google bought it and started their all too familiar process of slowly strangling the life out of it.

  • Voice vs Allo vs Hangouts? (Score:3)

    by ripvlan ( 2609033 ) on Monday January 23, 2017 @05:22PM (#53724205)

    I'm still confused. How does this new Voice update integrate for fit with they new Allo? Allo is their new Text app. Wait - I thought Hangout was the new messaging and communication platform. No no -- wait there's an update for Voice. This should tie it all together...right?!

    Whatever. I've had voice for many many years and it hasn't changed. I figured it was dead and stopped using it. It is still my public phone# (I use the PBX feature) but I've gone 99% native with iMessaging and find myself using FB Messenger a bit more too. But Hangout yeah never.

    Allo was DOA. What is it?! How does it fit? Have you tried it - if not I'll wait... back yet? Did you try chatting with your G+ friends? Can't find them b/c they're on Hangout?! How about SMS? Totally bogus -- looks like a spam message on the recipient end. yeah what is it?!

  • Can we stop describing things as modern? Especially in graphics design or UX. If 10 year from now we keep calling things modern, does it make any sense?

  • MMS (Score:1)

    by strstr ( 539330 )

    MMS has always worked on Google Voice. It sends the attached pictures and video to your associated Gmail/email account.

  • If you get a phone via Google Fi, you give up your Google Voice account and that number goes to the phone.

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