The latest version of Google’s Phone dialer for Pixel, Nexus, and Android One devices is rolling out today with some exciting features in the works. None of these changes appear to be live yet, but most notable is a voicemail transcription service powered by Google.
About APK Teardowns: In this ‘APK teardown,’ we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that was uploaded to the Play Store. When an app (or an APK, to be specific, in the case of Android apps) is decompiled, we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. With that in mind, read on.
Google voicemail transcription service
The Google Phone app supports visual voicemail from Project Fi, T-Mobile, and Verizon as a dedicated tab in the app. It might soon provide transcripts for your incoming voicemails through “Google’s free transcription service.”
This feature is a staple of Google Voice and the ability to “Read your voicemail” is quite convenient. Users will have to agree to terms and conditions before enabling, while there should also be an option in settings for the feature.
<string name=”dialer_terms_and_conditions_existing_user”>Transcripts of your voicemail are now provided by Google’s free transcription service. %s</string>
<string name=”dialer_terms_and_conditions_existing_user_ack”>Ok, got it</string>
<string name=”dialer_terms_and_conditions_existing_user_setings”>Settings</string>
<string name=”dialer_terms_and_conditions_existing_user_title”>New! Read your voicemail</string>
Assistance with international phone number
Another string suggests that the Phone app will soon get better at handling international numbers that feature a prefix. This should be useful for those who have multinational contacts or as Google suggests “when traveling.”
<string name=”assisted_dialing_setting_summary”>Automatically correct the phone number prefix when traveling and calling international numbers</string>
<string name=”assisted_dialing_setting_title”>Assisted dialing</string>
<string name=”assisted_dialing_setting_toggle_key”>assisted_dialing_setting_toggle_key</string>
Clean up
There is also some sort of “Clean up” feature in the works that even features a new icon. It’s likely related to contact management and could help users consolidate any duplicates.
<string name=”contacts_suggestions_promo_accept_button”>Clean up</string>
<string name=”contacts_suggestions_promo_dismiss_button”>Dismiss</string>
<string name=”copy_number”>Copy number</string>
SIM card management
Version 14 also features several new strings related to devices that have multi-SIM card slots.
<string name=”incall_content_description_swap_sim”>Change SIM</string>
<string name=”incall_label_swap_sim”>Change SIM</string>
<string name=”notification_incoming_call_mutli_sim”>Incoming call via %1$s</string>
Dylan contributed to this article
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