Google Voice for Android regains unread message, call count in bottom bar

Abner Li | Jun 12 2019 - 10:54 am PT

Just before Google Voice received its Material Theme redesign earlier this year, the Android app removed the live count of unread messages and calls in the bottom bar. Fortunately, this feature is now back with the latest version of the Android app.

Version 2019.22 of Google Voice rolled out in late May and is still the current release according to the Play Store. Tabs for Calls, Messages, and Voicemail in the bottom bar regain live numerical unread counts that were removed in late 2018.

The new indicator is more eye-catching by leveraging a bright red dot with the unread count in the center. Voice previously used a dark green mark in the top-right corner of the bottom bar icon. One tweak also sees the unread count in color even when you’re not currently viewing the tab. Previously, the green dot was grayed out with the rest of the icon when not active.

This is a small tweak to Google Voice for Android, but a helpful one where users can now see how many unread messages or calls they have rather than having to jump into a tab and count manually. It’s especially useful for business use cases, which Voice is actively pursuing in the enterprise market.